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Movie analysis “3 Idiots”

Two plot lines one in past and one in present. In this film, the two-line narrative
structure of time and space brings rich plot to the film.

It is further explained:

Exposition
Farhan Qureshi (R. Madhavan), Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi), and Rancchoddas
"Rancho" Shyamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan) are three engineering students who
share a room in a hostel at the Imperial College of Engineering, one of the best
colleges in India. While Farhan and Raju are average students from modest
backgrounds, Rancho is from a rich family. Farhan wants to become a wildlife
photographer, but has joined engineering college to fulfil his father's wish. Raju on
the other hand wants to uplift his family fortunes. Rancho is a wealthy genius who
studies for the sheer joy of it. However, Rancho's passion is for knowledge and
taking apart and building machines rather than the conventional obsession of the
other students with exam ranks. With his different approach Rancho incurs the wrath
of dean of college, Professor Viru Sahastrabudhhe (ViruS) (Boman Irani).

Rising action
Rancho irritates his lecturers by giving creative and unorthodox answers, and
confronts ViruS after fellow student Joy had requested an extension on his major
project on compassionate ground as his father had suffered a stroke but ViruS
refused, saying that he himself was completely unmoved by his own son's accidental
death after being hit by a train. Thus, affected by the pressure Joy Lobo hangs
himself in his dormitory room. Rancho denounces the rat race, dog-eat-dog,
mindless rote learning mentality of the institution, blaming it for Lobo's death.
Threatened by Rancho's talent and free spirit, ViruS labels him an "idiot" and
attempts on a number of occasions to destroy his friendship with Farhan and Raju,
warning them and their parents to steer clear of Rancho. In contrast, ViruS model
student is Chatur Ramalingam or "Silencer", (Omi Vaidya) who sees a high rank at
the prestigious college as his ticket to higher social status, corporate power, and
therefore wealth. Chatur conforms to the expectations of the system. Rancho
humiliates Chatur, who is awarded the honour of making a speech at an award
ceremony, by substituting obscenities into the text, which has been written by the
librarian. As expected, Chatur mindlessly memorises the speech, without noticing
that anything is amiss, partly aided by his lack of knowledge on Hindi. His speech
becomes the laughing stock of the audience, infuriating the authorities in the
process.
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Climax
When they find Rancho's house, they walk into his father's funeral, and find a
completely different Rancho. After accusing the new man of stealing their friend's
identity and profiting from his intellect, the host pulls a gun on them, but Farhan and
Raju turn the tables by seizing the father's ashes and threatening to flush them down
the toilet. The householder capitulates and says that their friend was a destitute
servant boy who loved learning, while he, the real Rancho, was a lazy wealthy child
who disliked study, so the family agreed to let the servant boy study in Rancho's
place instead of labouring. In return, the real Rancho would pocket the qualifications
and the benefits thereof, while the impersonator would sever all contact with the
world and start a new life. The real Rancho reveals that his impersonator is now a
schoolteacher in Ladakh..

Falling action
The experience has changed Farhan and Raju, and they adopt Rancho's outlook.
Farhan decides to pursue his love of photography, while Raju takes an unexpected
approach for an interview for a corporate job. He attends in plaster and a wheelchair
and gives a series of non-conformal and frank answers. However, ViruS is
unsympathetic and vows to make the final exam as hard as possible so that Raju is
unable to graduate. Pia hears him and angrily confronts him, and when ViruS gives
the same ruthless reply he gives to his students, she denounces him in the same
way that Rancho did over the suicide of Lobo. Pia reveals that Viru's son and her
brother was not killed in an accident but committed suicide in front of a train and left
a letter because ViruS had forced him to pursue a career in engineering over his love
for literature; ViruS always mentioned that he unsympathetically failed his son on the
ICE entrance exams over and over to every new intake of ICE students. After this,
Pia walks out on the family home, and takes ViruS's spare keys with her. She tells
Rancho of the exam, and he and Farhan break into ViruS's office and steals the
exam and give it to Raju, who with his new-found attitude, is unconcerned with the
prospect of failing, and refuses to cheat and throws the paper away. However, ViruS
catches the trio and expels them on the spot. However, they earn a reprieve when
Viru's pregnant elder daughter Mona (Mona Singh) goes into labour at the same
time. A heavy storm cuts all power and traffic, and Pia is still in self-imposed exile, so
she instructs Rancho to deliver the baby in the college common room via VOIP, after
Rancho restores power using car batteries and a power inverter that Rancho had
dreamed up and ViruS had mocked. Rancho then delivers the baby with the help of
a cobbled-together Vacuum extractor. After the baby is apparently stillborn, Rancho
resuscitates it. ViruS reconciles with Rancho and his friends and allows them to take
their final exams and they graduate. Rancho comes first and is awarded ViruS's pen,
which the professor had been keeping for decades before finding a brilliant enough
student to gift it to.
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Their story is framed as intermittent flashbacks from the present day, ten years after
Chatur vowed revenge on Rancho for embarrassing him at the speech night and
promised to become more successful than Rancho a decade later. Having lost
contact with Rancho, who disappeared during the graduation party and went into
seclusion, Raju and Farhan begin a journey to find him. They are joined by Chatur,
now a wealthy and successful businessman, who joins them, brazenly confident that
he has surpassed Rancho. Chatur is also looking to seal a deal with a famous
scientist and prospective business associate named Phunsukh Wangdu. Chatur
sees Wangdu, who has hundreds of patents, as his ticket to further social prestige.

Conclusion
When they arrive in Ladakh, they see a group of enthusiastic Ladakhi children who
are motivated by love of knowledge. Pia and the fake Rancho rekindle their love,
while Chatur mocks and abuses Rancho the schoolteacher before walking away.
When his friends ask what his real name is, he reveals that it Phunsukh Wangdu and
phones Chatur, who has turned his back, to turn around and meet his prospective
business partner. Chatur is horrified and falls to his knees, accepts his defeat and
continues to plead his case with Phunsukh to establish the business relationship he
was after.
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Camera shots and their explanations

Eye Level Shot
Our first camera angle is the eye level shot, and this is when your subject is at eye-
level. An eye level shot can result in a neutral perspective (not superior or inferior).
This mimics how we see people in real life — our eye line connecting with theirs, and
it can break down boundaries. In this scene specifically it is used to focus on the eye
moment of the subject.

Low Angle Shot

A low angle shot shot frames the subject from below a their eyeline. These camera
shots most often emphasize power dynamics between characters — a low angle
shot on one character is often paired with a high angle shot on the other character.
In this scene it shows
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High Angle Shot

In a high angle shot, the camera points down at your subject. It usually creates a
feeling of inferiority, or “looking down” on your subject. But, again, with every other
camera angle, there are many applications.
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The Cowboy Shot or Hip Level Shot

A Cowboy shot is when your camera is roughly waist-high. Hip level shots are often
useful when one subject is seated while the other stands. Like in this scene ahead:

Knee Level Shot

This is when your camera height is about as low as your subject’s knees.
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Ground Level Shot

A ground level shot is when your camera’s height is on ground level with your
subject. This camera angle is used a lot to feature a character walking without
revealing their face, but it can help to make the viewer more active and use the
actor's performance to build an idea.

Shoulder Level Shot

A shoulder level shot is a camera angle that is as high as your subject’s shoulders.
Shoulder level shots are actually much more standard than an eye level shot, which
can make your actor seem shorter than reality.
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Dutch Angle or Dutch Tilt Shot

For a Dutch angle (Dutch tilt), the camera is slanted to one side. With the horizon
lines tilted in this way, you can create a sense of disorientation, a de-stabilized
mental state, or increase the tension.

Overhead Shot or Bird's Eye View

An overhead shot is from above, looking down on your subject. These are typically
shot from 90 degrees above — anything less might be considered a high angle shot
instead.

Aerial Shot

An aerial shot, whether taken from a helicopter or drone, is captured from way up
high. It establishes a large expanse of scenery. Just like in this scene.
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Movie effects:

The black and white effects put on the scenes of Raju’s family deepens the
emotional pressure of their financial problems and hopelessness.

Similarly, the slow motion transition after the suicide of Joy lobo, is there to give
viewers a minute to get a hold of the story cause the scene is immediately shifted
from Happy to Sad.

Cinematography Analysis
The cinematography of this film was more focused about a natural portrayal of the
story, and to portray all the characters as equals cause that supports the plot. that’s
why most of the shots are taken from the perspective of the other characters. The
other long or high angle shots are there to provide more space to scan the scene.
The shot’s where camera’s moving with the subject is there to show the movement in
the scene. The aerial shots taken provide more information about the setting of the
scenes to understand them better. And Cause the Movie was mostly shot as a
narration, the shots just give more insight about the story. They could also mean that
most of the movie, specifically the past is seen through the character “farhan” who
apparently narrates most of the film.
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Film analysis
A comedy about three college buddies that doesn't let its more serious theme of
“self-actualization” get in the way of the entertainment, “3 Idiots” takes a while to lay
out its game plan but pays off emotionally in its second half. The second half of the
movie is more about characters opening up and breaking, and being honest and
confronting other characters
With humorous plots, lauguage, and exaggerated action performances, the film uses
humorous techniques to create plot conficts, and trigger audiences to think.
The movie challenges conventional ways of thinking patterns and strengthen the
idea that freedom of the mind to perform actions is very important. The movie also
potrays that the pressure giving system of education is wrong, and if everyone could
start enjoying what they do, then that’s the key to learning (which is the main thing
needed) the movie also breaks the stereotypical belief pattern that you need to
achieve something until you’re a certain age which is obviously self limiting and
doesn’t share the idea of growth.

The film demonstrates the core point through one case after another. The film
repeatedly uses story conflicts to strengthen the core ideas of the film. The
protagonist “rancho” uses his own behavior all the time to show his freedom.

Character Analysis
Life positions:
• I am OK, you are OK: A person accepts others in spite of their shortcomings and
feels OK about himself despite not being perfect.
• I am OK, you are not OK: Comes over as distrustful, arrogant superior. Thinks
that others are inferiors.
• I am not OK, you are OK: Recognized by attitudes of depression, powerlessness
and inferiority. Thinks that others are better.
• I am not OK, you are not OK: A position of thorough hopelessness and despair.

Obviously, I am OK, you are OK life position is the most healthy life position.
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Key takeaways from the film

• Success is nothing but an allusion. Don’t go after it. Try to be excellent and
competent and success will follow.

• Don’t give up in any situation. Everything tests your ability. Trick your heart for a
while by reminding yourself that ‘All is well to face the problem boldly.

• Learning is not confined to certain institutions. It is everywhere. Learn the

essence of the things which you love and apply them in your practice life.

• Ordinary friends will not benefit you much in your success journey. Choose your
friends wisely. Have friends who think out of the box.

• The success formula is to do what you love or love what you do. There is nothing
in between.

• Don’t compare yourself with others. Because life is not a race but a life. You are
not meant to achieve what others have to achieve. You get what you strive for.
Therefore, live it at your pace.

• There are always people who doubt your abilities — avoid them. Because they
don’t know you. Even you don’t know yourself until you try. So go on, try it.

• Winners are those who take the risk and play the match.
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Quiz
1. What is the climax of the film “3 idiots” and why is it the Climax?
2. How many plotlines are there in the film & how are they divided?
3. Who’s narrating the past in the film?
4. What type of shot is this? Give explanation.

5. What are the aerial shots in 3 idiots used for?

6. What is the main focus of cinematography perspectives in 3 idiots?
7. What is the main theme/central idea of 3 idiots?
8. What techniques are used in the film to convey the core ideas on a lighter
note?
9. What life positions does “Rancho” and “Virus” come under in the film? Are
they shown in the same life position?
10. What did you learn from the film?