Review of 3 Idiots (2009) by Sarthak C — 16 Nov 2018

Still considered Bollywood most top grossing and most popular film, 3 Idiots by Rajkumar Hirani questions the moral order of the education system in India and familial expectations of children. Having watched this movie four times, I have enjoyed it more every time. Hirani does a great job of using sarcasm and comedy to tackle the flaws in the education system and the expectations set by society on youth. Hirani questions the strict rules of the traditional system by examining it from an outsiders perspective. The film's protagonist, played by Amir Khan, is Rancho who comes into a very structured and strict society and questions its values from an unbiased, outside perspective. The use of such simplicity helps the audience understand the flaws of the system more easily and immediately persuades the audience to have sympathy for the people stuck in this rigid system. While the overarching themes of the movie were very well displayed, I was not a fan of the love affair formed between Rancho and Piya, as I felt their love was childish and immature. This speaks to the innocence of Rancho, however, it does not embody the true Bollywood version of love and passion.

Amar Akbar Anthony, directed by Manmohan Desai, also explores the moral validity behind societies views on religion and family through comedy and drama in order to convey to the audience that despite religious differences, a sense of human morality is common amongst all people. Both 3 Idiots and Amar Akbar Anthony approach a rigidly structured culture that is accepted by society and provides a new way of thinking for those strictly structured rules. Desai did so by forming a scenario that leads the audience to understand the importance of human nature rather than religion, as all three brothers helped an unknown woman (their mother) and work together despite their religious identities. While Hirani tackled the strict societal norms by bringing in an outside perspective that looked at the strict rules and expectations and solved them through an innocent and straightforward mindset. Rosie Thomas, "Melodrama and the Negotiation of Morality" discusses how the 1/2 1/2 1/2Hindi film audience expects a drama that puts a universe of firmly understood- and difficult to question- rules into crisis and then resolves this crisis within the moral order (p. 164). This shows that the cinema finds a way to bend the strict rules of the universe to show the different possibilities that could come from them. It challenges these rules to show the audience new ways of structuring society and improving the moral universe as seen in 3 Idiots.