Upon watching Damian Chazelle’s Whiplash for the first time I was struck by two things: firstly, wow how have I gone nearly a decade without watching this? And secondly, I was surprisingly struck by how it tackled a major theme in one of my favourite films of all time: Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots. The Bollywood classic, built on the same conflict of sacrifice and conflict, seemed like an interesting way to analyse the ways in which Bollywood and Hollywood take different approaches to the same problem.
Whiplash follows protagonist Andrew who studies at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory; the film kicks off when, scouted by the violently obsessive Fletcher, Andrew proves himself in the top jazz group at the institution. Throughout the film we see Andrew increasingly tumble into jazz based asceticism, stripping himself of his personal life and eventually locking himself and a psychopathic Fletcher in a battle to prove that he is worthy of performing in the group and entering the proverbial drumming hall of fame.
3 Idiots is based in India’s top Engineering school and follows the story of well… three idiots, each hailing from a different social background and confronting the stifling tradition of society both at home and on campus. Well funded Rancho, the eccentric genius is constantly at odds with both the comically evil principle, Virus, and fellow student, Chatur who embodies the profit driven nature of the education system. Much to their behest, Rancho conquers the two intellectually with his motto of learning merely for the sake of learning. Idiot number two, Farhan’s passions lie in photography, not engineering. And Raju, our third idiot, is under immense pressure from his parents due to their reliance on him for a stable income is similarly driven to madness.
Looking first to the themes of sacrifice in Whiplash, we see two distinct strains emerge. First is the realm of the domestic, Andrew’s family views on his obsession. Fighting both social and economic pressure, Andrew faces his high achieving cousins at a tense dinner table, after his musical accolades are pushed aside in favour of his cousins who have landed a Rhode scholarship and a place in a prominent American football team. The scene is painfully reminiscent of a bassist being ignored in a band interview. At its most intense moment, Andrew admits that his sole role model is a jazz drummer who was immortalised by his performances in spite of a drug overdose causing a premature death; Andrew is clearly ready to rid himself of everything in order to be remembered as one of the greats. The scene’s uncomfortable nature is only highlighted by the lack of musical score to accompany it, Chazelle’s choice highlighting the agony Andrew goes through in having his talents being sidestepped in favour of talents deemed both more economically and socially fruitful. This silence is rudely shattered by Andrew storming off to return to his drums, beating at the cymbals in defiance of the lack of respect he receives despite his musical accolades.
The second, more consistent, measure of Andrew’s sacrifice throughout the film is the development of his relationship with Nicole. Andrew’s relationship with Nicole starts off as a form of grounding him in the real world, outside of his musical obsession; their first date portrays him at his most relatable, where he sees Nicole largely as an equal. This is complemented visually, as Youtube channel, Movie LUTs analysis of the colour in Whiplash exposes, the scenes with Nicole offer visual respite from the oppressive barrage of orange the film is otherwise coated in. She thus comes to represent his ability to live a life outside of the shadow cast by Fletcher, and just as she loses relevance, Fletcher’s influence upon him is redoubled.Â
Andrew becomes totally unaware of the effect his dedication to his music has on his relationships and is unfazed by how reasonably upset Nicole is to hear that she is a mere obstruction to his path to greatness. Andrew has sacrificed his main tie to the real world and is now entirely under the spell of Fletcher, as the next scene reflects a snap back into the practice room, once again coated in the oppressive orange that the film ends with.
The same is true in 3 Idiots. Farhan, having been offered an internship as a photographer in his dream position, is made to ignore this in the face of social status and stable income in becoming an engineer. Sacrifice is a more explicit theme in 3 Idiots; most blatantly obvious when Rancho is made to tour his friends homes as a form of discipline for allegedly dragging down the grades of his friends. Farhan’s parents point out to Rancho what economic sacrifices they made to ensure Farhan would become a successful engineer, installing an AC unit in only Farhan’s bedroom and similarly directing funds towards gifting him a laptop. Farhan’s award winning photography, plastering his wall is left looming in the back of these scenes, ignored by the parents when pointing out the monetary sacrifices they made to give their son the best chance at becoming an engineer. While economics is undoubtedly a key theme here, the background presence of Farhan’s photos being ignored by his father and noticed by his friends highlights the rift between Farhan’s personal goals and those of his family, in turn emphasising his sacrifice. Going one step further, director Hirani leads us to Raju’s house, the effect being given an economic slant, with monochromatic filming and music of decades past brought together to create an image of near caricaturistic poverty. Raju is the family’s final lifeline and his storming out of the house upon the mention of the pressure that is placed upon him subtly points to the mental sacrifice he undergoes for his family. Unlike Rancho whom we discover is learning for the mere sake of it, and to a lesser degree Farhan, Raju’s obtaining a job is pivotal for his family’s situation which, when faced with betraying either his friends or his family in a later scene, causes him to reject making a choice in an attempted suicide, mirroring an earlier suicide of another victim of the stuffy educational confines of the institute. Thus the themes of sacrifice in 3 Idiots speak to wider themes of familial pressure, financial need, and social status, and point more to a social critique than a personal conflict like we see with Andrew.
The turning point of 3 Idiots, set some ten years in ahead of their graduation, is when Rancho, following a long absence, is finally found again by his friends. Chatur, the incarnation of the stuffy, profit driven Indian education system, pledges to meet the 3 in ten years to see who is more ‘successful’ and insufferably wastes little time in showing off his newly built house and Lamborghini (a Diablo in case you were wondering). Keen to establish the expected chasm against him and his ideological arch-enemy Rancho, he constantly boasts about a business deal he is conducting with a businessman whom he has come to deify, Phunsuk Wangdu. He belittles Rancho upon finding out that he has become a teacher, though the final revelation of the film is that Rancho has been operating under a pseudonym the entire time; not only is the principle of the school, a temple to innovation in rebellion against traditional profit led education, but we learn his real name is, yep: Phunsuk Wangdu. Thus, not only has he succeeded in carrying out his dreams by building a shrine to the enjoyment of learning, but he has also managed to outstrip Chatur in the traditional realm of profit, earning him the respect of both Chatur and his friends for not dropping his values and profiting through his dedication.
The ending of Whiplash is undoubtedly more ambiguous, indeed numerous videos and articles have been published debating whether it can be considered a ‘happy ending’–if we maintain that Andrew is the ‘good guy’ and Fletcher the ‘baddie.’ Evanonline’s fantastic analysis of the final sequence illuminates the conflict that we as the audience feel in seeing what appears to be Andrew being seen as an equal, finally worthy of Fletcher, giving us some final form of relief for our protagonist who has sacrificed so much to get to this moment. However, it also seems to validate the violent and isolating methods employed by Fletcher. In the he tight shot of their faces as Andrew seeks Fletcher out, in equal parts to help him time his final assault on the drum kit as well as in search of validation isolates the two entirely, we are momentarily removed from the context of the scene, the audience and bandmates invisible. In this moment, Andrew enacts his final sacrifice, turning himself and all his effort to Fletcher in spite of the abuse he suffered. Although the ambiguous nature of the scene technically allows for the opposite interpretation, that Andrew had overcome Fletcher, there is still some inequality here, Andrew’s face is in view while only Fletcher’s eyes are, the latter still retains some mystery about his character, so we never feel entirely as though the two are fully equals, even if the largely matching composition suggests so. At its most optimistic, it can be said that Whiplash’s ending is all about the compromised outcome of a sacrifice driven plot, resolving the previously vast imbalance of power dynamics defining the film. In contrast, 3 Idiots takes a decisively more optimistic outlook, in line with its genre as a comedy. Rancho embodies the notion that we can both satisfy social pressures, in becoming economically successful, while also staying true to ourselves and not sacrificing ourselves to the point Andrew does to achieve our personal goals.Â
Without generalising, it is hard to say how Bollywood and Hollywood differ in these regards, though with my limited knowledge of Darren Oronofsky’s Black Swan as a similar example from the West, it seems that Hollywood takes on a more personal portrayal of art-obsession; tackling ego, both in the self as well as being embodied in other characters such as Fletcher as the main ‘enemy’ while Bollywood seeks to critique society at large and stifling social conditions that prevent passions from being pursued in favour of that which is more material.
Note from the editor: This article is quite a bit longer than what we normally publish as it was originally meant for print. We decided that it was better suited to our online platform and wanted to highlight it in its original form. Enjoy!
Check out some of the videos referenced in this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA-8D3np5Lc