So I had a party at my house last Saturday and two of my lady friends brought over 3 Idiots. I was a little drunk on Red Stag at the time, so I was not prepared for a three hour long Bollywood film. Still, it kept me entertained and may even have opened my eyes to new cinematic possibilities.
So I don't speak Hindi (and, strangely enough, there's a lot of switching between English and Hindi), obviously, but the movie involved a lot of physical comedy and facial quirks so it was easy to keep up with the plot. Three engineers in college up to no good, and one of them falls in love with the daughter of his disgruntled professor. The narrative structure switches back and forth between the college days and ten years later, the present, as two of the engineer friends attempt to find the third, Rancho.
Rancho, played by Aamir Khan, is definitely the highlight of the film. Apparently he's about 45 but she doesn't look it, as he pulls off the college student and late 20s Rancho quite well. From reading about this movie, as well, I learned about a movie he starred in, Ghajini, which is a loose remake of Memento that went on to be the top grossing Indian film in history. Must see!
So it may have been the alcohol, but this was a strange movie. I believe it started off with an animated sequence of anthropomorphic sperm swimming toward an ovary, and had at least two musical sequences. That actually threw me off, as I expected almost constant dancing and singing from a Bollywood film. The first musical sequence was a little bizarre, as it had dozens of naked men in a locker room shower showing their asses to one another. The second however, showcasing Kareena Kapoor (who we all decided looks like an Indian Paris Hilton, but much more beautiful and smart) was a highlight. Very inventive fantasy sequence.
In fact, the entire film was clever and imaginative. The pacing is quick without feeling choppy, the camera is always moving but catches everything, and the colors were bright and warm. I may not have always known what was going on, but I enjoyed it.
