How I React To The "3 Idiots" Review on CNN-IBN

Sagarika Ghosh in her blog on CNN-IBN has given a scathing review of "3 Idiots." As a matter of fact I read it much before seeing the film and it had made an impact. The movie had already landed into a lot of controversy about who wrote the script. Chetan Bhagat or Abhijat Joshi. At last count I had seen it for the fifteenth time. A movie which I regard to be the best made Indian film after Sholay. I would advise readers first to read her review on

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/sagarikaghose/223/54036/from-three-idiots-to-a-nation-of-idiots.html. I give the points on which I do not agree with her and then my thoughts on the same.

She says: Three Idiots is, for all its fine comic moments, a dangerous film as it legitimizes a scorn and hatred of education, sanctions willful dumbing down and if cinema harnesses its immense power to such films, then very soon we will become a nation of idiots, and will have to hire foreigners to do our thinking for us.

The fact that the film is so enormously popular shows how eager we are to embrace mindlessness and how keen we are to promote a culture where education and thoughtfulness are seen as obstacles to enjoying the good life.

As a nation we are in no mood to study, and Three Idiots encourages us to throw away our books because today we are chanting the mantra, "the-system-sucks-and teachers-are-pathetic-and-who-cares-about-grades-and-the-rat-race-is- foolish."

The most important mistake she, like most critics, has made is viewing the film not from the Indian student's perspective but from our present education system's. Rancho's words are gospel truth. What he has said about all being in a race for getting a good grade to go abroad and work makes sense. She should have suggested further ways of improving the system.

Raju and Farhan, who were the worst performers in class, were not at all happy with their lives for different reasons. One was suffering from the pressures of the rat race to secure a good grade and the other from the mistake of adhering to his dad’s wishes of him becoming an engineer. "Ek mar mar ke jee raha hai to doosra dar dar ke." Yes, Chatur is an interesting character and most practical in today's world by any standard. A very selfish person who would do just anything to climb the ladder of success.

The film dares to challenge the monotonous stream of education persisting in India without going too much into a social propaganda but the tone in which it delivers is light without making it a documentary. The message from the movie is "chase excellence and success will follow". It talks about the most important of human pursuits: self-actualization.

And it is not a dangerous film but a landmark in Indian film making. The first film made on this subject.

She says: Yet I found Three Idiots far too preachy, far too sanctimonious and far too much of a caricature. It lampoons and trivializes our higher education system as an unrelieved arena of bad teachers, suicidally pressurized students, manic success-oriented parents and evil money seekers who care nothing for learning but only want grades so they can get big jobs and Lamborghinis. Such a caricature is, as we all know, far from the truth. Although a liberal arts degree doesn't compare to an engineering degree, my own experience of higher education at St. Stephen's College and Oxford University, is that it is an immensely enriching experience, consisting of many idealistic teachers and the excitement of new ideas is something for which there is no substitute. 

 

There has not been any sermon. Among so many good things portrayed in the film, the one which impressed me the most is it has been made without any star and unknown names and faces, other than Amir Khan and Kareena Kapoor. But it is a fact that our higher education system is bad and there are sufficient bad teachers. I would go a step further and say there are many who do not deserve to teach. Like there are students who do not deserve to study.

India reportedly ranks highest in the number of teenage suicides and Gujarat is at number 18. In fact statistics reveal that suicide rates among young teens and young adults have increased by almost 300 per cent.

It is again a sad fact of life in the campus of management and engineering colleges that students and their parents want nothing but high grades so they can get big jobs, go abraod and have all the luxuries of life.

And can you generalize about the Indian education system with a single example of a student educated at St. Stephen’s College and Oxford University like Sagarika Ghosh? There are many campuses in India where studying is an immensely enriching experience, which comprises of idealistic teachers and where there is the excitement of new ideas. I have been educated at Calcutta Boys' School and St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, two of the best institutions in our country. But where are the numbers?

She says: Yet a film whose central message is "the education system sucks", "we learn nothing at our centres of excellence" and "teachers are unable to teach and only want to ruin students lives," is a rather dangerous film. Three Idiots disdains the rigour of study, pours scorn on wanting to better oneself through the sadhna of learning and instead seems to suggest that to be happy in life we all need to drop out, sing songs under the night sky and not bother with studying hard because studying hard is a waste of time. As a former IITian has pointed out Rancho, in the film mocks Laplace Transform, the equation written on the blackboard, as an example of rote learning. Yet without Laplace Transform, Hirani's computer would not boot up! This former IITian says he has never come across a teacher like Prof Virus, and believes that in its fashionable disdain for education, the film is dangerously juvenile. 

 

I fully agree with what a fellow blogger has said on http://milestogo.in/ as follows.

"Some critics say that 3 Idiots mocks our educational system and sends out a wrong message. Somehow, I felt that it is completely wrong. It talks about two among many other things – follow your dreams and study to acquire knowledge first, not to win marks.

Sagarika Ghosh writes – “As a former IITian has pointed out Rancho, in the film mocks Laplace Transform, the equation written on the blackboard, as an example of rote learning. Yet without Laplace Transform, Hirani’s computer would not boot up! “. In my opinion, 3 Idiots speaks about the necessity of understanding the Laplace transform instead of learning it by heart."

Samhita in her blog http://navasamhita.blogspot.com/  has reacted very strongly to Sagarika Ghosh’s review. I would advise my readers to read it.

She says: Yes, our education system needs urgent reform. Yes, we need to relook at our exam system. Yes, we need to ensure that parents do not pressurize children. But in the pursuit of educational reform, we cannot allow standards of excellence to be lowered. India's IITs and IIMs must be applauded for the world-class minds they have thrown up, these are institutions that are respected the world over. Lets not start lampooning Indian engineers by showing them as students who deliver babies with vacuum cleaners. Let's get real about higher education, not engage in an escapist fantasy and convince ourselves that education does not matter. After all, Rancho could be a subversive because he was a genius student. For those who are not geniuses, alas, there are no short cuts. 

 

I do not have anything more to add. I leave it to the readers who have seen the film to judge it themselves.