I went in to the paid preview of the movie with little hopes. Adaptations of novels to cinemas is always bad (OK...well most of the times), and Chetan Bhagat's last attempt at bollywood was a disaster. No I have not seen "Hello" which is based on his One Night at the Call Centre, but have heard enough comments about it to not even give it a try.
Indian Cinema does not appeals to me that easily, and the initial rating for 3 Idiots at one of the popular Internet Site (2 out of 5) had further lowered my hopes. But my buddies had already convinced me to shell out 200Rs for the Thursday night paid preview, which now I am happy to say did not go waste. The movie is a total "Paisa Wasool" with brilliant screenplay by Rajkumar Hirani and strong backing up of the storyline by Chetan Bhagat.
If you have not read the novel, you will enjoy it thoroughly. But if you already do consider 5 Point Someone as a competition to Shakespeare in your personal category, believe me, you will still not be disappointed.
R Madhavan can be a real gem, and what more, I was surprised to see that even Sharman Joshi can act. Amir Khan, as always, is a perfectionist. Kareena Kapoor fits in the slot nicely, and Mona Singh is beautiful as ever (Damn I admire her too much). The only one lagging behind was Boman Iran with stupid accent and sub-standard acting compared to the high grounds he has set for himself.
The story loosely follows the 5 Point Someone tracks, with college ragging to innovative yet unaccepted ideas, stealing question papers to suicide attempts. But you never get to rest your head at the back of the seats because you are having a fit of laughter on the dialogues or giving a high five to your friend seeing what you did in your college being enacted on screen. There are a few exaggerations here and there, but then you have to give it to them, after all, its a Bollywood Commercial Cinema folks.
Music is likeable, with the English couplets of the song "Give me some sunshine..." catching my ears and well, emotions. Shantanu Moitra does a very good job keeping it just about perfect. The film has messages as well, with a dab of drama and a pinch of philosophy. And some of the anecdotes do cling on to your memory, making you go back to your (well mine) engineering days.
I did not go in with much expectations, but came out laughing and thoroughly entertained. Go watch this movie, believe me you will not be disappointed (if you are a youth though, sorry Uncle and Aunties, can not comment on your tastes though). By far one of the best entertainers I have seen in recent times, and easily Movie of the Year 2009.
My rating : 9/10
