Characters / 3 Idiots

Below are the important characters in Rajkumar Hirani's 2009 film 3 Idiots.

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3 Idiots

Farhan Qureshi

Farhan Qureshi

Played by: R. Madhavan

Voiced by: Wataru Takagi (JP)

^{Click here to see Farhan ten years ago}

One of the eponymous three idiots alongside Ranchoddas Chanchad and Raju Rastogi who studied together at Imperial College of Engineering. Since his birth, his father dictated him to become an engineer against his wishes, while he truly wanted to become a wildlife photographer. However, this also lead him to meet his True Companions that would change his sad fate for the better.

In the present timeline, he is a professional wildlife photographer and is shown to have published several books of photographs. He serves as the Character Narrator retelling the past events throughout the film's run while subsequently tagging along with Raju and their former classmate, Chatur Ramalingam, who claims to know Rancho's location.

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• Bespectacled Cutie: A Gender Flipped and downplayed example. While the bespectacled Farhan can be as energetic as Rancho, part of the problem in his character arc is that he is too shy and afraid to convince his father that he doesn't want to become an engineer.
• Camera Fiend: Farhan is this, being an aspiring photographer after all. He enjoys taking pictures of the most important milestones in his life such as Raju's discharge from the hospital after his suicide, Virus holding his almost stillborn grandson, and the graduation ceremony. His eye for photography also serves as a Chekhov's Skill and subtle Foreshadowing when Chatur shows Farhan the picture of the person who gave him the opportunity to deal with Phunsukh Wangdu, in which Farhan pays attention to the familiar side face that resembles Rancho. As eventually revealed at the ending, Phunsukh Wangdu is Rancho's true identity, proving that Farhan and Raju were closer in reaching Rancho simply by reestablishing their contacts with Chatur even before their confrontation against the real Ranchoddas.
• Character Narrator: Farhan serves as the narrator of the past events of the film. Doubles as Lemony Narrator due to being a Deadpan Snarker himself in-universe.
• Grew a Spine: Like Raju, Farhan's Character Development is this but in a different manner: he finally asserts himself in front of his father and tells him outright that he doesn't want to become an engineer and instead wants to become a photographer. And he finally succeeds and achieves fulfillment by doing so.
• Meaningful Name: His name means "happiness". Initially, it is an Ironic Name since he is unhappy about his circumstances of being forced to study engineering in favor of pursuing the career that makes him happy, which is wildlife photography. This trope is played straight after he gathers enough courage and support from his True Companions to convince his father to let him pursue his happiness of his choice for once and succeeds, as shown in the present timeline.
• Nice to the Waiter: Upon his arrival at his dorm room at ICE, Farhan pays Millimeter and tells him to keep the change as he genuinely thanks him for carrying his things. For that small act of kindness, Millimeter advises him and Raju to wear their best underwear that night so they won't become a laughingstock at the ragging.
• Undying Loyalty: Although the entire trio shows this to each other, Farhan deserves a special mention because he is the one who sticks by Rancho throughout the earlier years at ICE, especially when Virus starts to antagonize the trio and Raju abandons them before the reconciliation.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: His father is the only reason why he attended Imperial College of Engineering in the first place.

Raju Rastogi

Raju Rastogi

Played by: Sharman Joshi

Voiced by: Shinji Kawada (JP)

^{Click here to see Raju ten years ago}

One of the eponymous three idiots alongside Farhan and Rancho. Unlike the aforementioned two, Raju hailed from impoverished family. His mother was a retired teacher, his father was a paralyzed postman, and his older sister couldn't get married without a suitable dowry demanded from the groom's family. Although he is a capable student, he is also riddled with anxiety due to immense societal pressure, and thus always ended up self-sabotaging himself.

In the present timeline, he is a settled man in Delhi who finally lifted himself and his family from poverty. He also joins Farhan and Chatur in their search for Rancho.

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• Alliterative Name: Raju Rastogi.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Realizing that Pia is going through with her marriage to Suhas because she is afraid of people laughing at her if she decides to do otherwise, Raju asks her if she's going to commit suicide. Not a literal one, but a metaphorical one in a sense that he asks her if she is willing to throw happiness out of the window and lead a miserable life despite having a way to be with Rancho again, just because she is afraid of other people's perceptions of her.
• Ashes to Crashes: He is the one who calls the shots to subdue the real Ranchoddas Chanchad into telling the truth by threatening to throw Shamaldas' ashes into the toilet bowl and flush it. Although they picked the wrong urn, it's heavily implied that Raju will play this trope straight, given how understandably angry and confused he is at the possibility that this man pocketed his best friend's degree and achievements, just to make the scion speak.
• Butt-Monkey: A subtle example, but out of the trio, Raju seems to frequently be on the short end of the stick. He was Virus' favorite target to put the trio down, like being forced to make a choice between having Rancho expelled or he himself would be expelled after he was caught by Virus drinking and sneaking into his house last night. And when he got a job despite his low grades that really hurt Virus' ego, he set an unfair test for Raju to fail which led Rancho, Farhan, and indirectly Pia to steal the paper for him that eventually led to the trio's expulsion.
• Driven to Suicide: Unwilling to choose between betraying his friend Rancho and letting his family down, he jumps out a window. Fortunately, he survives.
• Grew a Spine: His entire Character Development. By finally not striving for the approval of the masses who will have a shallow and fleeting opinion of him and finally believing in his own capabilities instead of relying on higher beings, Raju undergoes this trope enough to impress a company and be hired despite his low academic performance. And as shown in the present day, he is now a successful and well-off executive. During the search for Rancho, he shows to be more forward in their pursuit, judging by how he is more than willing to throw Shamaldas' ashes down the drain just to make the real Ranchoddas speak the truth, endures Suhas' anger after inflicting a Wardrobe Wound in his wedding garb, and poses as the groom to get close to the bride and convince Pia to run away from her wedding in front of many people, one of them being Virus, his former tormentor.
• Happily Married: In the present timeline.
• Locked Out of the Loop: At the beginning of the film, Raju is confused about the bet between Chatur and Rancho while Farhan maintains a neutral expression. Turns out that it was due to the Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure still being in effect at the time the bet was made. Only Farhan and Rancho were present at the time Chatur made it. It can be assumed that Farhan and Rancho deemed the bet unimportant enough not to tell Raju once they had reconciled until that moment.
• Meaningful Name: Raju means "leader" or "king" which alludes to his career as a wealthy executive.
• Momma's Boy: Implied, given how he is furious when Farhan calls his mother Mother Teresa.
• Perpetual Poverty: His family was basically struggling in the past. Subverted in the present timeline, given how his first appearance in the film has him depicted as well-off.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: After getting into trouble by crashing into Mona's wedding, Raju briefly has this when Virus threatens to expel him and Farhan if the he continues to be friends with Rancho. He moves to Chatur's dorm room for several weeks and avoids Farhan and Rancho, even when he finds their sabotage of Chatur's speech Actually Pretty Funny. Then Rancho risks breaking the law to take Raju's sick father to the hospital on board a motorcycle. Cue a tearful Man Hug and Raju deciding to stick it to the man in favor of having a real friend in Rancho.
• Wardrobe Wound: In order to stop Pia and Suhas' wedding, Raju inflicts this on Suhas' wedding clothes in order to pose himself as the groom, and personally convince Pia to run away from her own wedding.

Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad (Unmarked Spoilers)

"Ranchodas Shamaldas Chanchad" / Phunsukh Wangdu

Played by: Aamir Khan

Voiced by: Hiroaki Hirata (JP)

^{Click here to see him in the present}

One of the eponymous three idiots alongside Farhan and Raju who attended together at ICE. Unlike Farhan and Raju's less-than-stellar academic achievements, Rancho was considered a prodigal student. But he shows considerable disgust over the stagnant, inhumane, and toxic environment of the school which puts him into odds with its professors and earns the enmity of the college's director, Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe. Since his graduation, he disappeared for a decade without a trace, which remains as a major mystery of the film's run.

In reality, he is not the real Rancho, but instead a servant from the Chanchad family named Phunsukh Wangdu (nicknamed as Chhote). Seeing his genius intellect, Shamaldas Chanchad has him impersonate as his son, the real Ranchoddas Chanchad, in order to pocket the degree by his name. Due to this impersonation, the impostor was forced to cut his ties with Farhan, Raju, and his Love Interest Pia for a decade and started from scratch once again. His current whereabouts is in Ladakh, in which he works as a school teacher, while also being a successful scientist and inventor.

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• The Ace: In the chronological timeline, Rancho/Phunsukh was the star student of his batch, always topping every semester. In the present timeline, although he doesn't have a degree in his name due to impersonating the real Rancho, Phunsukh is a successful scientist and inventor with 400 patents in his name. He is sought after by the Japanese and other multinational corporations (including Chatur's company, ironically), and he also works as a school teacher in Ladakh.
• Anchored Ship: Rancho and Pia love each other despite the odds, but Rancho assuming a false identity prevents him from fully acting on his feelings towards her, which leads her to think that she's being played around.
• Artifact Alias: Even though Rancho is not his real name, he still responds to it when Farhan and Raju call him at the finale.
• Blithe Spirit: Rancho really shakes up the ICE since his attendance, earning him odd looks to outright hatred.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The star student of ICE during the chronological timeline. This is one of the reasons why Virus can't expel him.
• Character Catchphrase: "All is well." Doubles as Survival Mantra, to calm himself down during stressful moments. This is eventually becomes a Borrowed Catchphrase to Farhan, Raju, and Pia. This catchphrase becomes a Chekhov's Gun to save Mona's baby.
• Child Prodigy: He was already doing 10th Grade math when he was in the 6th Grade.
• Class Clown: His way of thinking doesn't translate well with his straitlaced and narrow-minded professors of ICE. Not to mention he is one of the most humorous and snarkiest characters in this film rife with snarkers. Unlike most examples, he is an exemplar student and can give as much as he can get.
• Cool Teacher: He works as a schoolteacher in Ladakh, teaching students whenever he takes a break from his scientific research.
• Deadpan Snarker: In a cast full of snarkers, he is probably the snarkiest.
• Groin Attack: His method of delivering them is conducting salt water to electricity.
• Failed a Spot Check: During the freshmen's first meeting with Virus, Rancho asks the director why engineers make lots of effort to create a space pen when astronauts can simply use a pencil. As much it is proven from time to time that he is a genius, even he fails to realize that using a pencil in a zero-gravity environment can be a total hazard and will lead to trouble that astronauts can't handle. Virus has to spell out the flaw of Rancho's logic four years later.
• Foreshadowing: That Rancho is not what he seems:
  • When he explains the origin of his Catchphrase to Farhan and Raju, he claims that he grew up in a small village with a night watchman. Fast forward to Virus' talk with Farhan and Raju at his office to reprimand them about crashing his eldest daughter's wedding, he tells them that Chanchads are rich and that they live in a mansion. This contradicts what Rancho had said. But looking back at the first scene, it seems that Rancho came forward to his roommates and eventual True Companions as an imposter under the service of the Chanchad family.
  • As much as he loves Pia, he seems to be reluctant to act on it outright, judging by Pia's frustration that it took almost four years for him to confess. Acting as the real Rancho's double might have explained his reluctance.
  • Viewers might be left scratching their heads as Rancho knows Farhan and Raju's respective issues, yet the two barely even know a thing or two about him considering how tightly-knit they were back on their college days, even sharing the same dorm room. Again, the act of impersonation explains why Rancho remains mum about himself.
• The Fettered: Can be seen this way. Despite his dirt poor origins, Rancho is all about pursuing happiness and success will surely follow on them. But he isn't keen on sacrificing morality and individuality in favor of keeping up appearances to a society that has fleeting opinions and generally doesn't care about them in the long run. Part of the film's run is defending his beliefs to the unfair and stifling society he and his True Companions are forced to abide by.
• Gadgeteer Genius: From taser to improvised ventouse, Rancho can create useful, even life-saving devices from scratch. In the present timeline, it is implied that he passed down his skills to many children in a school in Ladakh.
• The Heart: It's clear that Rancho is this to his True Companions and to others who manage to get past through his... weirdness. If not for his presence and influence, they would either live in fear by throwing away their chances of lifelong happiness in favor of gaining approval from others that will not last long, discard their morals in order to trample on others and gain prestige, or commit suicide from being unable to handle the impossible standards of the society they live in.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Rancho is a brilliant student, but seems to be keen on hanging out more with Farhan and Raju (and sometimes Millimeter), who are considered as dead lasts in the pecking order in ICE. His reputation as a Bunny-Ears Lawyer might have kept others from hanging out with him.
• Love at First Sight: Heavily implied when he lays eyes on Pia for the first time during Mona's wedding.
• Manly Tears: This guy isn't afraid to express his emotions:
  • It might be raining, but it's clear that Rancho's crying during Joy Lobo's funeral given how red his eyes are.
  • When he and Raju finally reconcile after Rancho saves his dad from a stroke.
  • When Farhan finally convinces his father to let him pursue his dream and Raju successfully lands a job, Rancho sheds another round of tears.
  • Like everyone else who are present during Mona's birth, he sheds these when he thought that Mona's infant son was stillborn. Until the baby is resuscitated and Rancho's tears become Tears of Joy.
• Nerd Glasses: He wears a pair during the present timeline.
• Nice Guy: He's genial most of the time and is good friends with Farhan and Raju, and even cares for the latter by using Pia's motorbike to send him to the hospital after his attempted suicide.
• Nice to the Waiter: Alongside Farhan, he treats Millimeter nicely, even giving him lots of his allowance to get him a uniform and study, earning the young helper's loyalty to the trio.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: He is a schoolteacher, but also a famous scientist and a successful businessman in the present.
• Overly Long Name: His fake name is a mouthful so it's shortened as Rancho.
• The Prankster: Against anyone who is unfortunate to become an unwilling participant for his "demos" like Chatur and Suhas.
• Science Hero: He successfully uses the inverter he made as an excuse to get out of trouble for gatecrashing a wedding to restore power to the common area during a storm and builds a vacuum cup out of a vacuum cleaner.
• Secret Identity: Rancho kept his real identity a secret throughout the flashbacks, which turns out to be a major plot point. Towards the end of the present timeline, Rancho's real identity is revealed to be Phunsukh Wangdu, the elusive scientist and inventor highly sought after by many international corporations. He is also a school teacher who encourages kids to invent machines.
• Secretly Wealthy: Rancho might not seem it at first during his time at ICE, but he is a scion of a rich businessman as Virus revealed to Farhan and Raju. However, it's not actually his wealth. He still ends up getting rich anyway a decade later, this time by his own means.
• Self-Made Man: Despite graduating at ICE at the top of his class, everything he did there was later attributed to the real Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad, so he still had to build up his wealth with little to no assistance from the family he worked for.
• Sherlock Scan: Rancho makes accurate observations from a glance. For example, despite Pia not telling him anything about her old watch, Rancho immediately knows that it came from her Missing Mom. When asked how did he know that she is wearing her mother's watch, he reasons that back at their first meeting, Pia wore brand new clothes except for the watch, signifying that she is affected from her mother's death and is trying to keep her memory alive. And no way it came from her father, since he is clearly not a sentimental man.
• The Social Expert: Despite his rebellious attitude, Rancho is quick at deducing situations and character issues from social cues and conversations. From just attending his first class and eavesdropping on Joy's conversation with Virus, he immediately learns that ICE has fostered a toxic and counterproductive learning environment for its students. He also effortlessly charms Pia and deduces at first glance that her fiancé is a superficial blowhard.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Dhokla.
• True Companions: Was this to Farhan and Raju during their college days. Even in the present timeline, Man Mohan reveals that Rancho continues to follow Raju's blogs and collects every book on photography written by Farhan.
• Unknown Rival: Rancho doesn't seem to care about Chatur's burning hatred and rivalry towards him. As far as he knows, he was at ICE to learn, not to compete.
• Uptight Loves Wild: He is the Wild to Pia's Uptight.
• Walking Spoiler: The reason why this entry has unmarked spoilers. He is already a mysterious character in the present and viewers only see him during the flashbacks, with his debut in the present timeline happening during the last few minutes of the film. It is impossible to further discuss Rancho without revealing the fact that he is an imposter of the real Ranchoddas Chanchad that Farhan, Raju, and Chatur encountered at Shimla. The impersonation is reason why he cuts off all his ties with everyone shortly after graduation. His real name is revealed at the very end to be Phunsukh Wangdu.
• Younger Than They Look: He’s been taking the real Ranchoddas’s place for years, and was apparently in sixth grade when a teacher found out and Shamaldas arranged for him to continue taking classes for Ranchoddas while the real one was in tenth grade, meaning he’s most likely four years younger than his classmates at ICE.

Imperial College of Engineering (ICE)

Students

Chatur Ramalingam

Chatur Ramalingam

Played by: Omi Vaidya

Voiced by: Yuu Mizushima (JP)

^{Click here to see Chatur ten years ago}

A former classmate of the main characters back at ICE, Chatur was Rancho's academic rival. In the present, he works as the VP of an American company, is living with his family in the USA, and returns to India to instigate the search for Rancho, claiming that he is at Shimla.

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• Academic Alpha Bitch: A Gender Flipped version during his ICE days.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When he realizes that the rival he mocked for being a schoolteacher is the very person that he must secure a deal with for his company, Chatur goes from high and mighty to a helpless sycophant to Rancho/Phunsukh Wangdu.
• Always Second Best: To Rancho.
• Berserk Button:
  • He doesn't like his Embarrassing Nickname "Silencer".
  • He can't stand being Always Second Best to Rancho.
• The Bet: Chatur made a one-sided one to Farhan and Rancho after they sabotaged his Teachers' Day speech that lead him to become a laughingstock. This ends up becoming a plot point, since Chatur's unwillingness to let go of his grudge towards Rancho kickstarts to the search for him in order to settle this particular bet. He ultimately loses the bet as Rancho is a world-renowned inventor and scientist with hundreds of patents to his name.
• Bound and Gagged: Ends up being in this state in order for Farhan and Raju to go back to Manali and steal Pia away from her wedding before going to Ladakh to meet Rancho as they initially planned. They finally release him when they arrive at Ladakh.
• Break the Haughty: He's forced to eat his words and concede defeat when realizing his boasting and teasing Rancho, who is in fact the famous scientist Phunsukh Wangdu that Chatur's company is seeking a deal with, may risk his career.
• But Not Too Foreign: Chatur is a Ugandan-Indian who was raised in Pondicherry (which is a Tamil-speaking territory), which explains his poor command of Hindi.
• Butt-Monkey: Aside from always being second best to Rancho, he gets electrocuted while he's peeing twice and ends up being bound and gagged for half of the present-day journey to find Rancho.
• Dirty Coward: When the real Ranchodas holds him, Farhan and Raju at gunpoint, Chatur's response is to immediately run, leaving the other two to face Ranchodas.
• Entertainingly Wrong: When Farhan mentions that Rancho is staying at a school in Ladakh, Chatur immediately concludes that he must be a lowly schoolteacher. Unfortunately for him, Rancho turns out to be the elusive scientist, Phunsukh Wangdu, that Chatur was desperately searching for.
• Evil Gloating: His first appearance and his reappearance at the climax have him do this.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Farhan, Raju, and later Pia only tag along with Chatur to find Rancho. They don't give a damn about the bet and how he will relish Rancho's defeat.
• In-Series Nickname: He is known as Silencer.
• Gasshole: His consumption of memorization pills lead him to be this and subsequently earning the nickname "Silencer".
• Irony: He made his bet during September 5th, which is Teachers' Day in India and the date when he was thoroughly humiliated by Rancho by editing his speech. Chatur mindlessly memorized and recited it in front of the ICE body and other important figures, including the Education Minister. More than a decade later, when he seems to be assured about his win by assuming Rancho ended up as a school teacher and smugly mocks him over it (and generally looks down on that particular career overall), little does he know that that's only one of Rancho's jobs, as he is a famed and well-esteemed scientist, and the very man that Chatur needs to secure a deal with for his company. In other words, he is defeated by a "lowly" school teacher.
• Jerkass: Chatur isn't a pleasing fellow to be around even if he's nothing compared to the likes of Virus.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While Chatur is condescending towards his classmates, he had every right to be upset when Rancho humiliated him in front of everyone by taking advantage of his lack of fluency in Hindi to change his Teacher's Day speech. At that point, he didn't really do anything mean to Rancho, and the latter's prank went too far.
• Meaningful Name: Chatur means "intelligent" and he is one of the top students in ICE.
• Nouveau Riche: After graduation, Chatur became the vice-president of the Rockledge corporation. He owns a $3.5 million mansion with heated indoor swimming pool, and a Lamborghini 6496cc. However, his manners are rather obnoxious, flaunting his success to his former classmates, farting frequently, and urinating in public places. His fluency in Hindi leaves much to be desired.
• Oh, Crap!: Has a major one in the climax when he finally connects the dots that his academic rival who he lambasted just a few seconds ago and the famed scientist and businessman Phunsukh Wangdu are the same person. His horror intensifies when Rancho decides to call off the deal, which will lead him to lose his job if he doesn't secure it.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: When he learns that Rancho is the person he's trying to make a lucrative business deal with, he tries very hard to suck up to him.
• Rich Bastard: He's introduced in the present bragging about his new luxurious life in America.
• Smug Snake: He is genuinely intelligent, but he acts like he's way above everyone around him.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Downplayed, but Chatur is average-looking while his wife, as seen in a photo, is conventionally attractive.

Joy Lobo

Joy Lobo

Played by: Ali Fazal

A senior during the trio's early years at ICE. Like Rancho, Joy is passionate about machines. He killed himself due to Virus unfairly upholding his doctrine by telling Joy that he will not graduate. His death sparks the enmity between the director and Rancho, who is clearly affected by his senior's death.

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• Ambiguously Christian: Several things point to him being one or at least his parents are. His funeral is notaby conducted by a priest and his casket has a cross on it. His first name is also deeply associated with the faith.
• Driven to Suicide: Another victim of Virus' harsh doctrine.
• The Engineer: Like Rancho, he is clearly dedicated to his studies and pursues engineering at ICE out of genuine interest.
• Ironic Name: His name becomes ironic since his death kickstarted the first major tearjerker part of the film.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His cameo appearance and sad fate triggers Rancho's hatred towards ICE's draconian system and Virus' opposition against his student.

Ragging Senior

Ragging Senior

Played by: Rajeev Ravindranathan

A senior student during the three idiots' freshman year who leads the ragging ceremony.

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• Ambiguously Gay: He seems a little too into this ragging ceremony, where the freshmen strip to their underwear and offer their butts to the seniors.
• Brick Joke: The pee-on-the-spoon trick that Rancho uses on the senior comes up again a decade later when a group of Wangdu's students use that same prank on Chatur.
• Groin Attack: He ends up electrocuting himself in the groin when he pees on a spoon attached to an electrical wire.
• Jerkass: While it's somewhat justified in that it's a ragging ceremony he's leading, him threatening to piss on Rancho and making fun of Chatur's fluency are unnecessary.
• No Name Given: He is not named in the film.

Administration and Staff

Viru Sahastrabuddhe

Viru Sahastrabuddhe

Played by: Boman Irani

Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (JP)

^{Click here to see Virus in the present}

The director of Imperial College of Engineering during the trio's years at the college and Pia and Mona's father. Nicknamed "Virus", he stubbornly sticks to a doctrinal method of teaching, putting him at odds with Rancho, who believes his methods to be inhumane and irrational.

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• The Antagonist: In the chronological timeline.
• The Bet: During the class picture taking, he sarcastically bets that if either Farhan or Raju, the dead lasts of ICE, gets a job, he will shave his moustache. Which his assistant Govind honors when Raju ends up hired. And still maintains it all the way to the present.
• Character Development: At the ending of the chronological timeline, he finally relaxes himself and eases down. This persists after the present-day scenes, in which while he is understandably angry that Farhan and Raju crashed Pia's wedding, he doesn't seem to react violently as before and instead lets Pia go.
• Comeback Tomorrow: In a much-delayed answer to Rancho's question about the Fischer Space Pen (why didn't they use a pencil instead), four years later, after Rancho saves Virus' stillborn grandson, Virus replies that when a pencil lead breaks in zero gravity onboard spaceships, the graphite fragments can get into astronauts' eyes and cause short circuits in the instruments, citing a major flaw that Rancho ignored. This symbolizes how both Virus and Rancho are not that different in so many ways in regards of upholding their philosophies, in that the former can't be wrong all the time just as the latter can't be right all the time.
• Competition Freak: Farhan's narration describes Virus as the most competitive man he had ever seen. He hates being in second place. Even his Establishing Character Moment has him overtaking a member of the staff en route to the dorms while riding his bike. The basis of his adage, "Life is a race.", centers around this trope.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. His increasing hostility towards the trio and how they endure despite the odds is due to the fact that they basically represent how his way of thinking to produce capable individuals devoid of morals, ethics and innovation to learning is wrong.
• Freudian Excuse: At first, the reason for his irate attitude is because his son killed himself after failing to get into ICE four times. However, this trope's subverted since as revealed by an angry Pia, Virus was always like this and his son committed suicide because Virus crushed his dreams of becoming a writer. He always believed his son's death was a tragic accident partly in an effort to evade the truth that even his way of thinking is flawed, especially when Rancho bested him at the final year in his college days, and his pride prevents him from realizing that. Realizing this is a major part of his later Heel Realization.
• Grudging "Thank You": A downplayed example. Fitting for a prideful character like him, he angrily and tearfully lectures Rancho after he successfully delivers Mona's son, Virus' grandson, to answer his student's question back on the first day at ICE... before he awards Rancho his space pen, finally acknowledging him as a worthy student and individual.
• In-Series Nickname: He is consistently referred to as "Virus".
• Meaningful Name: His name is derived from the Indian name Virudh which means "opposition". He is the antagonist of the chronological timeline.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: He is nicknamed by the trio as "Virus". Like a computer virus, he is really a thorn to every students' way, most especially to the trio.
• Pride Before a Fall: How he is defeated philosophically-wise. From Pia delivering a back-to-back "Reason You Suck" Speech and Calling the Old Man Out that plant the seeds of his Heel Realization to the eponymous idiots and their colleagues saving Mona and her unborn son, which leads him to finally soften up.
• Sadist Teacher: Disgustingly so. The pressure he placed on his students was so reprehensible, it pushed three men to commit suicide, one of them being his own son and later attempted by Raju.
• The Social Darwinist: As expected of someone who believes that life is a race and anyone who lags deserves to be trampled.
• Traumatic Haircut: Treats his shaved moustache as equivalent of this trope. He laments that he feels naked without it.
• The Unfettered: Can be seen this way. Virus means well by creating strong, capable students who will soon contribute to the wider world, but the way he does so is morally and ethically abhorrent. Although he compromises from time to time, absolutely nothing gets in his way of achieving his singular goal to keep the society working and to deny the fact that he is wrong.
• Villain Has a Point: As much as his methods can be stomach-churning, one can't deny that Virus has a point in some aspects, given how real life can be demanding enough for society to pressure others into succeeding in order to achieve financial stability and prestige, lest no one will take them seriously. From an optimistic light, Virus looks at the world in cynically realistic lens.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: During Pia's "The Reason You Suck" Speech and Calling The Man Out tirade against her father, it is revealed that he inspired this. Him pressuring his son to become an engineer instead of a writer directly caused the latter's suicide. Later, when Mona becomes pregnant with a boy, he consults an astrologist and determines that he will become an engineer. Fortunately, he eventually calms down and decides that his grandson can become anything the latter wants.

Man Mohan

Man Mohan

Played by: Rahul Kumar (young), Dushyant Wagh (adult)

^{Click here to see Millimeter in the present}

An adolescent member of the ICE staff. Nicknamed "Millimeter", he earns a small living by doing errands for students, such as laundry, finishing assignments, and getting groceries. Rancho persuades him to buy a school uniform and sneak into school to gain an education.

In the present timeline, he is currently at Ladakh and works at Rancho's school.

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• Alliterative Name: Man Mohan
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Since Rancho, Farhan, and Raju treated him kindly for helping them and Rancho even encouraged him to study, Millimeter seems to be close to the trio enough to accompany them during the trio's expulsion after Rancho and Farhan were caught by Virus stealing the exam paper on behalf of Raju. And he seems to know Rancho's true identity in the present scenes since he works for him as his assistant.
• He Is All Grown Up: He is an adult when Farhan, Raju, and Pia meet him again at the climax, to the point of not recognizing him at first.
• In-Series Nickname: Millimeter or MM.
• Secret-Keeper: It can be inferred that he knows Rancho's an imposter, but decides not to tell Farhan and Raju about it.
• The Reliable One: His job in ICE. From groceries, doing laundry, finishing journals, copying assignments, he's the guy the students go to.
• Tagalong Kid: Serves as this to the trio.

Other Characters

Pia Sahastrabuddhe

Pia Sahastrabuddhe

Played by: Kareena Kapoor

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (JP)

^{Click here to see Pia in the present}

Virus' daughter and Mona's younger sister. Pia is a medical student who the trio meets when they crash Mona's wedding reception. After overcoming her initial judgment towards Rancho, the two fall in love, despite knowing that it will make her father unhappy and the fact that she's engaged to Suhas Tandon.

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• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In Five Point Someone, Pia’s book counterpart Neha Cherian was the love interest to Farhan’s counterpart instead of Rancho’s.
• Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Rancho's disappearance really affected Pia enough that she sadly resigns to her fate to be married to Suhas. Farhan and Raju have none of it.
• Arranged Marriage: Implied to be the case with Suhas Tandon. While she initially puts up with his materialistic and shallow nature, she finally calls him out all the way from the present in favor of Rancho.
• Bespectacled Cutie: She's very nice to Rancho and wears glasses. In the present, she is shown to no longer wear them, likely due to her affair with Suhas after Rancho graduated college and left.
• Calling the Old Man Out: At the climax of the chronological timeline, she dishes this out against her father after confessing that she helped Rancho steal the exam papers that Virus rigged to make Raju fail and wishes she did the same for her brother. She points out every single flaw of her father's philosophy that lead two men to die, including his own son, because he didn't care about their feelings other than their desire for validation and their adherence to her father's philosophy, no matter how flawed it is. To top it off, she calls their deaths murder, not suicide, implying that she does see her father as her brother's killer, leaving Virus deeply shaken as Pia storms out.
• Cool Aunt: Judging by her initial horrified reaction, she is really looking forward to becoming the aunt of Mona's son.
• Dating What Daddy Hates: Pia with Rancho. Her father despises him.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: When Pia meets Rancho, she's initially aloof and standoffish around him when the latter gatecrashes her sister's wedding and calls her fiancé an 'ass'. But after seeing how far Rancho selflessly comes for his friends, she eventually begins to develop feelings for him. It's implied her frosty behaviour is due to her brother's suicide and having to keep the actual truth behind it a secret.
• Hospital Hottie: She is a med student played by Kareena Kapoor. In the present day, she works at a hospital in Delhi.
• Locked Out of the Loop: En route to Ladakh, Farhan realizes that Pia doesn't know about Rancho's ruse. Both he and Raju end up taking a step back to go to Manali and grab Pia away from her unhappy wedding.
• Love Epiphany: Has this when she finally sees how much Rancho cares about his friends and eventually falls in love with him after he deduces why she values her old watch so much.
• The Maiden Name Debate: Pia loves Rancho, but she finds his surname to be weird (at least in her opinion) and is adamant not to change her surname after marriage. She reacts the same way when she learns his real name.
• Missing Mom: Pia's mother isn't seen. She wears an old watch that her mother gave to her to keep her memory alive.
• Runaway Bride: Ends up leaving Suhas at the altar after Raju convinces her to run away.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: She really lets it all out when she reunites with Rancho in the present. When Rancho finally reaffirms his love to her, cue a Reunion Kiss.
• Tragic Keepsake: Her old watch. It was a gift from her mother.
• Uptight Loves Wild: The Uptight to Rancho's Wild.

Mona Sahastrabuddhe

Played by: Mona Singh

Virus' daughter and Pia's older sister. Her wedding is the one the idiots crash.

• Arranged Marriage: It’s implied that her marriage is one, though she seems content with it.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Not herself of course, but her husband only appears at their wedding and doesn’t appear again for the rest of the movie.

Viru's Son

Viru's Son

Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe's son who was deceased.

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• Chekhov's Gunman: He is first mentioned by Virus around the beginning of the flashback to have died in a train accident. It turns out later on that he purposefully did so after being pressured by his father into becoming an engineer. Finding out about this is what led to Virus's Heel Realization.
• Driven to Suicide: He killed himself after being pressured to become an engineer by his father.
• The Ghost: He never appears on screen.
• No Name Given: He is not named in the film.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He never even appears in the film, yet finding out about the cause of his suicide led to Virus to pull a Heel Realization.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: He wanted to become a writer, but he was studying to become an engineer because his father pressured him into doing so.

Suhas Tandon

Suhas Tandon

Played by: Olivier Sanjay Lafont

Pia's fiancé who only cares about money, status, and ostentation.

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• Jerkass: His Establishing Character Moment has him insulting Pia's old watch and calling it junk, despite that it holds sentimental value for her. No wonder she leaves him alone at the altar.
• Rich Bastard: All of his appearances in the film have him loudly flaunting his wealth and status.
• Secret Test of Character: Three times and he failed all of them to prove to Pia that he will treat her like nothing but a glorified Trophy Wife.
  • First at Mona's wedding in which Rancho ruins his Italian shoes and he accuses the ignorant server for ruining it.
  • Next is his explosive reaction when Pia seemingly loses the new watch that he bought her not too long ago and he once again insults her old watch.
  • Finally, more than a decade later when Raju inflicts a Wardrobe Wound at his wedding clothes to get Farhan's point across that he isn't a changed man.
• Static Character: He remains the same superficial rich bastard even after ten years.

SPOILER CHARACTER

Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad

Played by: Javed Jaffrey

It turns out that the man who claims himself to be Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad when Farhan, Raju, and Chatur encounter him at Shimla is actually the real one, and the "Rancho" that they know was actually an imposter. Despite his initial opposition upon Farhan and Raju calling him a fraud, Ranchoddas is subdued and tells them the truth: Chanchad's father sponsored an orphaned servant boy called Chhote (Phunsukh Wangdu), who had demonstrated his prodigious intelligence and love of learning, to earn a degree in the real Ranchoddas's name while the latter was in London. He appreciates what his employee did for him, and tells Raju and Farhan where to find him.

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• Pet the Dog:
  • While it's so he can avoid doing any schoolwork, he still let Chhote borrow his school uniform as a kid so he could let him learn in school.
  • Having told Farhan and Raju the truth and now knowing that they are the friends that his servant was speaking of fondly, he willingly gives the duo his impostor's address without fuss to go find him, as well as informing them that their friend misses them both.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Threatens to kill Farhan and Raju when the two accuse him of being a fraud who pocketed Rancho's degree. After a brief Gunpoint Banter with him losing after the duo takes his father's ashes as hostage, he finally lays down his weapon and subsequently spills the truth.
• The Slacker: Makes his servant do all his homework, up to impersonating as him to attend at ICE while he studies at London.
• Walking Spoiler: The reason why this particular entry is unnamed and unmarked. His appearance basically busts wide open about "Rancho"'s secret to Farhan, Raju, and the viewers. He is indeed the real Ranchoddas Chanchad and the "Rancho" that they know during the first hour of the film is not the real deal. The Reveal coming from him finally solves one of the film's major mysteries.