Rajkumar Hirani has reportedly stated that after Thee Idiots, he should be thinking about Three Stupids. He could be right, as charges of plagiarism has been brought about by Chetan Bhagat, the author of Five Point Someone, the best selling book which created a record in English publications in India. Stupid, because all he had to do was to put a line—“Based on a book by Chetan Bhagat” well before the accountants and Junior staff. Now , this omission and then trying to call Chetan a Publicity Hunter, roping in Amir who without knowing(or maybe knowingly) tries to portray Abhijat Joshi as the real writer of an original story, the Press Conference where Vidhu Vinod Chopra tells the Press to shut up, and sadly enough Rajkumar Hirani trying to prove that 28 scenes were “different”, ignoring the fact that Bhagat’s original story had more than 75 scenes which were the same as in the film, threatening to sue Chetan—all this betrayed the stupidity of the trio of Vidhu Vinod Chopra,Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi.
Noida: Bollywood producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra lost his cool at a press conference here Friday and asked a reporter to shut up after being questioned whether his hit "3 Idiots" was lifted from author Chetan Bhagat's book "Five Point Someone". He also alleged that the whole row over the film credits was a publicity stunt.
Even galling is the official Film Credits on Bollywood Hungama. The story/writer is written as Hirani/Joshi!!!!??? There is NO mention of Chetan Bhagat!!!!
Abhijat--Hirani
Scriptwriters are a confused lot. They are often given a brief of “Read this book and write a script”. In this transformation of the printed word into a cinematic language and progression—the first casualty is originality. The scenes have to be written and rewritten, sequences disturbed and changed, actual dialogues modified and framed, —all have to be identified. This leads to a mistaken opinion that what has been scripted is original—more original than the fountainhead of the printed book.In this case, Abhijat and Hirani took more than three years to write this. That by itself is phenomenal considering the output of sick, often repeated jokes, melodramatic dialogue, the blurring of the lines between crudity and humour, the nauseating sermonising interspersed with one liners and the repeated emphasis on urinating here and there (Hirani’s engineering students are more adept than full blown diabetics!!). Creating all this did not require much originality—it required compilation. The Hirani style is to create a phrase or catchword and then script around it. This time , it is AALL IS WELL!! Unfortunately, this catchline has turned into newspaper headlines of AALL IS NOT WELL!!!!!!!
Chetan Bhagat’s irritation and agony can well be understood. This film is quite likely to garner awards for Best Story considering the clout of Amir –Vidhu Vinod and Hirani taken together. The award would actually have been gained by the “Balatkar” (A word of immense importance to Abhijat—Hirani writer duo) of Chetan Bhagat’s book. As Shakespeare wrote—“ Beware of this man—he protesteth too much”, The Bard could have kept Vidhu Vinod—Abhijat—Amir—Hirani quadro in mind. This conglomerate then wave the written contract and announce that since they have brought the rights of the book, they can do anything with it in the audiovisual field. Maybe they can or cannot. But they cannot say that the story of 3 Idiots is theirs alone, because by their own contract they are saying that it is based on Chetan Bhagat’s book!!!
There is a huge input from the book in the film and situations, protagonists,the questions and answers in class, the incidents and some one liners, show that convincingly. No contract and this specifically is not mentioned in the contract,( Unlike Amir, I have read it) can say that the story writer credits will exclude the original writer just because the rights of the book have been bought by someone.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra Chetan Bhagat
It is something like buying audiovisual rights to a Tagore dance drama, altering the steps and rhythm and claiming then that the dance drama was written by the buyer!!!! And no name of Rabindranath Tagore in the credits… This is the great Hirani—Amir—Chopra--Abhijat logic, devoid of ethics, and full of accusations against the writer who wants nothing more than his name to be certified even as the 3rd story writer.
The film by itself is a just about watchable—in the sense that it has an interesting bodily function based scene every minute. Either the protagonists are on the toilet seat, or they are urinating ( the most I have seen in any Indian film), or they are prancing around in the ludicrous bathroom dance, or they are pulling their pants down to display underwear advertisement, or busy zipping their flies up and down. Poor Akshay Kumar. One unzip in a fashion show and the moral brigade is on him like a ton of bricks. Here Amir and his teacher zip and unzip in the classroom without a murmur of protest!!! People who depend on these activities to sell a film betray a lack of originality and are down to the depths of their creative box to pull out some muck.
When they are not doing that—they are sermonizing. The Education System is stifling. Do what you want to do. Parents—please don’t force your children into doing what you want. Teachers—teach originality and not the definitions. Do not put pressure on your children. Etc. etc. etc…All of them hackneyed, much debated and discussed. The poor parents have to be superhumans. Not only have they to bring up their children healthily, they have to educate them, and then allow them to throw it all away in being a wildlife photographer on a stipend with uncertain career prospects.Why do parents want their wards in a profession? So that they can get a job, settle down and NOT REMAIN A SOURCE OF WORRY for long. A child well settled means that the parents have done their job well.
To allow a child to go into an unpredictable field where earnings are less and uncertain is a luxury of the financially stable. The lower middle class cannot really afford it. Even in this imperfect system, the creative arts flourish as do the engineers and doctors and MBAs. To condemn a system totally is dangerous, because any changed version can be more ineffective. This sermonizing in a popular film is also dangerous because it generates an aversion to genuine classroom studies and examinations amongst a group of impressionable minds. Experts in Education are framing and modifying the system. Hirani and Amir are NOT qualified for the job.
Another sore point was the treatment of the handicapped father of Raju (Sharman).His utilisation as a comic role was to say the least, disgusting. Are handicapped persons treated in this way? Without commiseration, without sympathy and tact? Hirani reminds us of the bully who would gladly steal away a crutch from an amputee so that he can raise a laugh when the person falls…..
Though the film should not be taken realistically, one wonders how a person living in a one room bustee and unconscious can be taken for 22 minutes in an upright position to Fortis Hospital? Moreover, who foots the medical bills??? Was there no government hospitals nearby? Contrary to Hirani’s perception, many persons are well treated and do get well in charitable and government hospitals.
The USP of the film lies in it’s technical qualities. Great cinematography by C.K.Murlidharan, wonderful sound designing by Bishwadeep, and superb editing by Ranjeet Bahadur and Hirani (his original area of expertise). The pace is well maintained at first, slackens occasionally but never falls below base level.
The actors have been thoroughly competent. Amir excels. His acting is exemplary in its continuity in transforming himsalf into a 20—22 year old even on close ups(his makeup man deserves credit for that).Madhavan underplays beautifully—giving space to Amir, and yet excels in certain scenes, specially the one with his father Parikshit. Sharman Joshi’s facial structure is comic and he seizes his opportunities with gusto. Kareena is lively, but still looks older than a third year medical student, specially in the scene where she liplocks Amir . Boman Irani is outstanding. The lisp, the posture and the lurking danger in his eyes counterpoints the protagonists brilliantly. Did he overact? In a Hirani film which is serio-comic and unreal in its treatment—Boman displayed the correct balance. But for me the real kudos should go to Ohm Vaidya, the little known actor from New York, who acted the part of Chatur. Magnificent comic timing,the irritating nasal tone and pace of dialogue delivery, the walk, the resentments and the smile was pluperperfect.
Santanu Maitra’s music was good. Unfortunately, they must be seen with the pictures to get its full impact. Standing alone in an audio disc, it is hummable but not outstanding like Parineeta or Antaheen. Click on the link below to hear what I mean….
http://www.box.net/shared/5i28t6qk98
Three Idiots is a film which relies on the wrong factors for its success. A film raking in crores every week is great for the film industry. The controversy on Plagiarism will bring in more people to the cinemas. But having spent 35 crores, will it do anything for the stature of Indian cinema? And finally when youngsters start pulling down their trousers and lift their backsides in myriads of educational institutions, and drink and urinate all over the place—will Amir Khan pat himself on the back as a trendsetter???
