3idiots: Good, not great

I found 3 idiots to be good, not great or phenomenal or anything spectacularly out of this world, as it's collections and all those gushing reviews and feedbacks I came across. I am okay with films that revolve around social message and when it's made in an entertaining way- one that challenges your conscience like, say, Rang De Basanti- it works. 3 idiots also took a social message- the mess our education system makes out of us, our over-ambitious parents and their expectations from us, competition that leads us to take extreme measures in some cases like suicides, making wrong choices, and so on- and tried to tell us in an entertaining way.

It's problem was that it tried too hard. It was like as if someone thought of a social message and then thought to make a movie out of it. Social message will touch the public's raw nerve and entertainment will make it easier for them to digest. Scene after scene, it threw at us its central message, almost every aspect of hostel life was thrown at us, every answer to every problem lay in engineering-curriculum-told-in-a-fun-way type, student suicides, ragging, hostel life and so on. Scenes like child birth on a T.T. table, Rancho's lecture baazi and preachings were just too much or too far-fetched and so was the one of the paralytic man sandwiched on a motorcycle. And also, all that ronaa-dhonaa. I don't think grown-up, hostel guys would cry at the drop of their hat. And what is up with all that peeing? I bet I have not seen so much peeing since 'East is East' many years ago.

Now for the good parts. The performances were awesome. The troika of Aamir, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi were fabulous and they fit their roles to the T. Aamir as usual was flawless. Boman Irani- though not in the same league as his Dr Asthana's role in Munnabhai- was great as the lisping professor. Loved the balatkar speech, Omi Vaidya's (Chatur / Silencer) narration was flawless and so was Boman Irani's reaction of complete helplessness and volcanic frustration, as also Omi's overall performance. Omi's comic timing was perfect and kudos to the casting team of 3 idiots for this great find.

All said and done, the message of 3 idiots was good. And please, it does NOT inspire ragging or suicides. But it does tell us that we need to follow our heart and passion and not the smell of crisp currency when it comes to pursue our ambition. Because if you like what you do, success will automatically follow.

K-Rate: * * * *