'3 Idiots' shown to United Nations

3 Idiots has been screened at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The film, which was a huge hit in India and across the world, was apparently shown because of its message on education.

Director Rajkumar Hirani and writer Abhijat Joshi attended the screening, which had an unexpectedly large audience of around 600 UN representatives.

"Abhijat and I were present there for the screening and the question and answer session," an "honoured" Hirani told Mid Day.

A source added: "The Department of Management at the UN got in touch with [producer] Vidhu Vinod Chopra's office and requested a screening followed by a two-hour long post-film session with UN members who will focus on how the film has impacted their lives and how each character influences education system.

"However nobody at the United Nations had imagined such a huge turn-up when they sent out the invites. They expected only Indian expats. The screening was attended by some 700 people, but seating had been arranged for only 175. They had to move to another screen, but even that could house only 600 people.

"The movie was a revelation to the Americans present in the audience since their idea of a Bollywood cinema was just song and dance. The movie was able to change the idea of Bollywood movie in front of foreign audience."

Released in December 2009, 3 Idiots stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, R Madhavan and Boman Irani. It is the highest-grossing Bollywood movie of all time in India.