3 Idiots

Some years back I was browsing through the bookstore Crossword when I noticed a book titled "Five point someone - What not to do at IIT!". I was attracted by the reference to my alma mater and bought it immediately. When I was through with reading the book I somewhat felt disappointed. It didn't make me any happier when I heard that Raju Hirani was going to make a film based on it featuring my favourite actor Aamir Khan.

3 Idiots released close to Christmas. Initially I wasn't in a mood to see it because of my grave doubts. The good reviews and the juntas comments on Aamir Khan's blog however got me curious.

For once I thought a movie managed to beat the book that inspired it. It had lots of witty dialogues, smart situations, and a decent emotional content. I enjoyed 3 Idiots. But I did not love it. Unlike the two Munnabhais and Taare Zameen Par it just did not leave me moved. Perhaps the film was too entertaining. I understand the need for telling a message in an engaging and lighthearted fashion. But everything does not have to be turned into a joke like the struggles which Raju's (Sharman Joshi) family faces in lieu of supporting his engineering degree. This is a story of many a students coming to study at IITs or for that matter at medical schools. For me it is not a laughing matter. The funny means by which the other two idiots Rancho (Aamir Khan) and Farhan (Madhavan) help Raju recover from his suicide attempt takes away from the seriousness of the situation that had lead him to take the drastic step.

Further, I thought that the teaching community had been unjustly represented only through the characters of the Dean (Boman Irani) and other professors who insult and make fun of the three lead characters all the time. There are three cases of suicide in it. The race for coming first and the grueling learning system adopted by the engineering college which are responsible for two of these deaths is never really shown.

Except for Rancho and Farhan no one seems to have pursuits beyond studies. You just have to attend one of the several competitions in the areas of dramatics, music and art or the events in the yearly IIT festivals to know this is not true. Innovative ideas are not exactly squashed either. In IIT Bombay's famous Robotics festival you can see innumerable displays of cutting edge designs developed by students coming from all over India to participate. It is now commonplace even in colleges to invite well established figures to deliver keynote lectures at special occasions to inspire the youth to use their talent.

I do agree when the film says that one must pursue what you are passionate about. Some in audience have wrongly come out thinking that it says don't be a doctor or an engineer. Instead it drives home the point that by all means take up that profession but only as long as your heart is in it and not just because it has been mapped by your parents for you from the time you were born. My point however is that you might not really know after class 12th what you want to be. You might need those years in college in order to discover yourself and your passions. Like it is for Farhan to come to a conclusion that he should afterall pursue photography. Of course he knows it would also require him to work hard and struggle but at least it would be for something he loves.

To give 3 Idiots its due it does tell us an important message which could have got lost in all the frolic and entertainment. In Baba Ranchod Das Chanchad's words don't chase success, chase excellence. If you do the latter then success will automatically follow. But if your goal is simply earning big bucks then at some point you may end up taking a wrong route to it. I loved what Aamir Khan said in an interview I caught on tv. Instead of asking our children how many marks they scored in tests or did they come first or second in exams we should ask them did they help their friends, did they do something nice or did they bring a smile on someone's face during the day. Then automatically the focus will shift from the running madly in a race to becoming well rounded individuals with caring hearts.

Love aaj kal

Having loved Jab We Met, I had been wanting to see its director Imtiaz Ali's next film Love Aaj Kal. My wish was granted only recently. Very simply the movie compares love in today's times (aaj kal) with the way it was in yesteryears through two story lines running in parallel.

Rishi Kapoor's dialogue illustrates this difference very well. He remarks that when he fell in love he started working so that he could unite with his girl while now work has become the reason for couples breaking up, a course which Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone take in the film. Neither believes their relationship would survive the distance brought about by a change in jobs and so in a very normal conversation they decide to part ways amicably minus any tears. They continue to remain "friends". They meet secretly and pay more attention to each other than the new special persons of their respective lives. It has to take Deepika to get married to Rahul Khanna to realize that she is still in love with Saif Ali Khan! However, she shies away from telling him the truth because she finds out that this time he has landed a dream job which will take him elsewhere. So once again the two lovers find themselves separately pining. Many months pass before they finally unite to give the film the traditional happy ending.

One of the reasons Love Aaj Kal doesn't work for me is because the initial love story between the two protagonists is never built up. The magic or chemistry which is responsible for bringing them together is never explored. The dating period is shown in such a fast forward manner that there seems to be no depth in the couple's relationship and it is difficult for me as an audience to understand what is so great about the two that they are still hung up on each other even after splitting up. Moments before getting married to Rahul Khanna, Deepika meets Saif Ali Khan. Yet the two of them refuse to recognize the importance of the moment and do not even then acknowledge that things were never over between them.

The film depicts a rather sorry picture of the present youth which I do not agree with. Indeed today all women are not satisfied with only taking care of home. Men too are becoming increasingly supportive of their girl friends' or wives' career goals. Both are willing to go that extra mile for each other. Unlike the lead pair, they do not simply give up without even trying. I know of couples who have handled such situations well. Not that its easy. It requires a great deal of patience, faith, and love. But they'd rather be together even if from afar than not all. Sadly the film instead depicts its hero-heroine representing our generation, first as so practical in life that they are devoid of any emotion even when breaking up and later on as two confused people who are incapable of deciphering their own feelings.