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3 Idiots
Directed byRajkumar Hirani
Written byScreenplay:
Abhijat Joshi
Rajkumar Hirani
Novel:
Chetan Bhagat
Produced byVidhu Vinod Chopra
StarringAamir Khan
R. Madhavan
Sharman Joshi
Kareena Kapoor
Boman Irani
Omi Vaidya
Parikshit Sahni
Javed Jaffrey
CinematographyMuraleetharana
Edited byRajkumar Hirani
Music byShantanu Moitra
Distributed byB.K Films Industries
Release dates
25 December 2009 (India)
23 December 2009
Running time
164 minutes
LanguageHindi
BudgetRs 45 crore[citation needed]
Box officeRs 315 crore ($70 million)[1]

3 Idiots (Hindi: थ्री इडीयट्स) is a 2009 Bollywood comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani, with a screenplay by Abhijat Joshi, and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It was loosely adapted from the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. 3 Idiots stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani.

3 Idiots is the "highest grossing Bollywood movie of all time."[2] The film set a box office record for the Indian film industry, grossing Rs 315 crore ($70 million) worldwide within 18 days of release.[3] It is expected to be the first Indian film to be officially released on YouTube, within 12 weeks of releasing in theatres.[4]

Plot

Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancchoddas "Rancho" Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) are three engineering students who share a room in a hostel at the fictional Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best colleges in India. While Farhan and Raju are mediocre students from modest backgrounds who want to lift their families out of poverty, Rancho is a wealthy genius who studies for the sheer joy of it. However, Rancho's passion for knowledge and machine-building rather than exam rankings, conforming to the system and social climbing, incurs the wrath of Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) (Boman Irani). Rancho irritates his lecturers by giving creative and unorthodox answers, and confronts ViruS after fellow student Joy Lobo hangs himself in his dormitory room. Joy had requested an extension on his major project on compassionate grounds—his father had suffered a stroke—but ViruS refused, saying that he himself was completely unmoved by his own son's accidental death after being hit by a train. The professor then proceeded to phone Lobo's ill father and inform him that his son will not be graduating. Rancho denounces the rat-run, dog-eat-dog, mindless rote learning mentality of the institution, blaming it for Lobo's death, after which ViruS hauls his rebellious student and forces him to lecture the other students. Rancho then embarrasses the staff and students by asking them questions about non-existent concepts (Farhanitrate and Prerajulization), prompting them to feverishly search through textbooks trying to find a definition.

Threatened by Rancho's talent and free spirit, ViruS labels him an "idiot" and attempts on a number of occasions to destroy his friendship with Farhan and Raju, warning them and their parents to steer clear of Rancho. In contrast, ViruS’ model student is Chatur Ramalingam or "Silencer", (Omi Vaidya) who sees a high rank at the prestigious college as his ticket to higher social status, corporate power, and therefore wealth. Chatur conforms to the expectations of the system, and works by mindless rote learning, and unethical means of destroying his competition, such as trying to distract his classmates by feeding them pornography magazines. Rancho humiliates Chatur, who is awarded the honour of making a speech at an award ceremony, by substituting obscenities into the text, which has been written by the librarian. Chatur mindlessly memorises the speech, without noticing that anything is amiss, directing frequent vulgar language at ViruS and the federal education minister, much to their horror, and to the students' uproarious laughter.

Meanwhile, Rancho also falls in love with ViruS' medical student daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor) when he, Raju and Farhan crash her sister's wedding banquet in order to get a free meal. This incident provokes further run-ins with ViruS, but Rancho wins over Pia after first insulting her fiancee Suhas and then demonstrating that Suhas only sees Pia's hand in marriage as a means of furthering his career by marrying into an influential family. Rancho does this by damaging Suhas's expensive material goods, and then confiscating Suhas's gifts to Pia. The latter incident provokes an angry tirade from Suhas towards Pia about how much money she has lost him—he thinks that she was absent-minded and lost the present. After this, the pair fall in love and Pia saves Raju's ill father by administering emergency treatment after he collapses.

Meanwhile, the three students continue to anger ViruS, although Rancho continues to come first in every exam, while Chatur is always second, and Farhan and Raju are inevitably in the last two positions. The tensions come to a head when the three friends, who are already drunk, break into ViruS's house at night to see Pia, and then urinate on a door inside the compound before running away when ViruS senses intruders. The next day, ViruS tells Raju that he is being expelled. This devastates Raju, who is afraid that his ill father will die of the shock of his only son being cast aside and being unable to support the family and earn a dowry for his unmarried sister. ViruS sees an opportunity to break Raju's friendship with Rancho by offering to expel the latter instead. Unable to choose between betraying his friend or letting down his family, Raju jumps out of the window and lands on a courtyard, but after extensive care from Pia and his roommates, awakes from a coma.

The experience has changed Farhan and Raju, and they adopt Rancho's outlook. Farhan decides to pursue his love of photography, while Raju is unexpectedly given an interview for a corporate job. He attends in plaster and a wheelchair and gives a series of non-conformal and frank answers. After turning Raju down, the stunned recruitment personnel change their mind and tell Raju to name whatever salary he wants. However, ViruS is unsympathetic and vows to make the final exam as hard as possible so that Raju is unable to graduate. Pia hears him and angrily confronts him, and when ViruS gives the same ruthless reply he gives to his students, she denounces him in the same way that Rancho did over the suicide of Lobo. Pia reveals that Viru's son and her brother was not killed in an accident but committed suicide in front of a train and left a letter because ViruS had forced him to pursue a career in engineering over his love for literature; ViruS always mentioned that he unsympathetically failed his son on the ICE entrance exams over and over to every new intake of ICE students. After this, Pia walks out on the family home, and takes ViruS's spare keys with her. She tells Rancho of the exam, and he and Farhan break into ViruS's office and steals the exam and give it to Raju, who with his new-found attitude, is unconcerned with the prospect of failing, and refuses to cheat and throws the paper away. However, ViruS catches the trio and expels them on the spot. However, they earn a reprieve when Viru's pregnant elder daughter Mona (Mona Singh) goes into labour at the same time. A heavy storm cuts all power and traffic, and Pia is still in self-imposed exile, so she tells Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room with the help of a webcam, after Rancho restores power using car batteries and a power inverter that Rancho had dreamed up and ViruS had mocked. Rancho then delivers the baby with the help of a cobbled-together Vacuum extractor.

After the baby is apparently stillborn, Rancho resuscitates it. ViruS reconciles with Rancho and his friends and allows them to take their final exams and they graduate. Rancho comes first and is awarded ViruS's pen, which the professor had been keeping for decades before finding a brilliant enough student to gift it to.

Their story is framed as a flashback from the present day, ten years after Chatur vowed revenge on Rancho for embarrassing him at the speech night and promised to become more successful than Rancho a decade later. Having lost contact with Rancho, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into seclusion, Raju and Farhan begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Chatur, now a wealthy and successful businessman, who joins them, brazenly confident that he has surpassed Rancho. Chatur is also looking to seal a deal with a famous scientist and prospective business associate named Phunsukh Wangdu. Chatur sees Wangdu, who has hundreds of patents, as his ticket to further social climbing. When they find Rancho's house, they walk into his father's funeral, and find a completely different Rancho. After accusing the new man of stealing their friend's identity and profiting from his intellect, the host pulls a gun on them, but Farhan and Raju turn the tables by seizing the father's ashes and threatening to flush them down the toilet. The householder capitulates and says that their friend was a destitute servant boy who loved learning, while he, the real Rancho, was a lazy wealthy child who disliked study, so the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Rancho's place instead of labouring. In return, the real Rancho would pocket the qualifications and the benefits thereof, while the impersonator would sever all contact with the world and start a new life. The real Rancho reveals that his impersonator is now a schoolteacher in Ladakh.

Raju and Farhan then find Pia, and take her from her wedding day to Suhas by performing the same tricks with his material possessions, and having Raju turn up to the ceremony disguised as the groom and eloping with Pia in front of the guests. When they arrive in Ladakh, they see a group of enthusiastic ethnic Tibetan children who are motivated by love of knowledge. Pia and the fake Rancho rekindle their love, while Chatur mocks and abuses the schoolteacher before walking away. When his friends ask what his real name is, he reveals that it Phunsukh Wangdu and phones Chatur, who has turned his back, to turn around and meet his prospective business partner. Chatur is horrified and falls to his knees, trying to flatter Phunsukh Wangdu.

Cast

Actor Role
Aamir Khan Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad / Rancho / Phunsukh Wangdu
Kareena Kapoor Pia Sahastrebuddhe
R. Madhavan Farhan Qureshi
Sharman Joshi Raju Rastogi
Boman Irani Viru Sahastrebuddhe (ViruS)
Omi Vaidya Chatur Ramalingam (Silencer)
Parikshit Sahni Mr. Qureshi
Javed Jaffrey Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad
Mona Singh Mona Sahastrebuddhe (Pia's sister)
Sanjay Lafont Suhas
Rahul Kumar Millimeter
Amardeep Jha Mrs. Rastogi
Farida Dadi Mrs. Qureshi
Jayant Kripalani Interviewer
Arun Bali Shamaldas Chanchad

Production

Filming

The shoot of the film with the supporting characters began on 28 July 2008. Hirani and his team left in late August for the shoot with the principal cast. The film was shot in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ladakh, Chail and Shimla. Aamir and rest of the cast began shooting in early September. Hirani planned to wrap up the film by December.[5] The first scene was shot in an aircraft with Madhavan. From Mumbai, the crew and cast comprising Aamir and Kareena went to Ladakh for a 20-day schedule.[6] The shooting also took place at the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore for 33 days as a part of the second schedule of production.[7]

According to Rajkumar Hirani, the biggest joke while filming was that he was called the most idiotic director, as he had asked the heroine of the film to gain weight and the heroes to lose weight.[8]

Release

Box office

The film has grossed Rs 315 crore ($70 million) worldwide within 18 days of release, setting a record for the industry.[3][9] It is "the highest grossing Indian film ever to release in the US, Middle East, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Kenya and Fiji", making it the all-time highest grossing Indian film in overseas markets.[1] In the United States, it has earned $5.6 million since its opening.[2][10] It is also the all-time highest grossing film in India itself, where it has earned Rs. 176 crore to date, surpassing the previous record set by the 1975 film Sholay.

Critical reception

3 Idiots received generally positive reviews. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) states: "It's not that 3 Idiots is a flawless work of art. But it is a vital, inspiring and life-revising work of contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part. In a country where students are driven to suicide by their impossible curriculum, 3 Idiots provides hope. Maybe cinema can't save lives. But cinema, sure as hell, can make you feel life is worth living. 3 Idiots does just that, and much more. The director takes the definition of entertainment into directions of social comment without assuming that he knows best."[11] Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four and a half stars and suggests that, "The film is a laugh riot, despite being high on fundas [...] Hirani carries forward his simplistic `humanism alone works' philosophy of the Lage Raho Munna Bhai series in 3 Idiots too, making it a warm and vivacious signature tune to 2009. The second half of the film does falter in parts, specially the child birth sequence, but it doesn't take long for the film to jump back on track." [12] Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars and comments that this "this is the sort of movie you’ll take home with a smile and a song on your lips." [13] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3 Idiots four and a half out of five stars and states: "On the whole, 3 Idiots easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch 3 Idiots. It's emotional, it's entertaining, it's enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way." [14] Kaveree Bamzai of India Today gave 3 Idiots five stars and argues that "it's a lovely story, of a man from nowhere who wanted to learn, told like a fairy tale, with the secret heart carrying its coded message of setting all of us free." [15]

Other critics gave the film a mixed review. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars and states: "Going home after watching 3 Idiots I felt like I'd just been to my favorite restaurant only to be a tad under-whelmed by their signature dish. It was a satisfying meal, don't get me wrong, but not the best meal I'd been expecting." [16] Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film two out of five stars and states: "Rajkumar Hirani's one of the directors of the decade, a man with immense talent and a knack for storytelling. On his debut, he hit a hundred. With his second, he hit a triple century. This time, he fishes outside the offstump, tries to play shots borrowed from other batters, and hits and misses to provide a patchy, 32*-type innings. It's okay, boss, *chalta hai*. Even Sachin has an off day, and we still have great hope." [17] This film is going to be remade in both Telugu and Tamil. [18]

Awards

2010 Star Screen Awards

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Shantanu Moitra with lyrics penned by Swanand Kirkire.

Untitled

Tracklist

Track # Song Singer(s) Duration
1 "Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh" Shaan, Shantanu Moitra 5:01
2 "Give Me Some Sunshine" Suraj Jagan, Sharman Joshi 4:07
3 "Aal Izz Well" Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Swanand Kirkire 4:36
4 "Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe" Sonu Nigam 3:32
5 "Zoobi Doobi" Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 4:08
6 "Aal Izz Well [Remix]" Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Swanand Kirkire 4:41
7 "Zoobi Doobi [Remix]" Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal 3:29

Controversy: Adaptation from book

Prior to the release of the film director Rajkumar Hirani commented on the relationship between Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat and 3 Idiots stating:

Chetan gave me this book to read and I wanted to make a film on it. But I knew right from the start that I could not make a film completely on the book, as it was very anecdotal and a film needs a plot. So I had decided to rewrite it in a screenplay format. You'll see that the film is very different from the book. After I wrote the script, I called Chetan and narrated it to him. I told him that if he did not like the script, I would stop the project. But he was okay with it.[21]

The day after the film opened, Chetan also noted:

Initially I did sit down with Raju and Abhijat while they were deciding to make a film based on '5 Point Someone'. I even went to IIT with Abhijat a couple of times. But it was just not possible for me to be involved at every stage of the screenplay writing process since I was in Hong Kong at that time, working full time and busy writing other books. Moreover, Abhijat is based in USA, Raju was in the US for quite a while working on the screenplay but it was not practical for me to do that [...] The film retains the soul of the book. 3 Idiots is different from the book but at the same time it does borrow many things from the book. The core theme and message of the film is coming from the book itself. And that's why the makers have officially credited the film as 'Based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat.'[22]

A controversy developed a few days after the release, however, over the fact that Chetan's credit, "Based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat" appeared in the closing credits rather than in the opening ones.[23] At that time, Bhagat stated that he "was expecting an opening credit and I was quite surprised on not seeing it. They had bought the rights, made the payment and committed to a credit in the contract. It’s there, but it’s not about it being there, it’s about the placement and the prominence."[24] In a 31 December 2009 blog post on his personal website, Bhagat stated that he was told the movie was only 2-5% based on the book, but when he saw it, he felt that it was 70% of the book. He also argued that he was misled by the makers of the film, though he noted, that "this has nothing to do with Mr. Aamir Khan [...] I am a big fan of Aamir and he has made my story reach people. However, he was told by the makers not to read the book, and he hasn’t. Thus, he cannot comment on the issue in a meaningful manner." [25]

A few people responded to Chetan's statements. According to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), during a press conference with reporters producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra "clarified that in the agreement between the producer and Bhagat, it was clearly mentioned that the author’s name would be put in the closing credits." IANS also reported that Chopra "lost his cool" and "asked a reporter to shut up after being questioned whether his hit 3 Idiots was lifted from author Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone."[26] Chopra later apologized, stating: "I really think I’m silly. I was provoked, but I shouldn’t have done this. I saw myself on TV and saw how I was shouting ‘shut up, shut up’ like an animal. I told myself — ‘what nonsensical behaviour’."[27] Aamir Khan also responded to these claims.[23][28]Rajkumar Hirani stated that "We have officially bought the rights for the film. We drew a contract with him and it clearly mentions about the position of his credit. With open eyes he had seen the contract, consulted his lawyer and signed the agreement [...] In the contract, we have said that the title would be given in the rolling credits. We haven't changed the font size. We haven't increased the speed of the title. It's exactly there where it was agreed to be." [29] Chetan Bhagat later apologized stating, "I definitely do not have anything against team 3 Idiots. I may have some issues on the mistake they may have made but nothing about their personality or the kind of people they are. I apologise to their families if there was any distress caused to them. I also want to thank all my fans, who stood by me but I don't want them to turn against anyone especially Aamir."[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "'3 Idiots' grosses Rs 315 cr in 19 days". The Economic Times. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  2. ^ a b Aamir Khan's '3 Idiots' becomes Bollywood's biggest grosser
  3. ^ a b Samar Halarnkar (January 12, 2010). "Rs 315 cr in 18 days: 3 Idiots is India's biggest hit". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  4. ^ "Three Idiots on YouTube". DearCinema.com.
  5. ^ "Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots goes on floors". indiafm.com.
  6. ^ "Shooting for 3 Idiots underway". rediff.com.
  7. ^ "Shooting 'Three Idiots' is like holidaying". thaindian.com.
  8. ^ "Rajkumar Hirani talks about 3 Idiots and working with Aamir Khan".
  9. ^ "'Sholay' or '3 Idiots'? Jury out on which one's the all-time top grosser". Times of India. 17 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  10. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=3idiots.htm
  11. ^ Subhash K Jha speaks about 3 Idiots
  12. ^ 3 Idiots review: Times of India
  13. ^ 3 Idiots review: Hindustan Times
  14. ^ 3 Idiots review: Bollywood Hungama
  15. ^ 3 Idiots: Laugh. Cry. Fly. Go watch it.
  16. ^ 3 Idiots review: CNN-IBN
  17. ^ Rediff review
  18. ^ 3 Idiots going to be remade in Telugu and Tamil
  19. ^ Nominations for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009
  20. ^ Winnters for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009
  21. ^ "Aamir's dedication is mistaken as interference", rediff.com, 23 December 2009.
  22. ^ “3 Idiots retains the soul of Five Point Someone”, Chetan Bhagat interview, One India.
  23. ^ a b Interview:Aamir Khan
  24. ^ Sharma, Neha."Chetan Bhagat feeling cheated?", Hindustan Times, 27 December 2009.
  25. ^ A book, a film and the truth"
  26. ^ Vidhu Vinod Chopra loses cool over '3 Idiots' credit row (Lead)
  27. ^ Vidhu apologises, Hirani flaunts pact with Chetan
  28. ^ Upset Aamir Khan hits out at novelist Chetan Bhagat
  29. ^ 3 Idiots may sue Chetan Bhagat
  30. ^ Fans, forgive Aamir: Chetan Bhagat


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