3 idiots - Trying too hard?

I had huge huge expectations from this movie. And as always, when you're expecting too much, you are bound to be disappointed.

The movie is not bad by any standard. It is definitely above average. But somehow the combination of Raju Hirani directing Aamir Khan should have delivered a masterpiece which it is not. But the audience seems to be loving it hugely. There even was a spontaneous applause at the end of it and a general laugh riot during it. That was surprising to me personally.

I felt the movie was trying too hard to be unpretentious. That seems like a huge contradiction in terms. But that's what I really felt.

If it was a commentary on the education system, it didn't touch me. To not be preachy, the message is couched within dumb and dumber kind of humour. Someone farts, someone pisses kind of humour. There are some old cliched jokes and anecdotes recycled and sprinkled around the film.

If it was trying to be an all out comedy, it failed there too. In the middle of everything else suddenly pops a gruesome student suicide.

There are various such contradictions in the movie which make it fall somewhere between stools. Abject poverty is portrayed as an old Hindi film spoof. Why? So that people should cry with a smile or laugh with a lump in their throat? It just seemed silly at the end of it. It just looked like there was an agenda to make a movie that will be heralded as a funny, socially relevant message-driven movie. The Munnabhais had hit that spot. This one tries too hard.

Boman Irani's Viru Sahastrabuddhe is irritating at best and nauseating at worst. He does a repeat of his Munnabhai MBBS role with two additions - hair and a lisp.

Sharman Joshi has done an excellent job as the nervous, paranoid student overwhelmed by his family's financial dire straits. He breaks down several times in the film and does so convincingly at all times.

Madhavan is pretty good too but the role didn't demand much from him. He delivers at par.

Kareena is fabulous. Looking fresh as a pink rose with cute glasses and a nose ring. For her this could be a continuation of her look from Asoka, Yuva, Dev, Jab we met and Omkara.

The guy who really shines through it all is the big little man himself - Aamir Khan. He is playing a character that is exactly half his age. And he has worked hard to look the part. More importantly, he has got the body language down pat. Every scratch of the head, every rub of the nose, the walk, all contribute to the character beautifully. I liked him more in the serious scenes than in the so-called funny ones. But his imitation of Virus in front of Pia is fabulous.

Wish the music would have been better too. Really missed Rahman or Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for a youthful movie like this.

There are some other nitty-gritties which jar too. In the day of webcams, Madhavan still has to post a letter. There is an archaic blue bottle of Camel glue which I don't remember last seeing the physical form of. And it's not just that. The entire premise of the belief that success comes only out of becoming an engineer and getting a job is about a decade too late.

One last point. There's nothing funny left to see if you've already seen the promos. It's a pity that the best lines of the movie are already given away.

All in all, don't expect too much, you'll end up loving it. Maybe.