3 Idiots: the most awaited movie of the year, in a year that has seen a dismal performance by Bollywood with big budget movies tanking in the box office; the movie slated to bridge that gap between the masses and the classes; the movie that depicts what goes behind the scenes in the elite institutes of India; the movie which brings together the genius of a successful investment banker turned writer Chetan Bhagat and a successful filmmaker Raju Hirani (of the Munnabhai fame); the movie which was expected to showcase the versatility of Aamir Khan yet again (after all, he kind of has the knack of saving the best for the last, at the fag end of the year, when the expectations of the audience is really low after being put through some braindead nonsense in the name of creativity)…
No wonder the critics showered it with good reviews, and suddenly for a change, five stars seemed inadequate to describe what was considered to be easily the best entertainer of the year. The audience seemed happy as I closely observed the status messages of my friends on facebook and gtalk. Yet, I am going to stick my neck out, and at the risk of committing an act of national treachery, admit that I found the movie just about, well, five point something on a scale of ten! And, mind you I watched the movie on the day it released, on Christmas Eve, even before I had read any reviews or watched any trailers or heard any third person’s opinion…
Yes, it is hilarious at times (especially the “chamatkar balatkar” speech and the sequence where they mix up the exam papers), endearing at others (where Sharman Joshi finally stands up for himself during his interview in spite of being relegated to the wheelchair and Madhavan convinces his dad to let him follow his dreams), and some of the characters stand out despite their limited scope (millimeter and pia: for the first time, I found Kareena Kapoor appealing in her spirited spunky role).
Yet, something somewhere didn’t quite fit in; it seemed that the movie was trying too hard; that it was playing safe, keeping in mind the sensibilities of an average Indian audience and trying to give them their due of 2.5 hours of thorough entertainment (and hence the song-and-dance, the unnecessary delivery sequence, the typical kidnap of the bride from her wedding); that it was fully aware of the high stakes and hence being politically correct, and hence trying to make everyone happy, and in the process losing its plot a little! Too many events, too many twists in the tale ended up diluting the key message. Bit of an irony, given that it was about being a maverick instead of towing conventional wisdom, but the movie itself, ended up doing just that: being a conventional potboiler…
My favourite sequence in the movie: the scene where the bearded student (forgot his name) gives up after failing to meet the project deadline, sits in the dark, playing his guitar, “give me some sunshine, give me some rain, give me another chance, I wanna grow up again”… touches a chord with all of us, and yet retains that elitist IITian flavor.
Aamir Khan is brilliant as ever, and sans dark circles and wrinkles (unlike a visibly old college student played by Shahrukh Khan in KKHH) but then again, it’s kind of a sad commentary on the directors and the new age actors, when a 44 year old has to play half his age to sell a movie (or is it just another instance of playing safe?)
2 comments:
I wasnt quite keen to watch this movie ......... now i am sure i am not going.
And yes you wrote really well.... I loved your blogs girl :)
"genius of a successful investment banker turned writer Chetan Bhagat "
if this guy was a successful investment banker he wouldnt be into writing now and now when he into writing i seriously pray that he returns back to whatever he was doing.
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