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3 Idiots
Poster of the movie
Directed by	Rajkumar Hirani
Written by	Screenplay: Abhijat Joshi Rajkumar Hirani Novel: Chetan Bhagat
Produced by	Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring	Aamir Khan R. Madhavan Sharman Joshi Kareena Kapoor Boman Irani Omi Vaidya Parikshit Sahni Javed Jaffrey
Cinematography	Muraleetharana
Edited by	Rajkumar Hirani
Music by	Shantanu Moitra
Distributed by	B.K Films Industries
Release dates	25 December 2009 (India) 23 December 2009 (USA, UK)
Running time	164 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	$ 7.5 Million
Box office	INR 1.14 billion(as on 3.1.2010 in domestic territory)

3 Idiots (Template:Lang-hi) is a 2009 Bollywood comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani, with screenplay by Abhijat Joshi, and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. 3 Idiots stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani.

3 Idiots also expected to be the first Indian film to be officially released on You Tube, within 12 weeks of releasing in theatres. It is also Bollywood's biggest blockbuster with the biggest opening of all time.

Plot

Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancho or Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) are three engineering students who all share the same room in a hostel at the fictional ICE, one of the best colleges in India (modeled after IIT). While Farhan and Raju are mediocre students from modest backgrounds, Rancho is a wealthy genius who studies for the sheer joy of it. Yet it is precisely his passion for knowledge and his gift for creating machines that incurs the wrath of Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) (Boman Irani). Threatened by Rancho's talent, ViruS labels him an "idiot" and attempts on a number of occasions to destroy his friendship with Farhan and Raju. In contrast, ViruS’ model student is Chatur Ramalingam or "Silencer," (Omi Vaidya) a geek who lives by conforming to the expectations of the system, mindless cramming, and unethical means of destroying his competition. Meanwhile, Rancho also falls in love with ViruS' pre-med daughter Pia (Kareena Kapoor) when he and his "buddies" (Raju and Farhan) "crash" her sister's wedding.

Their story is framed as a flashback from the present day, five years after graduation. Having lost contact with Rancho who disappeared during the graduation party, Raju and Farhan begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Chatur, now a wealthy and successful businessman, who joins them to settle a bet with Rancho and meet a business associate named Phunsukh Wangdu. Raju and Farhan also find and bring Pia along with them.

Cast

• Aamir Khan as Rancho
• Kareena Kapoor as Pia Sahastrabudhhe
• R. Madhavan as Farhan Qureshi
• Sharman Joshi as Raju Rastogi
• Boman Irani as Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS)
• Omi Vaidya as Chatur Ramalingam (Silencer)
• Parikshit Sahni as Mr Qureshi
• Javed Jaffrey as Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad
• Mona Singh as Mona Sahastrabudhhe (Pia's sister)
• Arun Bali as Shamaldas Chanchad
• Jayant Kripalani as Interviewer
• Rahul Kumar - Millemetre (MM)

Production

Filming

The shoot of the film with the supporting characters began on 28 July 2008. Hirani and his team left in late August for the shoot with the principal cast. The film was shot in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Ladakh, Chail and Shimla. Aamir and rest of the cast began shooting in early September. Hirani planned to wrap up the film by December. The first scene was shot in an aircraft with Madhavan. From Mumbai, the crew and cast comprising Aamir and Kareena went to Ladakh for a 20-day schedule. The shooting also took place at the Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore for 33 days as a part of the second schedule of production.

According to Rajkumar Hirani, the biggest joke while filming was that he was called the most idiotic director, as he had asked the heroine of the film to gain weight and the heroes to lose weight.

Release

Pre-release

In January 2009 Bollywood Hungama surveyed the most anticipated Bollywood films of the coming year.3 Idiots received the #1 spot for Top 10 movies for India.

Box office performance

3 Idiots is a All Time Blockbuster . The film has opened with the most number of prints ever for a Hindi film. In India, 1,550 prints in over 1,760 screens and overseas 342 prints in over 366 screens. The film was released in over 40 countries. The paid previews of 3 Idiots itself garnered over Rs 9 crs gross worldwide,which is above Ghajini’s paid previews collection of Rs 7 crs gross worldwide. 3 Idiots' total domestic nett collection is 79.05 crores from the first week and second weekend collection is around 34.5 crores, taking its 10-day domestic total to 113.55 crores, which is almost equal to the lifetime business of Ghajini. The distributor share has crossed 60 crore which is the highest share ever.

Critical reception

3 Idiots received generally positive reviews. Subhash K. Jha (film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood) states: "It's not that 3 Idiots is a flawless work of art. But it is a vital, inspiring and life-revising work of contemporary art with some heart imbued into every part. In a country where students are driven to suicide by their impossible curriculum, 3 Idiots provides hope. Maybe cinema can't save lives. But cinema, sure as hell, can make you feel life is worth living. 3 Idiots does just that, and much more. The director takes the definition of entertainment into directions of social comment without assuming that he knows best." Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four and a half stars and suggests that, "The film is a laugh riot, despite being high on fundas Hirani carries forward his simplistic `humanism alone works' philosophy of the Lage Raho Munna Bhai series in 3 Idiots too, making it a warm and vivacious signature tune to 2009. The second half of the film does falter in parts, specially the child birth sequence, but it doesn't take long for the film to jump back on track." Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars and comments that this "this is the sort of movie you’ll take home with a smile and a song on your lips." Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 3 Idiots four and a half out of five stars and states: "On the whole, 3 Idiots easily ranks amongst Aamir, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's finest films. Do yourself and your family a favour: Watch 3 Idiots. It's emotional, it's entertaining, it's enlightening. The film has tremendous youth appeal and feel-good factor to work in a big way." Kaveree Bamzai of India Today gave 3 Idiots five stars and argues that "it's a lovely story, of a man from nowhere who wanted to learn, told like a fairy tale, with the secret heart carrying its coded message of setting all of us free."

Other critics gave the film a mixed review. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars and states: "Going home after watching 3 Idiots I felt like I'd just been to my favorite restaurant only to be a tad under-whelmed by their signature dish. It was a satisfying meal, don't get me wrong, but not the best meal I'd been expecting." Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film two out of five stars and states: "Rajkumar Hirani's one of the directors of the decade, a man with immense talent and a knack for storytelling. On his debut, he hit a hundred. With his second, he hit a triple century. This time, he fishes outside the offstump, tries to play shots borrowed from other batters, and hits and misses to provide a patchy, 32*-type innings. It's okay, boss, *chalta hai*. Even Sachin has an off day, and we still have great hope."

Awards

Star Screen Awards

• Nominated: Best Film
• Nominated: Best Director - Rajkumar Hirani
• Nominated: Actor - Aamir Khan
• Nominated: Actress - Kareena Kapoor
• Nominated: Supporting Actor - R. Madhavan
• Nominated: Supporting Actor - Sharman Joshi
• Nominated: Actor in a Negative Role - Boman Irani
• Nominated: Actor in a Comic Role - Omi Vaidya
• Nominated: Background Music - Shantanu Moitra, Atul Raninga, Sanjay Wandrekar
• Nominated: Playback Singer (female) - Shreya Ghoshal - Zoobi Doobi
• Nominated: Story - Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani
• Nominated:Screenplay - Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra
• Nominated:Dialogue - Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani
• Nominated: Editing - Rajkumar Hirani
• Nominated: Sound - Bishwadeep Chatterjee, Nihar Ranjan Samel
• Nominated: Cinematography - C.K. Muraleedharan
• Nominated: Art Direction - Acropolis, Rajnish Hedaa, Sumit, Snigdha Basu
• Nominated: Choreography - Avit Dias - Aal Izz Well - and Bosco- Caesar - Zoobi Doobi
• Nominated:Most Promising Newcomer - Omi Vaidya
• Nominated: Best Child Artist - Rahul Kumar

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack is composed by Shantanu Moitra with lyrics penned by Swanand Kirkire.

Tracklist

Controversy: Adaptation from book

Prior to the release of the film director Rajkumar Hirani commented on the relationship between Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat and 3 Idiots. He stated:

Chetan gave me this book to read and I wanted to make a film on it. But I knew right from the start that I could not make a film completely on the book, as it was very anecdotal and a film needs a plot. So I had decided to rewrite it in a screenplay format. You'll see that the film is very different from the book. After I wrote the script, I called Chetan and narrated it to him. I told him that if he did not like the script, I would stop the project. But he was okay with it.

The day after the film opened, Chetan also stated:

Initially I did sit down with Raju and Abhijat while they were deciding to make a film based on '5 Point Someone'. I even went to IIT with Abhijat a couple of times. But it was just not possible for me to be involved at every stage of the screenplay writing process since I was in Hong Kong at that time, working full time and busy writing other books. Moreover, Abhijat is based in USA, Raju was in the US for quite a while working on the screenplay but it was not practical for me to do that The film retains the soul of the book. 3 Idiots is different from the book but at the same time it does borrow many things from the book. The core theme and message of the film is coming from the book itself. And that's why the makers have officially credited the film as 'Based on a novel by Chetan Bhagat.'

A controversy developed a few days after the release, however, over the fact that Chetan's credit, "Based on the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat" appeared in the closing credits rather than in the opening ones. At that time, Bhagat stated that he "was expecting an opening credit and I was quite surprised on not seeing it. They had bought the rights, made the payment and committed to a credit in the contract. It’s there, but it’s not about it being there, it’s about the placement and the prominence." In a 31 December 2009 blog post on his personal website, Bhagat stated that he was told the movie was only 2-5% based on the book, but when he saw it, he felt that it was 70% of the book. He also argued that he was misled by the makers of the film, though he noted, that "this has nothing to do with Mr. Aamir Khan I am a big fan of Aamir and he has made my story reach people. However, he was told by the makers not to read the book, and he hasn’t. Thus, he cannot comment on the issue in a meaningful manner."

A few people responded to Chetan's statements. According to the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), during a press conference with reporters producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra "clarified that in the agreement between the producer and Bhagat, it was clearly mentioned that the author’s name would be put in the closing credits." IANS also reported that Chopra "lost his cool" and "asked a reporter to shut up after being questioned whether his hit 3 Idiots was lifted from author Chetan Bhagat’s book Five Point Someone." Chopra later apologized, stating: "I really think I’m silly. I was provoked, but I shouldn’t have done this. I saw myself on TV and saw how I was shouting ‘shut up, shut up’ like an animal. I told myself — ‘what nonsensical behaviour’." Aamir Khan also responded to these claims.Rajkumar Hirani stated that "We have officially bought the rights for the film. We drew a contract with him and it clearly mentions about the position of his credit. With open eyes he had seen the contract, consulted his lawyer and signed the agreement In the contract, we have said that the title would be given in the rolling credits. We haven't changed the font size. We haven't increased the speed of the title. It's exactly there where it was agreed to be." Legal documents concerning the relationship between Bhagat and the filmmakers have been added to the Vinod Chopra Productions website as well.

See also

• List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

References

1. "Three Idiots on YouTube". DearCinema.com.
2. 3 Idiots set to be Bollywood’s biggest grosser
3. "Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots goes on floors". indiafm.com.
4. "Shooting for 3 Idiots underway". rediff.com.
5. "Shooting 'Three Idiots' is like holidaying". thaindian.com.
6. "Rajkumar Hirani talks about 3 Idiots and working with Aamir Khan".
7. Bollywood Hungama review of 3 Idiots
8. MiD DAY Review of 3 Idiots
9. India Today review of 3 Idiots
10. America Online review of 3 Idiots
11. Mumbai Mirror review of 3 Idiots
12. The Times of India review of 3 Idiots
13. MTV India's review of 3 Idiots
15. Indian Express review of 3 Idiots
16. "The Most Awaited movies of 2009". bollywoodhungama.com.
17. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/boxdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=1387&nCat=box_office_report
18. http://indipepal.com/bollywood/article/page/0/3-Idiots-On-A-Record-Breaking-Spree
19. Subhash K Jha speaks about 3 Idiots
20. 3 Idiots review: Times of India
21. 3 Idiots review: Hindustan Times
22. 3 Idiots review: Bollywood Hungama
23. 3 Idiots: Laugh. Cry. Fly. Go watch it.
24. 3 Idiots review: CNN-IBN
25. Rediff review
26. Nominations for Nokia 16th Annual Star Screen Awards 2009
27. "Aamir's dedication is mistaken as interference", rediff.com, 23 December 2009.
28. “3 Idiots retains the soul of Five Point Someone”, Chetan Bhagat interview, One India.
29. ^ Interview:Aamir Khan
30. Sharma, Neha."Chetan Bhagat feeling cheated?", Hindustan Times, 27 December 2009.
31. A book, a film and the truth"
32. Vidhu Vinod Chopra loses cool over '3 Idiots' credit row (Lead)
33. Vidhu apologises, Hirani flaunts pact with Chetan
34. Upset Aamir Khan hits out at novelist Chetan Bhagat
35. 3 Idiots may sue Chetan Bhagat
36. Vinod Chopra Films: Legal agreements

External links

• Official website
• Official trailers
• 3 Idiots at IMDb

Template:Vinod Chopra Productions

• 2009 films
• Indian comedy films
• Hindi-language films
• Films based on novels