Dialogue of the day from 3 Idiots, ‘Kaabil bano, kaabil...’

Dialogue of the day: Rancho does not chase marks or rankings the way the other students in his engineering college do. He loves learning for its own sake, and he keeps telling his friends that the rat race is the wrong way to look at it. This line sums up his whole outlook. He says this to Farhan, who was pushed into engineering even though he secretly wants to be a wildlife photographer.

Dialogue of the day

“Bachcha kaabil bano, kaabil... kamyabi toh saali jhak maar ke peeche bhagegi.” (Become capable, my child, capable. Success will come chasing you.) - Rancho, 3 Idiots

What does the dialogue mean? 

Rancho is separating two things that people usually mix up. Success is an outcome, such as a rank, a salary or a title. Being capable, or kaabil, is something you build in yourself through knowledge and skill. His point is that if you focus on the second, the first tends to follow.

The “jhak maar ke” part is classic Hirani humour, but it carries a serious thought. Chasing success directly makes people anxious and willing to cut corners. Chasing excellence makes you better at what you do, and the results come as a side effect.

The film backs this up. The students who memorise to pass exams are shown as stressed and unhappy. Rancho enjoys what he studies, and he turns out to be the one who actually understands it. The line is not an argument against ambition. It is an argument for doing the work properly.

It stuck around because so many people recognise the pressure it pushes against. Parents, teachers and friends often ask what rank you got or what salary you will earn. The line is a gentle reminder to ask a different question, which is whether you are getting better at something you care about.

About 3 Idiots

Released on 25 December 2009 and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 3 Idiots follows three engineering students at an elite college, Rancho, Farhan and Raju, and a search for their missing friend years later. Aamir Khan plays Rancho, with R. Madhavan as Farhan, Sharman Joshi as Raju, Kareena Kapoor as Pia and Boman Irani as the strict principal Viru Sahastrabuddhe. The film is loosely based on Chetan Bhagat’s novel Five Point Someone and was one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of its time. It started a wide conversation about exam pressure in India.