An idiot, dolt, dullard or (archaically) mome is a person perceived to be lacking intelligence, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way. Along with the similar terms moron, imbecile, and cretin, the word archaically referred to the intellectually disabled, but have all since gained specialized meanings in modern times. An idiot is said to be idiotic, and to suffer from idiocy. A dunce is an idiot who is specifically incapable of learning. An idiot differs from a fool (who is unwise) and an ignoramus (who is uneducated/an ignorant), neither of which refers to someone with low intelligence. In modern English usage, the terms "idiot" and "idiocy" describe an extreme folly or stupidity, and its symptoms (foolish or stupid utterance or deed). In psychology, it is a historical term for the state or condition now called profound intellectual disability.

Etymology

Idiot is a word derived from the Greek ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs ("person lacking professional skill", "a private citizen", "individual"), from ἴδιος, idios ("private", "one's own"). In Latin the word idiota ("ordinary person, layman") preceded the Late Latin meaning "uneducated or ignorant person". Its modern meaning and form dates back to Middle English around the year 1300, from the Old French idiote ("uneducated or ignorant person"). The related word idiocy dates to 1487 and may have been analogously modeled on the words prophet and prophecy. The word has cognates in many other languages.

Idiots is a 2012 Malayalam romantic comedy film, the debut of director K. S. Bava. The film stars Asif Ali and Sanusha in the lead roles, and was co-produced by prominent filmmaker Sangeeth Sivan.

Plot

Sanusha plays a rich heiress who hires a killer called Beeran (Vijayaraghavan) to murder her and implicate her two-timing boyfriend for the crime. Beeran, a novice, gives the contract to Freddy (Baburaj), a juice stall owner who owes Beeran money. As the girl waits for the killer to arrive, a thief (Asif Ali) breaks into her apartment. This launches a series of comical incidents that go on until the next morning.

Cast

Reception

The film received negative reviews upon release. Sreenath Nair of The Hindu was critical about the film, especially the script, camera and direction. In his review, he comments, "Good art seldom allows the viewer digressions. But, if one starts relishing the taste of popcorn and coffee more than anything during a movie, the work is not riveting. Idiots, K.S. Bava’s directorial debut, gives one ample opportunities for such culinary digressions." Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com rated the film and concluded his review saying, "Idiots is a film that you would like to forget as soon as you get out of the theatre. Idiots lives up to its name."

3 Idiots is a 2009 Indian coming of age comedy-drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Abhijat Joshi wrote the screenplay. It was loosely adapted from the novel Five Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat. The film stars Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R. Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Omi Vaidya, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani.

Upon release, the film was the highest-grossing film in its opening weekend in India and had the highest opening day collections for an Indian film up until that point. It also held the record for the highest net collections in the first week for a Bollywood film. It also became one of the few Indian films to become successful in East Asian markets such as China, eventually bringing its overseas total to more than US$65 million at the time—the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in overseas markets, before being overtaken by Chennai Express in 2013.

The film is distinctive for featuring real inventions by little-known people in India's backyards. The brains behind the innovations were Remya Jose, a student from Kerala, who created the exercise-bicycle/washing-machine; Mohammad Idris, a barber from Meerut district in Uttar Pradesh, who invented a bicycle-powered horse clipper; and Jahangir Painter, a painter from Maharashtra, who made the scooter-powered flour mill. This film was remade in Tamil as Nanban (2012) which also received critical praise and commercial success. It has also been announced that there will be a Chinese remake of the film produced by Stephen Chow and that there are plans for a Hollywood remake produced in the United States. A Telugu remake was planned despite Nanban having a Telugu dubbed version titled Snehitudu.