Originally posted on www.passionforcinema.com on December 28, 2009
Where is the honesty? Where is the spontaneity? 3 idiots reeked of manipulations and design to the core. It was so thoroughly designed to deliver punches in each and every scene that it seized to be spontaneous the moment it started. Nothing really wrong with it, as people are having a jolly good time seeing it and taking lessons from it. As long as you don’t see the designs and the manipulations Aal eez well! But if one digs a scratch deeper and tries to see the hands behind the film, each and every scene feels contrived, made just to press the audience’s buttons at every step. Not even a single scene passes without telling you how to feel. Not even a single scene plays out naturally giving us insight into a human being. Zero organic writing. And as I unmasked Hirani along the film, I could see him mouthing the Akshay Kumar’s password in Ajnabee ‘Everything is Planned’. Bad one! But couldn’t resist :-P
Then I asked myself, why Munnabhai films didn’t feel that way. They were also precisely designed, delivering punches at each and every step. What was it about those films that despite of it’s hard-core Hirani treatment, felt honest and spontaneous. Why did I sigh ‘Bas karo bhashan’ in 3 idiots and didn’t mind even a single advice in Munnabhai. Lage raho was actually super preachy, but I could still sense a very good heart at the heart of the films. Whose heart was it? After seeing 3 idiots I can vouch that it wasn’t Hirani’s. He surely is supremely witty, but the heart wasn’t his. My sister helped me with this. She said “Outside Munnabhai films also, we all have an image of Sanjay Dutt. An image of a guy with a heart of gold. How much ever bad he does, one always feels he is essentially a nice guy at heart.” Yea!! That was it!! Munnabhai was Sanjay Dutt, by heart and soul. His character was extension of his off-screen persona. And this worked brilliantly for the film. The honesty and spontaneity was injected in the Munnabhai films by apna Sanju baba and Circuit too to quite an extent. These guys were actually living the characters and thus the films felt ekdum dil se. No amount of designs could overshadow or overpower Munnabhai’s honesty when he tells Dr Suman “Main tumko love karta hai…. Kya karu..woh ho gaya na..”
Now juxtapose that with the ‘heart-of-gold’ Rancho. Aamir Khan makes a mess of it. Hirani calculates Rancho as an inquisitive, naïve, mischievous, maverick and has-figured-out-life kinda guy. But Mr. Hirani, where is his heart? Just see the design of Hirani, to create sympathy for Rancho. After establishing Rancho as a genius, a know-it-all guy, he then unravels his past to reveal that he is actually a servant’s son, a poor guy. And I don’t know whether this design worked for the viewers or no. For me Rancho always remained a theoretical character. I enjoyed his antics but never connected or warmed up to him. He was just a script manifestation never actually fleshing out in front of me. The film overshadows this deficit by its punch-filled scenes and dialogues not once relying on the audience connect with Rancho.
I am a die hard Aamir Khan fan. He must be putting great amount of efftorts to flesh out a character but not once before 3 idiots did I see that effort on screen. He unfailingly delivers effortless performances each and every time. Even when he stepped out of the car as ACP Rathod, he was ACP rathod. He was DJ in RDB. What the hell, I even loved him in Mangal Paandey. His heart is always in the character. Every performance comes fore as a natural performance, though he must be taking great amount of efforts off-screen. That is Aamir Khan. But here each and every twitch of his body feels like an effort to look a college going guy. Each and every expression of his feels like an effort to look inquisitive or childishly mischievous. Though the moment he starts talking we all forget those efforts and are with the film. That is the beauty of Hirani and Abhijat Joshi’s writing. Bombard viewers with witty dialogues, so they are not off the hook. But in retrospective 3 idiots doesn’t work. I’m pretty much sure it doesn’t have the Munnabhai repeat value, but will give it a try once before it leaves the theatres. Because, I actually didn’t mind the movie that much. 3 hours whizzed past without major concerns.
Coming back to Aamir Khan, whenever he goes in the preachy mode I was reminded of Nikumbh sir from Taare Zameen Par. Why? Rancho is not that experienced, has not undergone that great tribulations to actually realize what he preaches. He acts just as the film’s mouthpiece. His preaches never came out of that character, it came from the writer to the audience. And that is precisely why I sighed ‘Bas Karo yeh bhashan’. Compare that to Munnabhai. Despite of the preaching throughout, one never cringed or was offended. Be it overly simplistic or totally outlandish, the preachings came from an honest heart of Munna, and that is why we took the preachings lightly in our stride during the movie. All the advice came from Munnabhai’s day to day suffering and realizations.
Aamir, may be is not cut for Hirani world. He felt as a miscast. I feel great pain in saying that Rancho was a role which Aamir couldn’t carry off effortlessly. It was painful to watch him make stupid faces while running in the hospital with a Mithai ka dabba, or seeing him with his hands in the pocket trying to walk like an innocent first year guy. I guess Aamir should stay away from Hirani, and Hirani should stay away from audience for a while, because I’m sure the audience will grow tired of his format if he strikes any sooner than 2 years.
Where is the honesty? Where is the spontaneity? 3 idiots reeked of manipulations and design to the core. It was so thoroughly designed to deliver punches in each and every scene that it seized to be spontaneous the moment it started. Nothing really wrong with it, as people are having a jolly good time seeing it and taking lessons from it. As long as you don’t see the designs and the manipulations Aal eez well! But if one digs a scratch deeper and tries to see the hands behind the film, each and every scene feels contrived, made just to press the audience’s buttons at every step. Not even a single scene passes without telling you how to feel. Not even a single scene plays out naturally giving us insight into a human being. Zero organic writing. And as I unmasked Hirani along the film, I could see him mouthing the Akshay Kumar’s password in Ajnabee ‘Everything is Planned’. Bad one! But couldn’t resist :-P
Then I asked myself, why Munnabhai films didn’t feel that way. They were also precisely designed, delivering punches at each and every step. What was it about those films that despite of it’s hard-core Hirani treatment, felt honest and spontaneous. Why did I sigh ‘Bas karo bhashan’ in 3 idiots and didn’t mind even a single advice in Munnabhai. Lage raho was actually super preachy, but I could still sense a very good heart at the heart of the films. Whose heart was it? After seeing 3 idiots I can vouch that it wasn’t Hirani’s. He surely is supremely witty, but the heart wasn’t his. My sister helped me with this. She said “Outside Munnabhai films also, we all have an image of Sanjay Dutt. An image of a guy with a heart of gold. How much ever bad he does, one always feels he is essentially a nice guy at heart.” Yea!! That was it!! Munnabhai was Sanjay Dutt, by heart and soul. His character was extension of his off-screen persona. And this worked brilliantly for the film. The honesty and spontaneity was injected in the Munnabhai films by apna Sanju baba and Circuit too to quite an extent. These guys were actually living the characters and thus the films felt ekdum dil se. No amount of designs could overshadow or overpower Munnabhai’s honesty when he tells Dr Suman “Main tumko love karta hai…. Kya karu..woh ho gaya na..”
Now juxtapose that with the ‘heart-of-gold’ Rancho. Aamir Khan makes a mess of it. Hirani calculates Rancho as an inquisitive, naïve, mischievous, maverick and has-figured-out-life kinda guy. But Mr. Hirani, where is his heart? Just see the design of Hirani, to create sympathy for Rancho. After establishing Rancho as a genius, a know-it-all guy, he then unravels his past to reveal that he is actually a servant’s son, a poor guy. And I don’t know whether this design worked for the viewers or no. For me Rancho always remained a theoretical character. I enjoyed his antics but never connected or warmed up to him. He was just a script manifestation never actually fleshing out in front of me. The film overshadows this deficit by its punch-filled scenes and dialogues not once relying on the audience connect with Rancho.
I am a die hard Aamir Khan fan. He must be putting great amount of efftorts to flesh out a character but not once before 3 idiots did I see that effort on screen. He unfailingly delivers effortless performances each and every time. Even when he stepped out of the car as ACP Rathod, he was ACP rathod. He was DJ in RDB. What the hell, I even loved him in Mangal Paandey. His heart is always in the character. Every performance comes fore as a natural performance, though he must be taking great amount of efforts off-screen. That is Aamir Khan. But here each and every twitch of his body feels like an effort to look a college going guy. Each and every expression of his feels like an effort to look inquisitive or childishly mischievous. Though the moment he starts talking we all forget those efforts and are with the film. That is the beauty of Hirani and Abhijat Joshi’s writing. Bombard viewers with witty dialogues, so they are not off the hook. But in retrospective 3 idiots doesn’t work. I’m pretty much sure it doesn’t have the Munnabhai repeat value, but will give it a try once before it leaves the theatres. Because, I actually didn’t mind the movie that much. 3 hours whizzed past without major concerns.
Coming back to Aamir Khan, whenever he goes in the preachy mode I was reminded of Nikumbh sir from Taare Zameen Par. Why? Rancho is not that experienced, has not undergone that great tribulations to actually realize what he preaches. He acts just as the film’s mouthpiece. His preaches never came out of that character, it came from the writer to the audience. And that is precisely why I sighed ‘Bas Karo yeh bhashan’. Compare that to Munnabhai. Despite of the preaching throughout, one never cringed or was offended. Be it overly simplistic or totally outlandish, the preachings came from an honest heart of Munna, and that is why we took the preachings lightly in our stride during the movie. All the advice came from Munnabhai’s day to day suffering and realizations.
Aamir, may be is not cut for Hirani world. He felt as a miscast. I feel great pain in saying that Rancho was a role which Aamir couldn’t carry off effortlessly. It was painful to watch him make stupid faces while running in the hospital with a Mithai ka dabba, or seeing him with his hands in the pocket trying to walk like an innocent first year guy. I guess Aamir should stay away from Hirani, and Hirani should stay away from audience for a while, because I’m sure the audience will grow tired of his format if he strikes any sooner than 2 years.
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