Asian Film Review: 3 Idiots (थ्री इडीयट्स, 2009)

I have to preface this review by noting that I think '3 Idiots' is the first Indian movie I have ever watched in its entirety.... so I guess I might as well start with this one,  the highest grossing Bollywood film ever.   It was showing when I was in Taiwan last month but I was disappointed to find out they didn't have english subs, so I waited til I found it on DVD. (ironically they're speaking English or half-English half-Hindi  like 80% of the time, so I could probably have followed the Chinese subs if I had really tried).

Long story short  - its a comedy about three Engineering students at one of India's top academic institutions.  They are roommates and the story tells of their trials and tribulations in India's unforgiving competitive academic culture.  The ringleader of the three is 'Rancho' (Aamir Khan), an unconventional genius who manages to be the top of his class despite the best efforts of the institute's director to see him fail.  As this is a Bollywood film, of course you can expect several musical numbers with full choreography thrown in  film for good measure.

Its story line is more than a bit cliched and definitely LONG (2:40 minutes!)  but entertaining for sure.  As an Engineer I enjoyed the jokes about academia and life as an Engineering student...   I'll give it a strong 7/10.  Check it out if you're interested in trying something new.