It’s hard to sell a movie to someone. It’s even harder when you tell someone that they should see a movie called 3 Idiots. Not only that, but it’s nearly three hours long and it’s a Bollywood film.
I was looking for something to watch on Netflix and the preview clip for 3 Idiots had me laughing. I put it on planing on only watching a couple of minutes because surely a film with this title can’t be good at three hours long. Three hours later and my girlfriend is in tears. She was sobbing at how beautiful the film is and I too was enamored with it. When it finished I was ready to watch it again because I wanted to spend more time with these characters. Every character is perfectly quirky and iconic in their own right.
The story starts with Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi), two friends learning of the whereabouts of one of their best friends, Rancho (Aamir Khan). They haven’t seen Rancho for five years, he just disappeared. The story then cuts to when the three friends first met at college. Farhan and Raju are met with the humiliation that comes with college hazing, although when Rancho arrives he refuses and instead uses his ingenuity to humiliate the hazers. Rancho is the smartest person in the school so he is always getting himself in trouble by calling the teachers out. The principle tries as hard as he can to catch him out so he can kick him out of the college. Rancho is this amazing friend and mentor to Farhan and Raju, and gets them to be the best versions of themselves they can be. When the two friends search for Rancho in the present they are met with constant dead ends. However, each dead-end teaches them something about Rancho they didn’t know. We also find out why he disappeared without telling his friends. There is so much more that happens throughout, and by the end, everything comes together unexpectedly and beautifully.
3 Idiots may have just opened me up to Bollywood films. It’s full of heartfelt moments, hilarity, romance, catchy songs, and a surprising amount of philosophy too. I’m surprised how much I liked it and thought it was this unknown gem. Was I ever wrong? 3 Idiots was a massive hit. It did well in most East Asian markets. The music video above has 112 Million views so far. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the film, and there is also a sequel in talks.
So maybe I’ve convinced you to give 3 Idiots a watch.
It’s available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Robert Ring
KissTheMovies 