Monday, June 17, 2013

3 Idiots

3 Idiots. One of the greatest Bollywood movies I have ever seen in my life. And now, it's become my favorite. THANKS AARTI! Before I started watching the movie, I just thought it was going to be one of those silly comedy flicks, but I was wrong. I was so very wrong. It was so much more than that. Not to mention, the music was absolutely gorgeous.

3 Idiots has a lot of different themes and as much as I'd love to focus on just one of the themes, I can't. I'll start with the most obvious one though: friendship/love. I think people sometimes forget that one of the most beautiful forms of love exists in friendship hence why I put a slash between the two. Anyway, the portrayal of friendship and love was so beautiful and moving. Rancho, Raju, and Farhan end up in the same room at the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) and become fast friends. It is really hard to put all of my feelings into why I love their friendship/bromance. Simply put, they are always there for each other. Even though Rancho is at the top of the class, he doesn't put himself above Raju and Farhan. Raju and Farhan accept Rancho for the eccentric, free spirit that he is. When Raju's father goes into cardiac arrest and an ambulance can't reach there quick enough, it is Rancho who rushes him to the hospital, ultimately saving the life of Raju's father. And when Raju tearfully thanks Rancho, it's just so beautiful. I cried. When Raju is threatened with expulsion if he doesn't pin a drunk (and rather funny) incident on Racho, he refuses and instead goes to an extreme. That extreme measure puts Raju in a coma and in the hospital. Faithfully as ever though, Rancho and Farhan are there. Rancho is even able to finally convince Farhan to go to his parents and tell them that he doesn't want to be an engineer, but a wildlife photographer. The friendship that these three share is overwhelmingly powerful. Understand that Farhan and Raju never would have changed had it not been for Rancho. They needed him as much as he needed them. Real friends, true friends, they love you for who you are, no matter how strange. They inspire you and encourage you. They make you laugh and cry. And they are always there for you. At the core of all everlasting and meaningful friendships is love.

One of the other prominent themes in 3 Idiots is success. Rancho believes that one should follow excellence rather than success. Success will take care of itself. "Follow excellence, success will chase you, pants down." In the same line of success is what we dream of being in the future, what we want as a future career. In both Indian and Pakistani culture, science is highly valued and rightfully so. But even so, becoming an engineer or a doctor isn't all that exists out there. In the movie, Rancho tells Farhan that he will regret not taking the chance to become a wildlife photgrapher while he still has the opportunity to do so. At ICE, the students are made to believe that life is a race. Rancho being who he is doesn't believe that. He makes a point of how the education system at ICE is broken and places too much pressure on students. And quite honestly, that same thought can probably be applied to education systems put in place today, all over the world. We live our lives thinking that we've got to be number one. And all we seem to do is memorize. Rancho knows that isn't right and I do too. Life isn't a race so stop treating it like one. You don't have to be number one to be successful or content as seen with Farhan and Raju. And even if you are number one, be the right kind of number one. Be the person that loves to learn for the sake of increasing your own knowledge. Be the person that wants to learn and apply what you learn when you can. Be the student that earns the astronaut pen of excellence. 

The whole movie is just so inspiring, especially after you discover the truth about Rancho. It really teaches you a lot about life and even about yourself. I will forewarn you and say that it is a movie of feelings. Lots of feelings. It was so moving that I cried and laughed and smiled. I stared at the screen intently, waiting to see what would happen next to the three idiots. I can honestly say that watching 3 Idiots was worth approximately 3 hours. It's a movie that everyone should watch. I'm certain that everyone can take away something from the movie.

I will now leave you with one of the songs from 3 Idiots with a link to the English translation. And if anyone is interested in watching the movie, send a message my way. Enjoy!



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