3 Idiots movie review

With two blockbusters in 'Munnabhai MBBS' and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', Rajkumar Hirani could have worked with any actor he chose to, made a film on any subject and it would have sold on the table, before you could have said 'cut'. Yet, Raju Hirani makes a film that is a Munnabhai-meets-Taare-Zameen-Par goulash with some David Dhawanisque humor and jokes that are old enough to get a driver's license. You'll find sequences that will remind you of 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai', 'Dil hai Ki Maanta Naheen' and 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' apart from Hirani's own Munnabhai films.

As the movie opened, I was disappointed in the first five minutes. A guy leaving his pyjamas behind while he leaves home in a hurry...really..how unoriginal can you get? As the movie moved on there was an entire song glorifying Aamir Khan's character, even before he had made an appearance. His role is on the lines of his character in 'Taare Zameen Par' except he's a student here.

Boman Irani plays a character that is very reminiscent of his 'Dr Asthana' from Munnabhai MBBS. Aamir Khan throws a monkey wrench into his machinery here, much like Sanjay Dutt did in the earlier films. Entire scenes in the classroom will remind you of 'Munnabhai MBBS'. Even the set seems the same.

The last fifteen minutes has Mona Singh delivering a baby, with everyone hamming to the hilt and miracles a la the Manmohan Desai kind of movies.

To imagine that a girl would become a runaway bride at the mention of a guy she hasn't meet, seen or heard of for ten years without any hint of a proposal from him, is more than far fetched. It's the 'leave-your-brains-behind' school of cinema. This is the part picked up from 'Dil Hai Ki Maanta Naheen' and from the 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' climax. Besides, how much sympathy are you going to have with students who break into his daughter's bedroom in the middle of the night, pee at his doorstep and steal his question papers?

Kareena Kapoor plays the daughter of Boman Irani who plays the college principal. This is where you'll notice similarities to 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' especially in the part where Aamir Khan climbs into her bedroom from the window and confesses his love. So also, in other parts where Kareena reminds you of the transformed Kajol getting engaged to Salman Khan. Kareena is immensely watchable and has more screen time than Raju Hirani's earlier leading ladies.

There's a sequence where Sharma Joshi steals the clothes of a guy who's all set to marry Kareena Kapoor. This one is straight out of 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'.

Pariksheet Sahni does justice to a stereotypical role that seems like an extension of his character in 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' except R Madhavan takes over from Jimmy Shergill. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, two capable actors are just cogs in the wheel, in the larger scheme of things. The cinematography is competent, the aerial shots especially stand out. The music is mediocre but then even the Munnabhai movies had average music. This one is just a few notches lower.

The two Munnabhai films had scenes that reached out and touched you. Recall the sequence about the Parsi old man refusing to eat and how Munna manipulates him into breaking his fast. This one tries too hard to make you cry or move you. It's the lack of casualness in the approach and the trying-too-hard that makes it fall short of expectations. It doesn't help that Aamir Khan, two decades after playing a college student refuses to play his age. It reminds you of a 50 plus Raj Kapoor and his mother's 'Beta, mujhe bahu laa de' in 'Mera Naam Joker'.

Ragging as a theme has been repeated from 'Munnabhai MBBS'. The paralytic patient and his misery, although caricaturish here, seems a forced inclusion, wanting to repeat the Munnabhai magic.

Aamir Khan seems to have walked out of 'Taare Zameen Par' into this one. The same pontification and standing-on-a-soap-box approach. Whether he's talking to the parents of the dyslexic kid or Pariksheet Sahni in this one, it's just the same ol' thing.

There are just about a couple of sequences in the movie which evoke belly laughter. Most of the time you're only going to smile and wonder why they couldn't come up with better stuff. A lot of the humor is politically incorrect but then that's what Bollywood humor is all about. The 'chamatkar' & 'balatkar' scene had a lot of potential but Hirani chose to just play to the gallery. It's just the pretense of being intellectuals and having high standards that makes it somewhat paradoxical, coming from the likes of Aamir Khan and Raju Hirani. Besides, there are only so many times you can laugh at a bunch of blokes dropping their pants or baring their butts.

Given all this, it seems strange that most people are going ga-ga over '3 Idiots'. It may be a commercial success and arguably worth a watch but it is just not in the same league as the timeless 'Munnabhai MBBS' and the very watchable 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'.