The Best of Bollywood: Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘3 Idiots’
The best movies aren’t always the ones that make a tonne of money, win countless awards, transcend language and culture barriers, and make genuine impacts on society in a number of different ways, but it certainly helps in terms of legacy when films like 3 Idiots do.
Rajkumar Hirani’s coming-of-age dramatic comedy did all of the above, fully earning its status as one of the most influential Bollywood movies of the modern era. The accolades kept on rolling in, and so did the remakes, with 3 Idiots firmly entrenched as one of the most important and successful Indian films of the 21st century.
Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi star as the titular idiotic title characters Rancho, Farhan, and Raju, all of them household names in their own right. Unfolding across parallel narratives told a decade apart, the story traces the trio’s friendship from their college life through to adulthood, exploring and satirising the local education system with an equally deft touch.
Of course, they each have disparate personalities that bounce off each other and occasionally get them into trouble, and the chemistry between the three leads is both palpable and pivotal to 3 Idiots as a whole. Rancho is an outgoing and carefree entrepreneur and scientist, Farhan is an artist at heart, and Raju is driven towards a high-paying job by the poverty he and his family grew up around.
As reliant as it is on the charisma of its stars and their overarchingly intertwined journey, 3 Idiots has plenty to say on a deeper level. Appealing to every generation and reflecting the struggles shared by many people who identified with the trials and tribulations of the nation’s unforgiving education system, the film was less of a smash hit and more of a cultural phenomenon.
Shattering box office benchmarks, it became the highest-grossing Indian movie in history, and summing up its wide-ranging and light-hearted ruminations on hard-hitting issues, it scooped a National Film Award for ‘Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’. A fun time at the cinema, first and foremost, the lingering after-effects of 3 Idiots ended up becoming a key part of its standing in the annals of Bollywood history.
Lauded for its realistic depictions of a gruelling educational environment, the system in India was reorganised and realigned in the years that followed, allowing students to focus their attention on a number of different fields instead of being forced to specialise in one above all others. It stretched much further afield than home shores, too, with China and Taiwan taking cues from 3 Idiots to alter their own education hierarchies.
By every metric, 3 Idiots was a resounding victory for everyone involved. Not only on the critical and commercial fronts but turning a genuine societal issue into a talking point and instigating change through the lens of light-hearted escapism.
