Life is hard.
Life is hard.
I am slowly but surely trying to overcome my prejudice against Indian movies. 3 Idiots have a good and warm story. But it has a problem that ruined my experience, and it was the genre mixing.
Since I’m so familiar with South Korean movies, I’m used to this mixing of genres. Most movies are partly ruined when the movie goes from light comedy to serious themes. And unfortunately, 3 Idiots walk on a thin line and fall off the line with the genre-mixing.
In 3 Idiots we witness suicide and suicide attempts. The reason for that is a professor who cannot feel empathy with the students. He’s a hard nut to crack, and the three idiots that we follow become best friends. They are trying to become engineers, but first, they must climb the enormous mountain that is the evil professor.
They must face tough trials when they don’t give up to fulfill their parents’ dreams. As in many countries and cultures, it seems like India has a problem where parents are pushing their kids towards certain jobs that they are not interested in if they graduate. The movie does not delve deep into this subject, but the message gets through.
It’s quite special that someone makes a comedy movie that lasts for almost three hours. The movie shouldn’t have been this long, it should have been an hour shorter.
The first half is weak with lousy humor, and we get to hear some songs that don’t sound good. It’s so silly when suddenly the characters are singing and dancing, but that’s just the way Indians like it and maybe someday I will also find it charming. But I hate dancing. And I hate happy people! And I hate happy people dancing!
The last half of the movie is considerably better, with slightly heavier drama and suspense. Will the three idiots succeed, or will the evil professor put an end to their plans and future?
Three actors do a good job, the rest of the actors are not exactly impressive. The best of them is Aamir Khan, followed by Boman Irani and Kareena Kapoor. These three stand out from the rest of the actors.
3 Idiots is a good movie to start with if you are unfamiliar with Indian movies. It’s just too long and the first hour is not very good.