We set out to see the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots on family movie day last week. I was hardly excited. But after I found out that the Twitterati were crazy about the new flick, I figured Kareena Kapoor deserved a chance.

The advertising might give you the impression that 3 Idiots is just another easy-to-digest comedy. But Rajkumar Hirani is not a director who serves up empty snack packs. He could change the way you see life in 164 minutes.

It is a story about an (extra)ordinary college student who thinks out of the box. The character comes with an odd name. Ranchordas Shamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan), who believes that “aal izz well”, befriends Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) whom he believes are living lives according to what people want them to be, not as their hearts tell them to behave.

With Rancho on the scene, Farhan and Raju go through many changes – almost dropping out of school and topping the dean’s blacklist are some of them.

My personal favorite is the scene when Rancho and Pia (Kapoor), Rancho’s crush, try to save Raju’s poor father from death by bringing him to a hospital in a scooter. Picture this: a silly man, a beautiful young medical student and a 90-year-old (who only needed a nibble on his ear to die) ride a womanly scooter at maximum speed, crossing every boundary and pulling up to a hospital lobby.

This movie, which was produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, offers us real circumstances that happen in our daily life, real people that we meet every day, and wise moral values for us to practice in real life. No wonder it won Filmfare Awards and Starscreen Awards for best film, best director, screenplay, supporting actor and actress, even for the best movie villain.

Days later, every time I find my self stuck in a bad situation, Rancho’s voice whispers in my ear: “Aal izz well”.

Kezia Alaia
Grade 9 - SMP Pangudi Luhur, Jakarta