"3 Idiots has sugar coated messages” - Raj Kumar Hirani
When you are with Raj Kumar Hirani, it's easy to forget that he's a very busy man, with his third film 3 Idiots up for release this Christmas and the publicity for the same just picking up. Given his casual and humble demeanor, it's also easy to forget that you are in the company of greatness, that he's the creator of the Munnabhai phenomenon. It's only the second time I am meeting him and after asking me about the public response to the 3 Idiots promos, he says, 'Wait for the next part of the making, its going to be killer'.
In a freewheeling chat us, Raju Hirani talks about his inspiration behind 3 Idiots, about how he's redefining the meaning of the word 'idiot' and why he plans to travel to the nook and crannies of the country in search of his next film. And in the spirit of the film, he also lists the three most idiotic things he's ever done, giving us a peek the ace director's life before Munnabhai - his dreams, disillusionment, struggle and humble resolve.
3
Idiots
is
a
fun
film
but
it
addresses
the
issue
of
tussle
between
parents
and
children.
Yes.
It's
in
a
way
our
comment
on
what
we
feel
is
right
or
wrong
with
society
around
us.
But
it's
a
very
funnily
treated,
sugar
coated
messages.
In
an
interview
after
Lage
Raho
Munnabhai,
you
said
that
your
filmmaking
'output
is
proportional
to
the
input'.
So
what
were
your
inputs
for
3
Idiots?
This
film
is
based
on
college
life,
life
in
a
hostel.
And
I
have
lived
in
the
FTII
hostel
for
three
years.
I
have
lots
of
stories,
lots
of
anecdotes
about
life
in
a
hostel.
So,
I've
used
a
lot
of
my
experiences
in
the
film.
In fact, now I feel that we need to now in the future step out, input and enrich our lives. Kaafi input karenge to output karne ko milega. Kyunki ab college se bahut khuch utha le liya, apni purani life se bahut khuch le liya. Actually, after this I want to get away from all this for six months and travel, meet people and completely live a normal life. Because the more you meet and chat with people, the more we enrich our lives.
How
long
have
you
been
with
the
film?
Since
right
after
Lage
Raho
Munnabhai
released
in
2006,
so
three
years.
One,
because
I
write
it
myself
with
Abhijit
Joshi.
It's
not
that
we
get
a
ready
script
so
to
write
takes
a
year-and-a-half
and
to
make
takes
another
year
at
least.
If
I
get
scripts
I
probably
won't
need
to
write
but
I've
not
been
getting
good
scripts.
Previously
you
talked
about
the
'idiots'
in
your
film
as
actually
being
non-conformists.
Now
in
college
life,
this
could
also
mean
a
lot
of
drugs,
sex
and
violence.
No,
by
non-conformists
I
don't
mean
to
that
that
route.
What
I
mean
is
being
defiant
to
very
perceived
norms
which
are
considered
sane.
Ek
zamane
mein
bola
gaya
hai
ki
yaar
the
earth
is
flat.
Baad
main
jab
bola
kisine
ki
the
earth
is
round
to
log
bole
ki
paagalhain
ye,
jail
main
daal
diya
usko.
Baad
main
pata
laga,
nahi
round
hain
yaar.
So we have preset notions about everything because since we are unknowingly conditioned to think in a particular way since childhood. Lots of it is superstition, like the fact that people do not start anything new if they happen to sneeze or if a cat crosses their path. Have we ever questioned the rationale behind all of this? Somebody who defies all this convention and tries to create his own way is often called an 'idiot'. With the film, I am trying to show that that guy is not an idiot but the most intelligent man. We are trying to redefine the meaning of idiot by saying that they were the people who took the less trodden path.
It
occurs
to
me
that
you
perching
up
idiots
in
your
previous
films
too!
Yes.
Who
would
have
thought
that
non-violence
would
win
a
country
its
freedom?
Pehle
to
bada
stupid
thought
samjha
gaya.
Look
at
the
history
of
the
world
-
all
independence
has
come
from
armed
revolution.
Now
one
dhoti-clad
guy
comes
down
from
South
Africa
and
says
that
I
will
win
you
freedom
using
non-violence,
and
it
seems
like
a
pretty
stupid
thought.
Pehle
to
log
bolenge
ki,
idiot
hain.
Par
jab
who
khuch
kar
jata
hain
to
bolte
hain,
nahi
yaar
samajhdaar
hain.
The same thing happens in college life. There are individuals who want to live their own dreams, and not do engineering or medicine.
How
did
you
zero
in
on
Aamir
Khan?
After
the
script
was
ready
we
considered
many
other
actors
before
Aamir,
we
also
tried
casting
new
faces,
but
finally
after
lots
of
back
and
forth
decided
to
go
ahead
with
Aamir
only.
How
was
the
experience
of
shooting
at
the
Bangalore
IIM?
It
was
fun.
We
all
stayed
at
the
college
campus
for
30
days
of
shoot.
It
felt
like
we
were
all
back
to
our
college
days,
Aamir
hung
around
the
hostel
a
lot,
played
chess
with
the
students
between
takes,
we
had
badminton
and
table
tennis
games.
We
also
did
some
filmmaking
workshops
with
the
students.
The
students
had
the
freedom
to
walk
in
and
out
of
the
shoot.
All
of
this
helped
the
film
as
our
three
actors
also
started
feeling
like
students.
You
have
been
doing
'focus
group'
screenings
for
all
your
films.
The
one
for
3
Idiots
has
been
quite
elaborate.
I
have
done
focus
group
screenings
for
both
my
previous
films
too,
but
not
as
elaborately
as
the
one
for
3
Idiots.
Aamir
does
it
in
a
very
organized
fashion
for
all
his
films;
he
will
call
people
from
different
strata
and
takes
their
reaction.
He
checks
if
there
is
something
in
every
screening
that's
being
attacked,
that
needs
attention.
So because of Aamir's presence we thought it was a good idea to do focus groups. I guess almost over a thousand people have already seen the film and the reactions have been very, very good.
You
didn't
have
to
tweak
anything?
We
did
take
a
few
very
minor
edit
calls,
but
we
didn't
have
to
shoot
anything
because
the
reactions
were
pretty
extraordinary.
The
mamu
song
in
Munnabhai
MBBS
was
added
after
the
focus
groups.
Yes.
That
was
added
later
on.
We
had
it
in
the
background
first
but
after
the
focus
groups
we
felt
the
need
to
have
a
song
there.
Kya
baat
hain
yaar,
bahut
research
ki,
main
khud
hi
bhool
gaya
tha...
Before
we
close
the
interview,
tell
me
what
are
the
three
most
idiotic
things
that
you
have
done
in
your
life?
'Idiotic'
in
the
sense
of
the
film.
I
think
the
first
idiotic
thing
I
did
was
going
to
the
film
institute.
I
came
from
a
small
town
and
there
going
to
a
film
institute
to
study
was
perceived
as
totally
idiotic.
Everybody
thought
that
one
would
study
to
be
doctor,
engineer
or
a
CA,
professions
deemed
to
be
'safe'.
I
still
remember
that
when
I
told
someone
in
Nagpur
that
I
am
joining
FTII,
they
laughed
at
me.
He
said,
'Nagpur
mein
sirf
santre
(oranges)
paidahote
hain,
directors
nahi.'
I
have
never
forgotten
this
line.
I
actually
got
disillusioned
and
thought
that
probably
I
did
not
have
the
capability
to
make
it.
That
was
one
of
my
most
idiotic
decisions,
also
one
that
has
changed
my
life
completely.
The
second
most
idiotic
decision?
After
I
graduated
from
FTII,
I
found
out
that
making
films
is
no
piece
of
cake.
I
spent
many
years
working
on
films.
Bad
experiences
forced
me
to
shift
to
advertising.
One
fine
day,
I
asked
myself
the
reason
why
I
had
come
down
Bombay
from
Nagpur,
to
make
ad
films?
Mujhey
chand
log
theek
nahi
mile
isliye
main
ad
films
banana
laga,
par
aaya
to
main
film
banana
hi
hoon.
And
I
was
making
these
ad
films
(and
I
was
doing
pretty
well).
Whatever
time
I
found,
I
used
to
devote
to
my
script.
Then I decided that I will not take up any work for one whole year. I said to myself, 'I don't care about the money, but I will focus only on one thing which I want to do in my life. Making a film was the dream I had come with and I will work on it for a year.' Many people warned me that my career will start floundering, my father asked me if I was sure I wanted to do that, ad scripts started piling up at the office but I refused all of them. This was that second idiotic decision that turned out to be very good, because this was the time when I wrote Munnabhai MBBS. If I wouldn't have taken the break, I wouldn't have completed the film.
And
the
third?
This
is
interesting.
When
I
started
making
MBBS,
I
started
shooting
it
in
a
very
simplistic
manner.
I
said
I
don't
want
sets
which
are
larger
than
life,
I
don't
want
costumes
which
are
unreal.
Because
the
cinema
of
those
days
was
what
I
call
very
unreal,
with
huge
bungalows
and
their
sprawling
lawns,
ultra-
colourful
clothes
that
one
would
never
adorn
in
real
life,
and
so
on
and
so
forth.
I
decided
to
stick
to
realism.
It
was
considered
that
if
it's
a
love
song,
it
HAS
to
be
shot
outdoors
in
a
beautiful
location,
which
means
step
put
of
this
country.
So I battled against all this common wisdom. My filmmaker friends questioned me, but I let the dhobhi ghat look like one - dirty, the character of Circuit had only one black kurta to wear. They should look like normal people in normal setting and speak like normal people. We did not shoot the song in Switzerland but in Borivali National Park, Bombay.
See, there are certain set formulae in our industry, that you have to do n number of action scenes, 'X' number of songs, etc, and then you have yourself a package. I defied that package and people thought I was being very stupid. But I think, in the final analysis it turned out to be pretty good. I still do that. Real life main koi aisa nahi rahte... hahaha.
How
do
you
compare
3
Idiots
to
Munnabhai
series?
3
Idiots
is
different
in
terms
of
the
characters,
story
and
the
environment.
But
both
films
fall
in
the
same
genre,
all
three
films
are
heartwarming
stories
with
lovable
characters,
they
make
you
feel
good.
If
you
liked
Munnabhai,
you
will
definitely
like
3
Idiots
because
the
film
will
make
you
laugh
and
cry,
yet
leave
a
message.
But
when
can
we
expect
a
thriller
from
Raju
Hirani?
There
is
cinema
of
all
sorts;
just
one
type
of
cinema
will
make
it
boring.
But
I
think
filmmakers
have
their
own
tastes.
Somebody
might
want
to
depict
hardcore
reality
through
her/his
films.
My
belief
is
that
people
go
to
the
theatres
to
get
entertained
and
not
to
be
preached.
That
means
that
even
if
there's
a
message
to
be
put
across,
I
have
to
say
it
in
a
way
that
entertains
the
audience
too.
Entertain
kar
ke
hasi
mazak
se
bol
do.
If you give the same story to four directors, you will get four different films.
So
after
3
Idiots,
Raju
Hirani's
recipe
is
not
going
to
change?
I
don't
think
so.
I
enjoy
doing
this
and
I
will
hopefully
continue
doing
the
same.
I
don't
want
to
do
something
that
I
am
not
convinced
about.
You
have
to
believe
in
what
you
do.
I
don't
want
to
reach
a
stage
ki
kehne
ko
hi
khuch
nahi
hain
par
films
banaye
ja
rahe
ho.
Then
you
should
go
and
do
farming,
I'd
love
to
do
farming.
You
have
farms?
(Laughs)
No.
But
I
love
nature
so
I
would
love
to
getaway
to
do
that.
Seriously,
actually.