3 Idiots

'3 Idiots' which tells the story of three friends whose dismal grade point averages at their college influence their friendship, romance and career choices. It is rumoured that this movie is to be loosely based on a famous novel, 'Five Point Someone' by Indian writer Chetan Bhagat.

It is strongly denied by Raju Hirani. Writer Chetan Bhagat has stated that he was not involved in the scriptwriting in any way.

It has got an amazing star cast, starring Aamir Khan as Ryan, Kareena Kapoor as Neha Kurien, Sharman Joshi as Alok, Madhavan as Hari and Boman Irani as Professor Kurien.

To add to this star cast, we have the team which gave us the "Munna Bhai" series as the director and producer. Vidhu Vinod Chopra surely has pulled of a casting coup by convincing Aamir Khan to do this film. This will be Aamir's next release after 'Ghajini'.

A story of 3 musketeers: If 2009 can begin with 'Dev D' and end with '3 idiots', it is indeed time to sound the 'citiess (whistle)' and 'taalis (claps)' for one of the most exciting years of contemporary Indian Cinema.

Truly, this has been the year of the I.D.I.O.T in the movielore: the Intrinsically intelligent, Downright smart, Inimitable, Original and above all Talented casts and crews.

'3 idiots' is the perfect end to an exciting year for India: the year when the 'aam aadmi (common people)' voted in progress, liberalism, secularism, and turned his back to corruption, communism, and regionalism.

The three idiots like Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhaban) are perfect archetypes of the new age Indian. They are essentially a non - conformist, questioning outmoded givens, choosing to live life on his own terms and chartering new roads that consciously skirt the rat race.

Of course, they begin on the beaten track - due to societal / parental pressure - but refuse to become cogs in the wheel. Naturally, they end up as the Frostian hero (Robert Frost's Road Not Taken) who made all the difference to his life, and the world, by taking the road less travelled by.
The film begins with the entry of our 3 musketeers in the city's elite engineering college.

It takes the first tryst with the mandatory ragging sessions which enunciate who the leader of the gang is going to be: new entrant Baba Rancchoddas, as his friends fondly call him. Rancho not only leads his friends through the maze of India's competitive, high - pressure, rote-heavy, illogical and almost cruel education system, he tutors them on several life mantras too.

Like, running after excellence, not success; questioning not blindly accepting givens; inventing and experimenting in lieu of copying and cramming; and essentially following your heart calling if you truly want to make a difference. So, you have the threesome embroiled, time and again, in a confrontation with authority, as represented through the domineering figure of Viru Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani).

The unsmiling Principal who venerates the cuckoo because the bird's life begins with murder.Kill the competition, because there is only one place at the top, believes the Princi. Poor, mistaken Princi!

Doesn't he know that competition is effete, model students like Chatur (Omi) end up as duhs in, real life and non - conformists (Ranccho and Rocket Singh Inc.), who care tuppence about being on top, could end up as eventual winners. More importantly, they could be high not only intelligent quotient but in emotional quotient too, never loosing their humaneness and social networking skills.

The second half does falter in parts, especially the child birth sequence, but it doesn't take long for the film to jump back on track.

But the rest of the cast doesn't remain in the shadows. Both Sharman and Madhaban manage to carve their independent characters as lovable rebels too. Even Kareena shines out, despite the minuscule length of her role.

A special for Boman Irani who is impeccable as "Virus", the vile Principal and newcomer Omi who perfectly slips into the stereotype of the best, albeit bakwas student. Shantanu Moitra music score, which may have sounded 'pheeka (light)' in the audio version, comes alive on screen with lyricist Swanand Kirkire giving India its clarion call for 2010. Filming : The shoot of the film with the supporting characters began on 28 July 2008. Hirani and his team left in late August for the shoot with the principal cast.

The film was shot in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ladakh and Shimla. Aamir and rest of the cast began shooting in early September. Hirani planned to wrap up the film by December.

The first scene was shot in an aircraft with Madhavan. From Mumbai, the crew and cast comprising Aamir and Kareena went to Ladakh for a 20-day schedule.

The shooting also took place at the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore for 33 days as a part of the second schedule of production. There was also a wedding scene filmed between Kareena and Sharman.