"Aal is Well!"

Yesterday was my blog's second birthday. I had planned to write a special post, which is currently sitting incomplete in my computer - or rather, my brother's computer - because my computer has once again decided to give me trouble. (This is synonymous to acute tension and stress and worry for writers because we can honestly and very literally not live without constant computer access. My only new year's wish this year is a new computer. That will solve all my problems, totally.) Anyways, even if I had completed the 'special' post on time, I wouldn't have been able to publish it because yesterday was a Sunday and my Sundays seem to have become jam packed with miscellaneous things to do since I don't get ANY free time during the week because of work. Yesterday was spent with my cousin M and we went to watch 3 Idiots and so, instead of the special landmark post I had intended to publish, I'll review the movie instead.
In one word, 3 idiots is 'exceptional'. It's a notch above most Bollywood movies to be in line with super hits like Dil Chahta Hai and Wake Up Sid. It offers a cinematic journey that will be enjoyed equally by a ten-year-old, a twenty year old, a fifty year old. For different reasons, of course, but enjoyed thoroughly.



The principal premise reinforces what I have been ranting and whining about for the past fouryears, ever since I landed in the mess that is known as the Indian education system. It brings out the fundamental flaws of the age-old curricula followed at even the topmost and foremost institutions of learning in my country. It screams out loud and clear how, if ever there was a time for change, it is NOW or never. Stop the cramming, scrap the 'rules', be innovative, move away from tradition and foray into exciting new arenas. Let students be who God intended them to be rather than what is most profitable/beneficial to be. Focus on talent and understanding, rather than subjects and marks. In short, grow up (with the times).
It's a film that draws attention to the widespread, well-known but silently ignored phenomenon of young people ending their lives just because of failure or fear thereof. It highlights how teachers and parents are often the very people who push their children and students into a trap where the only option left is to accept defeat and quit from life itself.
Despite the important message(s) that the movie conveys, it is wonderfully light-hearted and strikes those emotional chords just right. It makes you smile, and it makes you shed a tear, but mostly, it makes you smile while simultaneously shedding a tear. It is about relationships: with parents, with teachers, with peers, and most importantly, with friends. It is about how some people simply change our lives without us even realising it. And how our affection towards them lasts through the tests of time, survives all the changes life throws our way.
Parts of the movie do get exaggerated; there are slight directorial flaws here and there, but the sheer power of the screenplay and the script make us all too willing to overlook the insignificant details. It's a fun story, it keeps you hooked for the entire duration of almost 3 hours, the music makes you hum along, it has dialogs you'll remember and repeat for a long time to come. All in all, it's a movie that works. And works well: to inspire, to touch, to cheer up, and to make you THINK.
Being a psychology graduate, I wasn't too happy with the title 3 'idiots' because I found it kind of degrading and insulting, but in a way it draws attention to how we toss about that word with no regard for the actual meaning, so I guess it's okay that they named it that.
My advice: go and watch it, even if you totally hate Bollywood movies and can't stand them. This is one you'll surely like, I promise. :)

p.s. For those who have heard that it is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel, Five Point Someone, it is only very very loosely related to that. Most of it is completely different.