AAL IIZ WELL!!

Rajkumar Hirani’s latest offering has definitely struck a chord with me and I’ll be damned if I’m alone. If it’s to be believed, 3 Idiots was released with maximum film prints in the history of Indian films and has grossed over 40 Crs in the first 4 days of its release!!

But what was it about this film or films like this that tug at your string? Was it Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad ‘s(Aamir) brutal starkness against the machines IIT’S produce every year, or was it the fact that we were all once a part of the grind? Was it Farhan’s(Madhavan) helplessness into his father’s dreams of being an engineer or was it the fact that we all still walk around with one such un-posted envelope in our hearts? Kisi ko fashion photographer, to kisi ko cabin crew, per le li degree aur ban gaye kuch aur. Some of us still haven’t figured out what we want to be, or what we would’ve been had we boarded that train. Somewhere we just accept that this is the journey we were meant to be on. Sometimes you want to get off at the next station to catch another train, but you really don’t know if it’s coming and that fear keeps you boarded to a destination you don’t know, but have learnt to understand.

Maybe it was just Raju (Sharman) holding a mirror to all our insecurities today in a quest to achieve a successful tomorrow. The fact that we tie ourselves down to appeasing a different god each day of the week, not realizing that the strength lies within. Even if we fail, it’s one thing out of the way.

3 idiots, is a story about the journey of three friends, the narrative style deserves commendation, a good effort after Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Their interface with the college, the system, their personal demons and the one human behavioral truth – ‘when your friends fail you feel bad, but when they super succeed you, you feel worse:)’

Post Rang De, I was really looking fwd to the chemistry between the 3 idiots and sure enough there was no room for disappointment, co-incidentally both films showed a special camaraderie between Aamir and Sharman’s character. Hope there’s more in the offering. Kareena Kapoor has maintained consistency, but it was a pleasure to see Mona Singh acting after so long. Hope the girl can finally break out of her jinx of ‘anchoring only’ . Boman Irani played a good Virus, but it’s not a role that couldn’t have been imagined by another artist. I definitely knew a lot of Chatur’s (Omi Vaidya) in my class, I too shamefully admit to being one!

Don’t know how close the film was to Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone, but if you care enough for good cinema then it really doesn’t matter.
The locals were stunning and I bet not one person in the audience could have refrained from saying ‘I want!’ A very clever use of photography in the drive to hunt for Rancho, I was almost disappointed when the journey came to an end. A display of nature raw and pure.
Another interesting treatment was the black and white effect given to Sharman Joshi’s household, which added depth to his characters background.

The film does have its typical cliché Bollywood moments when a baby is delivered using a vaccum cleaner, you think he’s still born but starts kicking at the sound of AAL IIZ WELL. The line’s interaction with the baby was a bit over roasted and did begin to kill the 3 Idiots momentum but only momentarily, thank god!

The soundtrack composed by Shantanu Mitra is not one of my favorites but the film does have a few heart imbuing tracks like ‘ behti hawa sa tha woh’ and ‘give me some sunshine’. The camera work in ‘Zubbi Dubbi’ was far better than the track.
Rajkumar Hirani definitely has his pulse on humanism, even if the story was not his, one thing’s for sure, if a jadoo ki jhapi does not work for you, dil pe haath rakh ke kaho ‘AAL IIZ Well’ and you may just pull through.

p.s. – does anyone know where I could pick up one of those bum chairs from?