3 idiots

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

It’s not without reason that people say Engineers make the world; and Raju Hirani proves just that in his recent offering with the well engineered script. Well engineered script because a lie that Rancho conjures up in a wedding, which one would have thought to be just a “meant for laugh” geeky thing, actually becomes a major part in the climax. It doesn’t matter if you feel, it is far fetched, but what matters is what they have intended to say through that – demonstration of practical application of engineering. Like how Rancho tells Pia often that, she needs demo all the time to understand things. And that is what Raju attempts to sneak into the film, extending Chetan’s writing to a whole new level without losing the balance between fun and seriousness. This balance is evident with the way he demarcates the characters without making them caricatures. And if he does bring in caricature it is to tickle the funny bone with the ode to the yore evoking a Manmohan Desai. It is one thing to be funny and carry a serious message on the back. But Raju here uses the same tool to do both; like in the scene where Rancho plays around with a camera cum copter peaking into the privacy of others and using the same to show a tragic event. All these don’t make the movie a heavy dosage either, for it has the juvenile “Aal Iz Well” concept beautifully interspersed in the script throughout, with its underlying meaning. This depth is evident in the way the lead characters uses a lingo (which they have cooked up earlier to ridicule someone else) to make fun of each other instead of being silly like “Papu ka dance”. For this unique depth in the writing which is as cinematic as hindi cinema could get and yet doesn’t become one among the rest like the 3 idiots, 3 idiots is a must watch.