3 Idiots – probably the best movie of this decade.
Granted, reading books is one of the most powerful learning exercise one can engage in, but movies, because of the visuals can be even powerful learning medium.
The movie is based on the rock-solid book called Five Point Someone from Chetan Bhagat but Rajkumar Hirani, the director of the movie, has created a remarkable masterpiece that people will remember for the years to come.
I watched the movie twice. Not just because of its entertainment value, but because there is something to learn from it. Let us touch upon some of the learning points from my perspective:
- Knowledge is just a dead thing without its timely application. (Salt water is a good conductor of electricity!)
- Engage in what gives you utmost enjoyment. Do what you can do effortlessly – if you don’t enjoy whatever you are doing right now; it’s the time to revisit your goals. (Farhan with a passion for photography drops out of engineering and opts in for assisting a world-renowned wildlife photographer)
- Doing without knowing leads to disasters. You need to know what you are doing. (Chatur’s Chamatkar speech)
- Common sense is so uncommon. (Definition of ‘machine’ and ‘book’ in the classroom)
- Thinking outside the box is not common but if applied properly it can lead to new innovations. (Baby’s delivery using a vacuum cleaner)
- Don’t run after success; chase the excellence in whatever you are doing… and success will follow. (Phunsuk Wangadu!)
- Even if you win the rat race, you end up being a rat. (Virus’ encounter with Rancho)
- Degrees earned just by rote memorization are not valuable in real life but actual learning is. (400 patents by Phunsuk Wangadu compared to Chatur’s position)
- Keep your heart as your “fool” friend. Tell him that ‘All is well’ and things would start becoming well…in your perceived world at least! (many instances throughout the movie)
One more thing – the whole movie feels more like a team effort than just the hero-centric movie. If you take out any character out of the movie, even the small character of the millimeter, the movie’s impact would be dimmed.
It is also an example of how a good product is created. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Next time, when you watch 3 Idiots, watch it from the perspective of learning how to solve a problem and you’ll have a whole new learning experience!
