REACTION PAPER

MOVIE: 3 IDIOTS

Aliyaah Nicole R. Serna

HUMSS 12 - Paez
 The movie uses a Reverse Chronology type in which it flashes back and forth
between the present, and the characters' time in college. It starts by showing the two
friends (Raju and Farhan) who are searching for their long lost friend, Rancho. They
recall the memories of Rancho who inspired them in all different ways. Farhan, Raju,
and Rancho are engineering students at the Imperial College of Engineering. While
Farhan and Raju are average students from middle class family, Rancho is from a rich
family. Farhan wants to become a wildlife photographer, but he has no choice to go to
an engineering college due to his father’s wish. Raju on the other hand wants to uplift
his family fortunes. Rancho is not like anybody else. While everyone went to college to
be engineer to get a good job, Rancho on the other hand, only came to school to study
engineering because of his passion and love for machines. Due to his different
approach on education, he unconsciously irritates his lecturers by giving answers that
are beyond their IQ level. Fast forward to the examination results, Rancho comes first in
every exam, and the very competitive Chatur only comes second. Unfortunately, Farhan
and Raju are in the last positions. One night, they drink and they break into Virus’s
house, so that Rancho could tell his feelings to Pia. Raju urinates on a door inside the
compound before running away when Virus senses that there are intruders. The next
day, Virus threatens to expel Raju, but he has a proposition wherein Rancho will take
his place, and Rancho will be the one who will be expel. Due to pressure, Raju jumps
out of 3rd floor, fortunately, he survived. That experience changes Raju’s perception
about life, Farhan on the other hand is till scared to take risk on his dream. That is when
Rancho decided to interfere with Farhan’s life – he secretly sent Farhan’s photographs
to a wildlife photographer. Farhan decides not to go to the job interview, but instead talk
to his father that his dream is not to be an engineer, but to be a wildlife photographer.
When Raju and Farhan both got a job, Virus decides to make the exam harder, so no
one could graduate. Pia heard his father’s plan, so she gave the duplicate key of Virus'
office to Rancho so he could steal the exam paper. Virus caught them, leading to
Rancho's rustication. Since Rancho used his engineering skills to help deliver Mona’s
(Pia's sister and Virus' daughter) baby during a power cut due to a heavy storm, Virus
considers Rancho as the most extraordinary student, and he awarded him the pen,
which he had been keeping for decades before finding a brilliant student to give it to.
Years later, Raju had a blog which he enjoys, Farhan is now a successful wildlife
photographer, and Rancho is a known scientist and a teacher.

This movie teaches us that make your passion, your profession. You should not
let others dictate or decide for your future, instead find what you really want, and pursue
it. According to Rancho, “follow your heart, your talent”, don’t plan a career which you
have no idea. We must choose a career not on the basis of what we know but of who
we are. The movie shows how parents decide for their child’s future; as a result, they
are forced to pursue a course or career that they do. They might get a decent job, but in
the long run, it may also lead to dissatisfaction. Another inspirational quote from Rancho
is “Follow excellence and success will chase you”. In our educational system, not only in
India, courses are rated on the basis of salary offered. We must not base on the salary
that we can get in the future; instead we must focus on the importance and contribution
of it to the society and in education.
 Most of the people are like Chatur, who thinks you can just be successful if you
are rich, have a good job, and lots of money. You can only call yourself “successful” if
you are fulfilled and contented to the life you have. Living a life where every second is
spent doing what you really love is the type of success that I want. Money is important,
but pursuing what you really want is better. We all must be like Rancho who follows his
passion and inspires others.