3 Idiots: Difference between revisions

In their first year of college, students Farhan Qureshi and Raju Rastogi join the prestigious Imperial College of Engineering (ICE) in [[Delhi]] and meet Ranchhoddas Shamaldas Chanchad (aka Rancho), their roommate. Rancho is passionate about experimenting and consequently tops the class. Rancho's carefree approach to education results in him being at odds with the college's director, Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe (nicknamed "Virus" by the students), who believes in a strict and competitive education system.

When a student named Joy Lobo commits suicide after failing to meet a project deadline, Rancho confronts Virus about the extreme pressure placed on ICE students, but is rudely rebuffed. One night, the trio gatecrashes a wedding and meet Virus' youngest daughter, Pia, only later realizing that the wedding is for Pia's older sister, Mona. Although initially upset by Rancho’s behavior, Pia develops a crush on Rancho’s after he pranks her boyfriend Suhas, showing his materialistic side. Fed up with Suhas' materialistic attitude, Pia angrily breaks up with him. An infuriated Virus warns Farhan and Raju about the effects of them being friends with Rancho by pointing out the modest financial situations of their families, scaring Raju into bunking with Chatur "Silencer" Ramalingam, a competitive, arrogant student who believes in learning by rote memorization. To teach Chatur a lesson about memorization, Rancho and Farhan secretly make obscene modifications to the script of Chatur's teacher's day speech. After a disastrous speech before the teachers, Virus, and the Minister of Education, the embarrassed and furious Chatur makes a bet with Rancho to see who will be more successful after ten years.

The night before their final exams, Raju's [[Paralysis|paralyzed]] father experiences a heart attack. With Pia's help, Rancho rushes Raju's father to the hospital on Pia's scooter. After realizing that Rancho saved his father's life, Raju reconciles with him. At the end of the year, Rancho comes first in the class, while Farhan and Raju are last and second to last, respectively. During the yearly class photo, Rancho makes a bet with Virus that if either Raju or Farhan gets a job from on-campus interviews, Virus will shave his mustache.

One night in their fourth year of college, Rancho tells his friends why they consistently place last: Farhan's passion is photography, not engineering, and Raju lacks self-confidence. After Farhan and Raju promise to confront their problems if Rancho confesses his feelings for Pia, the three of them drunkenly break into Virus' house. Virus spots them during their escape, recognizing Raju, and the next day gives Raju an ultimatum: to incriminate his friends or be expelled himself. Distraught, Raju attempts suicide but survives, leading to Virus revoking the expulsion. Raju recovers, thanks to the support and care of his friends and family. Raju is successful in a job interview, while Farhan convinces his father to let him become a photographer.

Virus, in an attempt to protect his fragile ego, tries to sabotage Raju's chances of success by holding an unfairly difficult exam. With Pia's help, Rancho and Farhan break into Virus' office and steal the exam paper. Upon being given the paper, Raju refuses to cheat and throws it away, but the three of them are caught and expelled. Pia confronts her father over her brother's suicide, which was prompted by similar pressure placed on him by Virus. That night, during a heavy rainstorm, Mona, who is pregnant, goes into labor. Unable to drive to a hospital, Rancho modifies a vacuum cleaner into a [[ventouse]] and delivers the baby with the help of Pia, Farhan, and Raju. A grateful Virus acknowledges Rancho by giving him a valuable [[Space Pen|space pen]], which he promised to give only to his most distinguished student, and revokes the trio's expulsions. On graduation day, Rancho suddenly disappears.

Chatur, now the prosperous vice president of a reputable company in California, calls Farhan and Raju to remind them of the bet he made with Rancho about who would be more successful. The three of them set out to find Rancho. Upon reaching [[Shimla]], where Chatur has located Rancho's house, they come across a different man named Ranchhoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad, whose face is pasted over Rancho's in their graduation portrait. The man is reluctant to reveal anything at first and threatens the trio at gunpoint, only relenting after Farhan and Raju threaten to flush his late father's ashes down a toilet. He explains that the "Rancho" at ICE was his family's gardener's son "Chhote", who was incredibly intelligent and gifted. Ranchhoddas' father paid for Chhote to attend ICE, on condition that he use his son's name and, after graduating, cut all contact with anyone at ICE. Chhote, who was more interested in learning than in getting a degree, agreed, but afterward warned that two idiots would come looking for him one day. Ranchoddas gives them Chhote/Rancho's address in [[Ladakh]].

On the way there, Farhan and Raju gatecrash Pia's wedding to her materialistic boyfriend Suhas in [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh|Manali]] and convince her to come with them to find Rancho. At the address in Ladakh, the group is astonished to find a thriving school. They meet "Millimetre", formerly an errand boy at ICE, now Rancho's assistant, who tells them that Rancho has keenly followed their careers. They reunite with Rancho on a [[Shoal|sandbar]]. Rancho admits he is still in love with Pia and the two share a kiss. Chatur assumes that Rancho is a mere schoolteacher and mocks him, but Rancho reveals himself to be Phunsukh Wangdu, a successful inventor with 400 patents, whom Chatur's company is courting. A flabbergasted Chatur accepts defeat as the others run away from him laughing.