Three Idiots
In the Indian film Three Idiots (2009), three engineering students and best friends Rancho, Farhan, and Raju struggle to beat the draconian education systems in one of the Indian premier universities. The film was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the highest-grossing Bollywood film. (164, wiki) Though it was released more than 10 years ago, Three Idiots is still one of the most popular Bollywood movies in China nowadays. It wins 9.2 out of 10, with more than 1.96 million comments in Douban, one of the most popular movie rankings in China (citation). The movie has the usual characteristics of Indian movies: joy with singing and dancing. Some people think that the reason why the film is popular in China is that it brings joy to the youth audience. However, I am going to argue that the reason why this film is highly rated is that Chinese young people feel similar cultural values with Indian people from a social perspective. The movies reflected the social pressures under the Indian education system that can be found in the Chinese educational system as well and inspired Chinese people to break conventions and have their own definition of success, which enables Three Idiots to become a symbol of cultural globalization.
The hilarious plot in the film has undoubtedly won the favor of Chinese audiences. But what makes the film even more intriguing is the fact that it reflects issues that can be found in the Indian education system as well as in the Chinese education system. For example, both cultures have the problem of not offending teachers’ authority, and teachers’ pressure on students to get good grades. Unlike other students who are like robots who will only silently obey the teacher’s instructions, the protagonist Rancho dares to argue with the principal, pointing out the problems in the current education system. Rancho encourages students to fight authority and hopes schools will change the way they teach. He believes that students should focus more on new inventions and new ideas, not just grades and jobs. Besides that, professors should not just teach students how to get high marks on exams but should teach students real engineering knowledge. After being taken to the classroom by the angry principal and asking him, a self-proclaimed professor, to teach the students, Rancho wrote the words “Encafarhan” and “Perraju” on the blackboard and asked the students and teachers in the audience to Define these two words in thirty seconds and race to see who is the fastest. The people in the audience were nervously flipping through the book for the answer during these thirty seconds, but no one found it. Rancho points out that instead of feeling excited about learning new knowledge, students are caught in a frenzy of competition when confronted with questions. People’s knowledge is not increased, more is only pressure. Finally, he points out that the two words on the blackboard don’t exist, and he’s not teaching engineering, he’s teaching professors how to teach. Rancho’s behavior is an excellent demonstration of the student’s rebellion against authority. Because of China’s traditional culture of “respecting teachers” for thousands of years, Chinese students rarely question or disobey their teachers’ instructions. Rancho’s behavior encouraged students in China who were also constrained by authority and who were expected to get good grades. He made Chinese students realize that the way the teacher teaches is not necessarily the right way, and the instruction of the teacher is not necessarily beneficial, and there are things people can do to rebel against the authority and the sick education system. The film’s portrayal of teacher authority raises a common thread in Indian and Chinese cultures. Chinese students see the commonality in Indian students. The film’s encouragement of this behavior against an educational system that puts a lot of pressure on students has allowed the film to overcome language barriers and become popular and successful in China.
In addition to telling people that it is wrong to compete for good grades, Rancho also inspires people to break with tradition and define their own success. In the movie, Rancho’s friend Farhan had a passion for wildlife photography but chose to pursue engineering because his father considered that he will be an engineer when he was born. His other friend Raju, with ten fingers covered in rings, burns incense every day to pray that he can get a good job and help his family escape poverty. They came to the top engineering schools in India through fierce competition for different reasons, not because of their love for engineering. What motivated them to succeed in the entrance examination was the pressure from their families and the social culture that “ Life is a race, run fast or you will be trampled”. They came to the top engineering schools in India through fierce competition for different reasons, not because of their love for engineering. What motivated them to succeed in the entrance examination was the pressure from their families and the social culture that “life is a competition, if you don’t become the first, you are nothing”. In the film, Rancho inspired his friends that success is not just the one defined by their parents or teachers, everyone can define their own success. At the end of the film, Farhan publishes his own photographer, and Raju becomes a successful business executive. The fact that Rancho’s friends refuse to continue to compete blindly, and boldly pursue their dreams and achieve success, inspires young people as far away as China to pursue their own dreams, instead of being defined by exams and grades.
In the past few decades, no film in China reflected the problems of the current education system. The movie “Three Idiots” makes Chinese audiences realize the similar problems in China’s current education system through the problems of India’s education system and provides feasible solutions for students who encounter similar problems. The protagonist’s story inspires young Chinese people to break the tradition and listen to their hearts and live for themselves, which is why this movie is loved by the Chinese people, especially young people.
