LOOK, IT'S THE IDIOTS!

LOOK, IT'S THE IDIOTS!

Suresh Kavirayani

The 'idiots' from Bollywood, Tollywood and Tamil cinema descended Hyderabad on Thursday evening for the audio function of "Snehitudu", the dubbed version of the Tamil flick, "Nanban", which is the remake of the Hindi hit, "3 Idiots". Tamil superstar Vijay along with Ileana and Sriram made a dashing entry. But it was the original "3 Idiots" team of Sharman Joshi, Raju Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra who were the highlight of the show. In fact Hirani was amazed at the large turnout for the do. "I feel like taking this crowd along with me to Mumbai. We do not get such a response for an audio function there," quipped Hirani. Meanwhile, Ram Charan Tej and Vidhu Vinod Chopra were seen engaged in a long conversation. "I was one of the first people to see "3 Idiots" as Vidhu and Raju invited me for a special screening," said Charan. "I was offered Aamir's role in the remake. But since I was fairly new in the industry, I wasn't confident and I turned the role down. I missed a great opportunity," said Charan. Chopra meanwhile was happy to be in the city. "Hyderabad is really clean. This is the first time I'll be staying in the city overnight," he said.

Vijay

Shankar

Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Ram Charan Tej

Sunil

Malavika

Sharman Joshi

Resul Pookutty

Harris Jayaraj

Sriram

<< Ileana

FIRST DAY FIRST SHOW

NOT AS CHARMING AS THE ORIGINAL

Suresh Kavirayani

Snehithudu
CAST: Vijay, Jiiva, Sriram, Ileana, Sathyaraj and Others MUSIC: Harris Jayaraj DIRECTOR: Shankar
Snehitudu", the dubbed version of "Nanban", is ace director Shankar's remake of "3 Idiots". Known for his big budget flicks, Shankar's version of the film hardly deviates from the original flick, expect for the addition of one song.
Like in the original, the movie trails the escapades of three good friends — Panchabatla Sarangapani or Pani (Vijay), Venkat Ramakrishna (Sri Ram) and Sanakkayala Ravi (Jiiva) — who study together in an engineering college. Pani scoffs the education system that forces students to study from the books by rote, instead of encouraging students to apply their learnings in a practical manner. Following his own methods of studying, he manages to stand first always, while his two buddies lag behind as their heart lies somewhere else. Venkat is a photography enthusiast, who isn't really keen on engineering, while Ravi ends up spending all his time worrying about his marks.
Virupaksha Sundaram (Satyaraj), the stern principal of the college, holds all the students in terror. Pani ends up falling in love with his daughter, Ria (Ileana). Through the course of the movie, Ravi and Venkat are egged on by Pani to shed their fears and follow their dreams. However, after their final exams, Pani disappears without a trace and the friends are left clueless. Ten years later, Venkat and Ravi travel to meet to their friend Pani,which is actually where the movie, which unfolds in flashback, begins.
It is commendable that director Shankar, a brand in himself in the South Indian industry, decided to remake a good plot for the South audiences. Not in a single scene does he steer away from the original. But when you compare the two, this movie fails to move you emotionally like the original did. The attempts at humor are the same too, but you can't help but get the feeling that something is missing in the remake of the successful film.
Vijay is good in his part but he just can't match up to Aamir Khan's brilliant act in the Hindi version. Full marks to Sri Ram who has done exceptionally well in Madhavan's role. Jiiva, who plays Sharman Joshi, is impressive. While Ileana looks glamorous in her role, she doesn't leave as much an impression as Kareena did in "3 Idiots". Sathyaraj was funny as the princie, 'Virus', which was played by Boman Irani in the original. Sathyan, who had to step into the shoes of Omi Vaidya's 'Chatur' leaves the audiences in splits, especially since comedian Sunil dubbed for the character.
Haaris Jayaraj managed to churn out some catchy numbers. Cinematography by Manoj Paramahansa is top class... his work shines throughout the movie. Abburi Ravi's effective dialogues are also worth a mention.
While "Snehitudu" does make for a good watch, it lacks the emotional quotient and charm of "3 Idiots".

A still from 'Snehithudu'

Oh they are making a Telugu version also 😃

Thanks Chalhov