3 Idiots
Idiots (Hindi: ३ इडियट्स) is a 2009 Indian coming of age comedy-drama film co-written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, with a screenplay by Abhijat Joshi, and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It was loosely adapted from the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. The film stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani.
Upon release, the film broke all opening box office records in India. It was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend in India and had the highest opening day collections for a Bollywood film. It also held the record for highest net collections in the first week for a Bollywood film. It also became one of the few Indian films to become a major success in East Asian markets such as China, eventually bringing its overseas total to more than US$ 25 million—the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in overseas markets, before being overtaken by Dhoom 3 (2013). It was expected to be the first Indian film to be officially released on YouTube, within 12 weeks of releasing in theatres on 25 March 2010, but finally got officially released on YouTube in May 2012. The film also went on to win many awards, winning six Filmfare Awards including best film and best director, ten Star Screen Awards and sixteen IIFA awards. "3 Idiots" is ranked #124 in IMDB's top 250 world movies and also has an IMDB rating of 8.5.
The film also uses real inventions by little-known people in India's backyards. The brains behind the innovations were Remya Jose, a student from Kerala, who created the exercise-bicycle/washing-machine; Mohammad Idris, a barber from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, who invented a bicycle-powered horse clipper; and Jahangir Painter, a painter from Maharashtra, who made the scooter-powered flour mill.This film was remade in Tamil as Nanban (2012) which also received critical praise and commercial success. It has also been announced that there will be a Chinese remake of the film produced by Stephen Chow and that there are plans for a Hollywood remake produced in the United States.
Plot
Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan) narrates the story of himself and his friends, Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Ranchoddas "Rancho" Shamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan), students at the Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best colleges in India. Farhan wants to become a wildlife photographer, but is pursuing an engineering degree to fulfill his father's wish, whereas Raju needs to improve his family's financial situation, and Rancho studies for the pleasure of building machines. Rancho incurs the wrath of college's dean, Professor Viru Sahastrabuddhe a.k.a. 'Virus' (Boman Irani), by giving creative and unorthodox answers in class and living by the philosophy that one should pursue excellence not success as success will happen if excellence is achieved, and later blames the rote-learning mentality of the institution for the suicide of fellow student Joy Lobo. Virus's model student is Chatur Ramalingam, called "Silencer" for his silent but malodorous farts, (Omi Vaidya), whom Rancho humiliates by replacing praise with an obscenity in the speech memorized by Chatur for delivery before the college faculty and donors. Meanwhile, Rancho falls in love with Pia, in reply, tells Rancho of the exam, and he and Farhan steal the examination's questions for Raju who refuses to cheat as he has fully embraced Rancho view on life. Virus sentences them to expulsion; but then Pia angrily tells him he was possible for the death of their brother who had wanted to pursue literature and become a writer however under Virus is insistence he failed the ICE exam three times and committed suicide due to the pressure placed on him by his father who had considered his death an accident. The three then earn a reprieve when Viru's pregnant elder daughter Mona (Mona Singh) goes into labour at the same time. A heavy storm cuts electricity, and Pia who had left the house instructs Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room via Voice over IP, after Rancho restores power using car batteries and a power inverter invented by Rancho. After the baby is apparently stillborn, Rancho resuscitates it by using his signature quote All is Well to which the baby responds and survives; therefore Virus allows them to take and pass their final exams. Rancho comes first and is awarded Virus's prize pen, retained hitherto for an especially-capable student.Raju and Farhan then take Pia who was on the verge of marrying Suhas to Ladakh, where they see inventions resembling those of their friend. They reunite with him and when they ask him his real name, he identifies himself as Phunsukh Wangdu, Chatur's prospective business partner. Upon learning this, Chatur is horrified and begs Phunsukh to establish the business relationship as he had forced him to sign a declaration of defeat and attempted to humiliate him, apparently to no effect.
Cast
- Aamir Khan as Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad/Chhote/Rancho/Phunsukh Wangdu – One of a group of three friends in the university. He went missing after graduation and his two friends traveled across India looking for him. Rancho, as a student, was intelligent and had brilliant methods to be successful and content in life. He fought against the wrong system of teaching and was often punished for this. Also he was in a romantic relationship with Pia. At the end of the film, he is shown to become a famous scientist and prospective business associate.
- Kareena Kapoor as Pia Sahastrabuddhe – Viru "Virus" Sahastrabuddhe's youngest daughter who pursues being a doctor and Rancho's (Phunsukh Wangdu) love interest. She was engaged to another person but gets attracted to Aamir Khan's character in the film.
- R. Madhavan as Farhan Qureshi – the film's narrator and a friend of Rancho and Raju. His father wants him to be an engineer despite his love for wildlife photography. Towards the climax, it is shown that he convinces his parents about his love for photography and embarks on the journey for the passion of wildlife photography with the help of his friends and has become a famous wildlife photography by the present.
- Sharman Joshi as Raju Rastogi – the third member in the gang comprising Farhan and Rancho. In his college days, he came from an impoverished family with a mother who's a retired school teacher and a paralyzed father who was a postman. His sister is unmarried in the film during his college days. In the present day, he is shown to be a settled married man in Delhi and has freed his family from poverty and become a wealthy executive.
- Boman Irani as Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe – better known as "Virus", he serves as the strict college director and Pia's father. He is the film's "antagonist". He went on to another level of acting in altering his dialogue delivery and thereby bringing a crude strictness to his character. His character focuses on a person who is highly competitive and challenging in nature and he has done complete justice to the role. towards the end he is shown to be a changed man in terms of his teaching ideologies.
- Omi Vaidya as Chatur Ramalingam – better known as "Silencer". Omi plays a nerdy character born in Uganda and completed his schooling in Pondicherry. He believes in mindless memorizing and also sneers Rancho's ideas just like Virus. It is heavily implied that he was called Silencer because he popped "bengali baba's" pills and farts, blaming the output on others, plus cramming on exams by handling out pornographic magazines to the fellow students in order for him to rise his grades. After being insulted due to his speech, he swears retaliation and vows to be more successful. In the present part of the film, he is shown to be a very successful person holding the vice president position of a company. He mocks Rancho into signing a declaration defeat only to learn that Rancho is actually his client, Phunsukh Wangdu and later accepts the fact that Rancho is more successful than him. Vaidya was chosen by Hirani for the role mainly because of his dialogue memorization and his typical slang.
- Rahul Kumar as ManMohan – Better known as "Millimeter" or "MM". He is a young man who does chores in the college such as helping students by ironing their clothes, finishing assignments, and getting groceries, in return for money. In the present day, he works as a faculty member in Rancho/Chhote/Phunsukh Wangdu's school in Ladakh.
- Dushyant Wagh as Centimeter/Elder ManMohan – the present day Millimeter who works as Rancho's/Phunsukh Wangdu's assistant in Ladakh
- Mona Singh as Mona Sahastrabuddhe – Pia's elder sister and Virus's elder daughter. She has a supportive role in the movie.
- Parikshit Sahni as Mr. Qureshi – Farhan's father, a strict but loving parent who just wants his son to be settled in life.
- Amardeep Jha as Mrs. Rastogi – Raju's mother, who is a retired schoolteacher and tireless complainer.
- Javed Jaffrey as the real Ranchhodas Shyamaldas Chanchad – a person Raju, Farhan, and Chatur meet during the Shyamaldas Chanchad funeral service. His character is shown to be a corrupt person right from childhood, taking benefits from 'Chhote' in his homework and his exams. His father sends him to London and sends 'Chhote' to ICE to gain an engineering degree in his name however he does appreciate what Chhote did for him and does give Raju and Farhan information on where to find him, only after they blackmailed him into telling them.
- Arun Bali as Shamaldas Chhanchad – father of Ranchhoddas Shamaldas Chhanchad. He was an illiterate and knew people mocked him because of this so when he realized n the servant boy's intelligence he arranged for him to go to college and earn a degree in his sons name. He has died by the present day.
- Ali Fazal as Joy Lobo – the student who has similar passion for machines like Rancho. After Virus tells him that he would not graduate, he commits suicide.
- Akhil Mishra as Librarian Dubey
- Rohitash Gaud as Ranchhodas' servant
- Achyut Potdar as Machine Class Professor
- Madhav Vaze as Joy Lobo's father.
- Olivier Sanjay Lafont as Suhas Tandon – a materialistic comic character who is Pia's ex-fiance.
- Jayant Kripalani as Interviewer - the company head who conducts Raju's job interview.
Production
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, Chail 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. Filming of the ICE college scenes took place at the Indian Institute of Management – Bangalore campus for 33 days as a part of the second schedule of production. PIORelease
The film initially opened up on 2000 prints worldwide.3 Idiots was released in 1800 theaters in India, which was at that time a big domestic release. 3 Idiots was released in 415 screens overseas. 3 idiots was released in 2,215 theaters worldwidePre-release business
- The figures don't include the Print and Advertising (P&A) costs.
Box office
After its initial run, the film's adjusted worldwide lifetime gross was
3.39 billion (US$53 million).According to Box Office, 3 Idiots grossed
3.92 billion (US$62 million) worldwide at the end of its theatrical run. Box Office India declared the film an "All Time Blockbuster", and it is one of the films on their list of "Biggest Blockbusters Ever in Hindi Cinema". The film was also listed in Guinness World Records for the record of highest box office film gross for a Bollywood film.India
In its four-day first weekend, the film netted380 million (US$6.0 million), and broke the record held by Ghajini for the first weekend collections. By the first week, the film netted 790 million (US$12 million), again breaking the box office record held by Ghajini. 3 Idiots had nett grossed 560 million (US$8.8 million) in its 2nd week, 302.5 million (US$4.7 million) during the third week, 160 million (US$2.5 million) in its fourth week and 97.5 million (US$1.5 million) in fifth to make a total of 1.91 billion (US$30 million) in five weeks.Box Office India declared the film an "All time Blockbuster", and it is one of the films on their list of "Biggest Blockbusters Ever in Hindi Cinema".
Overseas
3 Idiots became the then highest-grossing Bollywood film in overseas markets with overseas gross of US$25 million. 3 Idiots first weekend opening collection in overseas was $4 million. It set record collections for Indian-produced films in territories such as United States, Australia, Fiji, and some African territories. In the United States, the film earned $6.5 million since its opening, in addition to over $2.5 million in the United Kingdom, over $2 million in Canada, nearly $1 million in Australia, and over $3 million in South Korea.3 Idiots has the biggest first week total in US with around $3 million over its first four days.Unusual for an Indian film, 3 Idiots has become a major success in East Asian markets. The film had the longest showing period at cinemas in Taiwan, for more than two months from December 2010, breaking the record of Avatar, with over TWD $10 million grossed. The film was the first aired Indian film in Hong Kong, where it grossed HKD $22 million since its showing from 1 September 2011, as of January 2012, and the equivalent of over US$3 million as of 4 March 2012. In China, where it is known as San Geshagua ("Three Idiots"), the film grossed $1.15 million in four days in December 2011, eventually crossing the $2 million mark within 18 days, and nearly $3 million within a month, as of 5 January 2012. Alongside the original Hindi version, a Chinese-dubbed version was also released, with the popular actress Tang Wei (best known for Lust, Caution) voicing Kareena Kapoor's role. One reason for its success in East Asian markets such as China and Hong Kong is because of their similar education systems, thus many students were able to identify with the characters, with some Chinese universities "even prescribing the film in their coursework as a kind of stress-relief in their classrooms." 3 Idiots added US$ 7 million from a wide release in far eastern markets like South Korea, China, Hong Kong etc. Following its success in other Asian markets, Japanese distributor Nikkatsu has announced plans to release the film in Japan. Upon its release in Japanese markets in June 2013, it went on to collect around ¥100 million (61 million) in its first two weeks of run – That makes the film the highest grossing Hindi film ever in Japan.
Critical reception
3 Idiots received universal critical acclaim. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) states: "It's not that 3 Idiots is a flawless work of art. But it is a vital, inspiring and life-revising work of contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part. In a country where students are driven to suicide by their impossible curriculum, 3 Idiots provides hope. Maybe cinema can't save lives. But cinema, sure as hell, can make you feel life is worth living. 3 Idiots does just that, and much more. The director takes the definition of entertainment into directions of social comment without assuming that he knows best." Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four and a half stars and suggests that, "The film is a laugh riot, despite being high on fundas [...] Hirani carries forward his simplistic 'humanism alone works' philosophy of the Lage Raho Munna Bhai series in 3 Idiots too, making it a warm and vivacious signature tune to 2009. The second half of the film does falter in parts, specially the child birth sequence, but it doesn't take long for the film to jump back on track." Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times gave the film three and a half out of five stars and comments that "this is the sort of movie you’ll take home with a smile and a song on your lips." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3 Idiots four and a half out of five stars and states: "On the whole, 3 Idiots easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch 3 Idiots. It's emotional, it's entertaining, it's enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way." Kaveree Bamzai of India Today gave 3 Idiots five stars and argues that "it's a lovely story, of a man from nowhere who wanted to learn, told like a fairy tale, with the secret heart carrying its coded message of setting all of us free."Other critics gave the film a mixed review. Sonia Chopra of Sify gave the film 3 stars and said "Though a bit too calculated and designed, 3 Idiots is still an ok option for the significant message, interesting cast and scattered breezy moments." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars and states: "Going home after watching 3 Idiots I felt like I'd just been to my favorite restaurant only to be a tad under-whelmed by their signature dish. It was a satisfying meal, don't get me wrong, but not the best meal I'd been expecting." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express also gave it 3 stars, stating "‘3 Idiots' does not do as much for me. The emotional truth that shone through both the 'Munnabhai' movies doesn’t come through strongly enough." Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film two out of five stars and states: "Rajkumar Hirani's one of the directors of the decade, a man with immense talent and a knack for storytelling. On his debut, he hit a hundred. With his second, he hit a triple century. This time, he fishes outside the offstump, tries to play shots borrowed from other batters, and hits and misses to provide a patchy, 32*-type innings. It's okay, boss, *chalta hai*. Even Sachin has an off day, and we still have great hope."
The film has also been highly acclaimed overseas. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% "fresh" critics' rating based on six reviews as well as an audience rating of 93% based on over 20,000 votes. Derek Elley of Variety wrote that "3 Idiots takes a while to lay out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half." Robert Abele of Los Angeles Times wrote that there's an "unavoidable joie de vivre (symbolized by Rancho's meditative mantra 'All is well') and a performance charm that make this one of the more naturally gregarious Bollywood imports." Louis Proyect described it as a "fabulous achievement across the board. A typical Bollywood confection but also social commentary on a dysfunctional engineering school system that pressures huge numbers of students into suicide." The Korean site Naver gave the film a review rating of 9.4 out of 10; on the same site, it holds a user rating of 9.34 out of 10 based on nearly 25,000 votes, making it the 19th highest-rated film on Naver's top films list. On the Chinese site Douban, 3 Idiots holds an average audience rating of 9.1 out of 10 based on nearly 500,000 votes,making it the 10th highest-rated film on Douban's top 250 list.
Aamir Khan remuneration for 3 idiots was
450 million (US$7.1 million) including shares in profits (highest ever in 2009).Awards
Main article: List of accolades received by 3 Idiots
The film won 40 accolades; among these are six Filmfare Awards including best film and best director, ten Star Screen Awards, sixteen IIFA awards and three National Film Awards. In January 2014, it was nominated in the Best Outstanding Foreign Language Film category for 37th Japanese Academy Awards.Soundtrack
| 3 Idiots | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Soundtrack album by Shantanu Moitra | |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Label | T-Series |
| Producer | Shantanu Moitra |
| Track# | Song | Singer(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Aal Izz Well" | Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Swanand Kirkire | 4:36 |
| 2 | "Zoobi Doobi" | Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal | 4:08 |
| 3 | "Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh" | Shaan, Shantanu Moitra | 5:01 |
| 4 | "Give Me Some Sunshine" | Suraj Jagan, Sharman Joshi | 4:07 |
| 5 | "Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe" | Sonu Nigam | 3:32 |
| 6 | "Aal Izz Well (Remix)" | Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Swanand Kirkire | 4:41 |
| 7 | "Zoobi Doobi (Remix)" | Sonu Nigam, Jaive Samson, Shreya Ghoshal | 3:29 |
Controversy
Prior to the release of the film director Rajkumar Hirani commented on the relationship between Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat and 3 Idiots stating:- Chetan gave me this book to read and I wanted to make a film on it. But I knew right from the start that I could not make a film completely on the book, as it was very anecdotal and a film needs a plot. So I had decided to rewrite it in a screenplay format. You'll see that the film is very different from the book. After I wrote the script, I called Chetan and narrated it to him. I told him that if he did not like the script, I would stop the project. But he was okay with it.
- Initially I did sit down with Raju and Abhijat while they were deciding to make a film based on '5 Point Someone'. I even went to IIT with Abhijat a couple of times. But it was just not possible for me to be involved at every stage of the screenplay writing process since I was in Hong Kong at that time, working full time and busy writing other books. Moreover, Abhijat is based in USA, Raju was in the US for quite a while working on the screenplay but it was not practical for me to do that [...] The film retains the soul of the book. 3 Idiots is different from the book but at the same time it does borrow many things from the book. The core theme and message of the film is coming from the book itself. And that's why the makers have officially credited the film as 'Based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat.'
A few people responded to Chetan's statements. According to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), during a press conference with reporters producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra "clarified that in the agreement between the producer and Bhagat, it was clearly mentioned that the author’s name would be put in the closing credits." IANS also reported that Chopra "lost his cool" and "asked a reporter to shut up after being questioned whether his hit 3 Idiots was lifted from author Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone."Chopra later apologised, stating: "I really think I’m silly. I was provoked, but I shouldn’t have done this. I saw myself on TV and saw how I was shouting 'shut up, shut up' like an animal. I told myself — 'what nonsensical behaviour'." Aamir Khan also responded to these claims. Rajkumar Hirani stated that "We have officially bought the rights for the film. We drew a contract with him and it clearly mentions about the position of his credit. With open eyes he had seen the contract, consulted his lawyer and signed the agreement [...] In the contract, we have said that the title would be given in the rolling credits. We haven't changed the font size. We haven't increased the speed of the title. It's exactly there where it was agreed to be."Chetan Bhagat later apologised stating, "I definitely do not have anything against team 3 Idiots. I may have some issues on the mistake they may have made but nothing about their personality or the kind of people they are. I apologise to their families if there was any distress caused to them. I also want to thank all my fans, who stood by me but I don't want them to turn against anyone especially Aamir.
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