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Revisiting 3 Idiots: A nostalgic reminiscence of the film that had a social impact on attitudes to education in India

Team CE

Updated:22nd Jun, 2021 at 7:25 AM

As the film steps into its next landmark year and is most relevant ever, we strap you into the Bolly time machine and set the destination to 2008-09..

3 Idiots had the highest opening day collections for an Indian film up until that point and also held the record for the highest net collections in the first week for a Bollywood film.

Actor Shah Rukh Khan was first offered the character of Rancho. But he declined the offer citing date issues and the role went to Aamir.

SRK, who went on to work on 'My Name Is Khan' (2010) later referred himself as the 4th idiot, as he declined to work in such a great movie.

The Imperial College of Engineering that is being shown in the film as the college where the three protagonists study, is actually the Indian Institute Of Management, Bangalore (IIMB).

For the drunk scene, Aamir suggested that the actors get drunk in reality so as to make it look convincing. The actors had to give numerous retakes, and the stock of camera roll got exhausted.

In an interview, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, producer of the film, revealed that the brain behind the flying helicopter in the film was Dia Mirza.

Kareena was keen on collaborating with Rajkumar Hirani. Hence, she approached him directly for the character of Pia.

Actor Sanjay Dutt was being considered for a cameo in the film but it did not happen.

Arshad Warsi was also offered to play any of the two roles - Farhan and Raju. But he could not do it due to lack of dates.

Farhan and Raju characters were also offered to John Abraham and Saif Ali Khan. But finally they went to Madhavan and Sharman.

Aamir does not stand still in the entire film, he is seen swaying in some direction. Apparently, the actor concluded after observing his nephew that the present generation never stands still.

The hospital that has been shown in the film, where Sharman is admitted after he tries to kill himself, is the Fortis Hospital, Noida.

Although Rancho is seen as a college student for most of the film, Aamir was 44 years old when the film was made. In real life, he is only 5 years younger than Boman Irani, who played the principal

Aamir, who is known for his prepping procedure to look convincing in every role he plays, was on a strict diet and even avoided eating his birthday cake

Talking about it the actor had said, “I am surviving on milk and few bananas as I have been asked to lose weight for the role.”

The pregnancy episode, one of the most important scenes in the film, was supposed to be there in the director’s previous medical comedy Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. but was later shifted.

The film reportedly was shot in reverse; all the present day scenes of the film were shot first. The college scenes were shot later.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the movie's producer who also co-wrote the film along with Hirani and Abhijat Joshi, had famously promised that the film will be legally released on YouTube within 12 weeks of its release in theatres, but it was released online only af

The character Phunsukh Wangdu is inspired from Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer from Leh

Aamir had earlier worked with Kareena's uncle Rishi Kapoor in 'Fanna' (2006), aunt Neetu Singh Kapoor in 'Yaadon Ki Baaraat' (1973) as a child actor, husband Saif Ali Khan in 'Dil Chahta Hai' (2001),

Every time Rancho has an eccentric idea, a high pitched sound can be heard in the background.

Before Hirani made his first movie (Munna Bhai MBBS, released 2003) he had written a draft about three college students studying in an engineering college, which later became 3 Idiots

Raju Hirani was taking a nap while the special effects team were testing a smoke machine. The team left for 2 minutes while the director inhaled the smoke and almost died.

Aamir Khan, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi reunited after previously starring together in 'Rang De Basanti' (2006).

In 2013, renowned Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg praised '3 Idiots', which he had seen three times and said he 'loved the emotional undertones.'

Spielberg listed it as one of 5 films that he connects with, along with 'The Godfather' (1972) and his own work on 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982), 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998) and 'Jaws' (1975).

Aamir Khan got inspired by A.R. Murugadoss (who directed him in Ghajini earlier) for the dressing sense and body language of the lead character 'Rancho'.

The film is distinctive for featuring real inventions by little-known people in India's backyards.

Aamir Khan refused to live in the hotel while filming in Banglore and instead admitted that they will live in the hostel itself, which Madhavan initially didn't want to.

The wall Chaturthi pees on was painted and christened 'Rancho wall' by Leh's Druk Padma Karpo school. It became a popular picture spot for tourists.

Aamir Khan wasn't allowed to fly the quadcopter and he was simply holding a dummy remote and he was not happy about it.

This is considered as the favourite film of the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s audiences, same as was 'Sholay' for 1960s, 70s and 80s audiences.

3 idiots is the first Bollywood movie to earn 200 crore at box office and 395 crores world wide.

The film was listed in Guinness World Records for the record of highest box office film gross for a Bollywood film.

The film was a huge hit in China as well. It is the 12th most favourite film in China, according to a survey.

The film also grossed USD 3,017,270 in South Korea, where it was released in 2011. The film was number one at the South Korean box office for five weeks drawing an audience of 459,686 viewers.

Most voted (user ratings) Indian movie on IMDb.

A Mexican film remake named '3 Idiotas' was released in 2017 to negative reviews.

Raju Hirani wanted to have the film title 'Idiots', but it was already registered by Deepak Shivdasani. Despite repeated requests from the producers, Deepak didnt want to let go of the title.

Aamir Khan played chess and tennis with hostel students during shooting breaks.

Only Rajkumar Hirani film to not feature Sanjay Dutt.

The SUV used throughout the movie is a 2010 model Volvo XC-90 R-Design.

Anushka Sharma also auditioned for Pia's role, but wasn't selected.

The film won 58 accolades from Indian film awards; among these are six Filmfare Awards including Best Film and Best Director, three National Film Awards

The film incorporated real inventions by Remya Jose, Mohammad Idris, and Jahangir Painter.

3 idiots won 3 National Film Awards: Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Best Lyrics Swanand Kirkire (for the song 'Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh') Best Audiography Anup Dev.

As opposed to popular belief, 3 idiots India's nominee for best foreign film that year, the honour went to Marathi film Harishchandra's Factory (which won the National award -Best Feature Marathi .

When 3 Idiots made its television debut in July 2010, it drew an audience of 39 million viewers in India

The film is loosely based on novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat,

The first scene was shot in an aircraft with Madhavan.

Big in Bollywood (2011) is a documentary film about American actor Omi Vaidya's journey from a struggling Hollywood actor to a successful Bollywood breakthrough with 3 Idiots.

In 2020 after the death of actor Irrfan Khan, Boman Irani said he recommended Irrfan Khan for the role of Virus, and Hirani was also convinced, However, Irrfan apparently wasn't interested.

Rumours suggest that Work on 3 Idiots will begin only after Hirani is done with Munna Bhai 3