The 3 idiots-Aamir,Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani
By now everybody and their uncle must have watched what is arguably the best Hindi film of the year 2009.So let me try to keep this brief.Allow me to talk about the concept of the movie and the message it delivers-and very successfully ,too!This one is from the heart.
The movie ,as all Raju Hirani movies, takes itself lightly-for me the last really big,highly successful Hindi movie that came close was 'Om shanti Om' (it was entertaining coz the director, the highly intelligent Farah Khan, never got carried away ,and it showed!).That is the beauty of this brilliant director's movies.His movies are meant to entertain you;never, ever does he get preachy.Recall the powerful messages delivered ever-so-lightly by the two amazing 'Munnabhai' flicks;they stay with you for a long, long time.As a critic has rightly said, Raju Hirani is the Basu Chatterjee of our times.I would add the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee's name to Raju's gurus.These geniuses packed a punch without ever, ever taking themselves seriously.At no point in this movie, as in any Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie, do you get bogged down by the 'message' of the film.The entire movie is total paisa vasool.You never get bored ,and you are 'in' the film throughout, without realizing it.That,I feel, is the hallmark of a brilliant movie.
Coming to the message of the movie.I havent read 'Five point someone' and I certainly wont be tempted to despite Chetan Bhagat's recent antics, coz I just dont enjoy Chetan's writing style-no offence meant.I gather Chetan's book was a saga of three friends who had a tough time at IIT.The movie goes much, much beyond the story of those 3 unfortunate engineers.It talks about the entire education system.Aamir ,very effectively delivers the following three messages in the movie,without pontificating-
1.DO NOT FOCUS ON EXAMS.Remove all fear from your heart and enjoy your schooling, college ,whatever.No matter how tough your subjects and how idiotic your teachers and how hard they try to kill your interest in your subject.How many times has that happened to some of us-you start to develop an interest in a subject ,and along comes an idiot teacher who spoils it for you.You've got to fight and tell yourself you wont be bogged down.
2.FOLLOW YOUR DREAM.Think about your career choices with a cool mind before making your final choice.And even if you made a wrong choice, dont fret.Its NEVER too late to change your direction and follow your dream.
3.CHASE EXCELLENCE,AND SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW.Its so easy to say these words; so difficult to implement in real life.All of us are in the habit of measuring success by the criteria for success that were devised possibly by people of our parents generation;the Midnight's Children who saw independent India go from strength to strength ,and were eager to be part of that growth process.Bungalow with swimming pool, membership of elite clubs, admission [for your kids] in elitist schools, three cars in your garage, the latest gadgets.......;the race never ends.and you stay a rat forever.Our elders love to talk to youngsters about how successful a Bill Gates or a Steve Job or closer home, a Narayan Murthy is.No one bothers to tell these young people about these geniuses' journey.How each of them ,and countless other 'successful' individuals didnt chase success ,but focussed on achieving excellence in their chosen field .Through sheer hard work,through repetitive ,sometimes brain dead work.Their struggle, their frustration,how friends and acquaintances poked fun at their seemingly 'stupid' ideas at first.
By making this wonderful movie ,Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani have done all of us,especially those of us who have young kids ,a BIG favour.Perhaps they hadnt envisaged the reach and 'success' of this film.And by 'success',I definitely am NOT referring to the box office business it has done.For me, this movie is successful because at the end of it, my 11 year old daughter realized that SHE was Raju Rastogi.That the way she was going, she could possibly end up making a wrong choice of career like Farhan Quereshi.And that ,if Phunsuk Wangdoo the gardener's son could do it,so can she and her friends.Most of our kids study in factories where the focus is on competition -if you are neither a topper in academics, nor an achiever in any other co-currcular activity like sports or music or dance, if your picture doesnt appear in the school magazine,you are treated as a loser.And heaven help our kids from idiotic teachers who are totally obsessed with 'finishing the syllabus' rather than ensuring that each and every child understands what the hell he/she is 'teaching'.
Of course, with Aamir leading this team, there was no way the movie could be mediocre.Coz the whole of the movie watching population of India trusts Aamir's judgement.If he does a movie, it must be worth watching,right?
So lets put our hands up for this amazing team for giving us such a wonderful ,entertaining,funny, warm and inspirational movie.
I have a strong feeling they were chasing excellence ,and success just followed them!
By now everybody and their uncle must have watched what is arguably the best Hindi film of the year 2009.So let me try to keep this brief.Allow me to talk about the concept of the movie and the message it delivers-and very successfully ,too!This one is from the heart.
The movie ,as all Raju Hirani movies, takes itself lightly-for me the last really big,highly successful Hindi movie that came close was 'Om shanti Om' (it was entertaining coz the director, the highly intelligent Farah Khan, never got carried away ,and it showed!).That is the beauty of this brilliant director's movies.His movies are meant to entertain you;never, ever does he get preachy.Recall the powerful messages delivered ever-so-lightly by the two amazing 'Munnabhai' flicks;they stay with you for a long, long time.As a critic has rightly said, Raju Hirani is the Basu Chatterjee of our times.I would add the great Hrishikesh Mukherjee's name to Raju's gurus.These geniuses packed a punch without ever, ever taking themselves seriously.At no point in this movie, as in any Hrishikesh Mukherjee movie, do you get bogged down by the 'message' of the film.The entire movie is total paisa vasool.You never get bored ,and you are 'in' the film throughout, without realizing it.That,I feel, is the hallmark of a brilliant movie.
Coming to the message of the movie.I havent read 'Five point someone' and I certainly wont be tempted to despite Chetan Bhagat's recent antics, coz I just dont enjoy Chetan's writing style-no offence meant.I gather Chetan's book was a saga of three friends who had a tough time at IIT.The movie goes much, much beyond the story of those 3 unfortunate engineers.It talks about the entire education system.Aamir ,very effectively delivers the following three messages in the movie,without pontificating-
1.DO NOT FOCUS ON EXAMS.Remove all fear from your heart and enjoy your schooling, college ,whatever.No matter how tough your subjects and how idiotic your teachers and how hard they try to kill your interest in your subject.How many times has that happened to some of us-you start to develop an interest in a subject ,and along comes an idiot teacher who spoils it for you.You've got to fight and tell yourself you wont be bogged down.
2.FOLLOW YOUR DREAM.Think about your career choices with a cool mind before making your final choice.And even if you made a wrong choice, dont fret.Its NEVER too late to change your direction and follow your dream.
3.CHASE EXCELLENCE,AND SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW.Its so easy to say these words; so difficult to implement in real life.All of us are in the habit of measuring success by the criteria for success that were devised possibly by people of our parents generation;the Midnight's Children who saw independent India go from strength to strength ,and were eager to be part of that growth process.Bungalow with swimming pool, membership of elite clubs, admission [for your kids] in elitist schools, three cars in your garage, the latest gadgets.......;the race never ends.and you stay a rat forever.Our elders love to talk to youngsters about how successful a Bill Gates or a Steve Job or closer home, a Narayan Murthy is.No one bothers to tell these young people about these geniuses' journey.How each of them ,and countless other 'successful' individuals didnt chase success ,but focussed on achieving excellence in their chosen field .Through sheer hard work,through repetitive ,sometimes brain dead work.Their struggle, their frustration,how friends and acquaintances poked fun at their seemingly 'stupid' ideas at first.
By making this wonderful movie ,Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani have done all of us,especially those of us who have young kids ,a BIG favour.Perhaps they hadnt envisaged the reach and 'success' of this film.And by 'success',I definitely am NOT referring to the box office business it has done.For me, this movie is successful because at the end of it, my 11 year old daughter realized that SHE was Raju Rastogi.That the way she was going, she could possibly end up making a wrong choice of career like Farhan Quereshi.And that ,if Phunsuk Wangdoo the gardener's son could do it,so can she and her friends.Most of our kids study in factories where the focus is on competition -if you are neither a topper in academics, nor an achiever in any other co-currcular activity like sports or music or dance, if your picture doesnt appear in the school magazine,you are treated as a loser.And heaven help our kids from idiotic teachers who are totally obsessed with 'finishing the syllabus' rather than ensuring that each and every child understands what the hell he/she is 'teaching'.
Of course, with Aamir leading this team, there was no way the movie could be mediocre.Coz the whole of the movie watching population of India trusts Aamir's judgement.If he does a movie, it must be worth watching,right?
So lets put our hands up for this amazing team for giving us such a wonderful ,entertaining,funny, warm and inspirational movie.
I have a strong feeling they were chasing excellence ,and success just followed them!
http://anirban-mukerji.blogspot.com/2010/09/3-idiots-chetan-bhagat-controversy_20.html
ReplyDeleteGood to see you blog on movies, have you seen oye lucky, worth watching.
My take on the controversy, the summary - 3 idiots is amazing, is based in a limited way on 5 point some one which is a dully and boring book