December 21, 2007 or 21/12/2007, the release date of Taare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan’s maiden movie as Director. The result, a roaring success. A film liked by critics and audiences around the country and nominated as the Indian entry for the Oscars.

December 25, 2008 or 25/12/2008, the release date of Ghajini, the first time audiences around the world got an opportunity to see a ripped Aamir with copybook 8 pack abs. The result, a roaring success. The film won and was nominated for several filmfare awards.

December 25, 2009 or 25/12/2009, the release date of 3 Idiots, the first time Aamir stars in movie adaptation of a best selling novel. The result, while it might be early days to make such a prediction it can be said for certain that 3 Idiots will certainly be a top-grosser as well as a success at the award ceremonies.

What’s the deal with Aamir and his yearly releases in December ? It appears as if he has some sort of secret pact with Santa Claus and has vowed to spread the Christmas cheer amongst Indian audiences, cause that is certainly what 3 Idiots manages to do.

Loosely based on Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone, 3 Idiots is a rip roaring comedy that aims to drive home a point about the Indian education system which encourages rote-learning and high grades rather than learning for the purpose of gaining knowledge and real-life application of concepts. Aamir plays the central role of Rancchoddas Shyamaldas Chanchad or Rancho, the natural genius who believes in studying for learning rather than high grades and does it with perfection. There are very few 45 year olds in this world who can gracefully pull off the role of a 20 something character and Aamir is certainly one of them.

The movie displays shades of Munnabhai MBBS given the rivalry between the Dean of the Engineering ( Boman Irani as Viru Sahastrabudhhe aka ViruS) college and Rancho as well as Taare Zameen Par as Aamir yet agains tries to drive home the message of the flawed Indian education system and the pressures that Indian families, especially fathers lay on their sons.

Speaking from personal experience (I too completed my engineering in India and thereafter pursued higher studies abroad) there is no doubt about the fact that the Indian Education system is decades behind the International education system in its form and content, a fact that is driving a large number of bright Indian students to foreign shores. Imagine studying at a top Indian institute and having open-book exams, take home exams or no exams at all (just projects based on research and application of concepts). That’s the kind of school that Aamir or Phunsuk Wangdu (his real name in the movie) builds towards the end of the movie.

All in all, 3 Idiots is an amazing entertainer and is probably a tad too funny for an Aamir Khan movie, given his penchant for embedding impactful social messages in his movies. The message of the movie tends to get slightly lost in the middle of the all the comedy and entertainment. Performances by all the artists are stupendous and the songs are well-placed as well, an art that Aamir seems to have mastered.

So if you haven’t had a dekko of 3 Idiots yet, then you’re certainly missing out on a yet another Aamir Khan classic and some useful lessons for life.