3 idiots

'3 idiots', the movie, is currently in the news for two reasons.

1. It has set the cash registers ringing like no other "Bollywood" movie has, ever.

2.Mr. Chetan Bhagat, author of the hugely popular book "5 point Someone" has taken up cudgels against the makers of the movie stating that he has not been properly credited for the story on which the movie is based.

Coming to the second point first, I have read the book a few years back and enjoyed it thoroughly. It read like something out of my fantasy about how I would have liked my college life to be. Ever since I heard about the movie being made, I have heard it being mentioned that it would be based on the book. A couple of weeks back, I went to watch the movie and was almost close to literally 'ROTFL'ing in the theatre. It was funny, witty, had decent actors who played their parts well and, above all, a new story to tell in a well paced manner. While I was watching the movie I also was noting the places where it resembled the book and those where it wasn't. And in the end, as I was walking out of the theatre, I was thinking that the film makers had taken a thoroughly enjoyable book and adapted and modified the story to fit the big screen, to come up with a thoroughly enjoyable movie. So in light of the recent "credit" controversy, I will say that the movie was inspired by the book, to borrow a much abused phrase from some of our well-entrenched music directors.

Now about the first point. I think it is obvious to say that the cash registers are ringing because people who go to watch it are finding out that they actually enjoy what is being dished out. This in turn makes them go out and encourage people in their 'circle of influence' to watch the movie. Simply put, word of mouth publicity is working wonders for the movie and rightly so. It is a breezy, light-hearted, entertaining movie with a message which is left on the buffet table for you to pick up if you want it rather than being funnelled down your throat.

So, I have seen the movie, enjoyed it and added to its considerable collections at the till. So far so good. Till I saw this - A blog entry by Ms. Sagarika Ghose, well known TV journalist with CNN IBN - and this - A televised debate on the same news channel, anchored by Ms. Sagarike Ghose. I fail to understand how these folks (Ms.Ghose and others like her) read so much more from a comedy. She writes, "The fact that the film is so enormously popular shows how eager we are to embrace mindlessness and how keen we are to promote a culture where education and thoughtfulness are seen as obstacles to enjoying the good life. Is it any wonder that an Indian Express Indicus Analyticus study gives us the bad news that by 2020 those holding medical degrees/diplomas will go up from a shockingly low 1.3 million to only 2.1 million in the next ten years. As a nation we are in no mood to study, and Three Idiots encourages us to throw away our books because today we are chanting the mantra, "the-system-sucks-and teachers-are-pathetic-and-who-cares-about-grades-and-the-rat-race-is- foolish." Going by this, would it be safe to say that since the movie "Avatar" is enormously popular it must mean that all of us are ready to look like extra tall blue beings and live on a 'suspended-in-mid-air-mountain'? And talking about the Indian Express study, how does the scant increase in the projected number of medial degree/diploma holders lead to the conclusion that "As a nation we are in no mood to study". This is just an excerpt from the post and the I feel the whole post is more or less the same.

I have read the blog (haven't seen the debate though) and despite having a strong urge to argue each and every point she makes in it, I will just say 'Ms. Ghose, it's a movie, a form of entertainment, like reading a book is for some people. Enjoy it, if you find it to your taste. But don't take it so seriously.'