Friday, January 22, 2010

I want to be 4th Idiot !



Better be an idiot than being a stupid. Yes, Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 idiots has redefined these offensive terms, and that too in such a way that people actually “want” to become an idiot!

Here “idiot” signifies people who defy the norms, question age old practices, try to innovate, try to explore, and those people who want to follow what their heart says. Just after the moment when I finished watching this movie, I was repeatedly asking ‘why this film did not come 7 or 8 years ago?’ it could have reversed the fate of lots of people including me.

Though the concept of the film and the story line appeals to all youngsters, but true enjoyment belongs to those who have actually studied Engineering. I am one of those fortunate souls. Fortunate, not only because I too am an Engineer, but also because, I am one of the subject of interest for people like Hirani/Chetan Bhagat.

Its true that life is usually taken by students as a race. I am not saying that parents are the ones who think that life is a race and their child should run fast to win. Sometimes, or in my case, most of the times it is the child himself who thinks that life is a race. It happens when the child grows in an environment which is unaware of what is happening outside. It happens when society does not know or never acknowledges that every kind of interest that a child shows can be converted into a potential career path. Peer pressure is also a factor. I am saying so confidently because all these factors contributed in my case.

And we were not fortunate enough. We never had any perfectionist like Aamir Khan in our times, who first tries to stress that imagination and creativity within a child knows no bound in “Taare Zameen Par” and then later, does a Rancho, and tells that “Aaal izz well”. With the portrayal of Baba Ranchhod das, Aamir has proved that its not just popularity, style, talent or hard work, which makes somebody a perfectionist. Its also a feeling of responsibility which makes Aamir Khan ‘the Aamir Khan’. Around 21 years ago, we saw him in “Qayamat se Qayamat tak” playing a guy who has just passed out from college and now after 11 years, we see him playing a guy who has just entered college. And we don’t see any change in the appearance. Yes makeup does a lot of work but its actually the energy level of the actor which helps him displaying such a portrayal. Hats off to Aamir. With movies like “Taare Zameen Par” he has also shown that how much sense of responsibility he is having.


And it is not just Aamir. Its also the work of the director. Hirani has shown his heart touching and inspiring story of ‘Munna Bhai’. 3 Idiots is another name in continuation. In Munna Bhai, he showed the necessity of emotions. In that film Boman Irani was the antagonist for such thought and in 3 Idiots too, Irani was seen rejecting every idea of the visionary Aamir. There is some interesting thing about the character of Irani. Veeru Sahastrabuddhi was given the getup of Einstein. He was a hypocrite who used to led a life imitating simplicity of the genius Einstein (like riding a bicycle instead of car) but inside the heart he was stubborn and non receptive to the innovative ideas for which the genius is best known for. Boman Irani’s portrayal was as amazing as always.

On the ending note I want to say that people like me can find their answers in movies like this. But please always remember that no movie is made for giving any message. Movies are made at the best to promote and highlight the idea and conceptualization of the director. In some cases the directors’ thought resonate with those of the viewers so well that we feel that this film was intended to give any learning. In fact in “3 idiots” we don’t find any learning, but we see “how to learn…”