Movie Review : Student Of The Year

Director: Karan Johar
Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Rishi Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor

Think of a quintessential Karan Johar film and opulence, grandeur, style and candy floss emotions come to mind. Not to forget, the song-and-dance extravaganzas with a lavish sprinkling of stars. And Student Of The Year is just that albeit the stars. But that doesn’t seem to affect the film because Karan manages to engage you from the word go with the right dose of humour, emotions and drama.

Student Of The Year (SOTY) traces the life of Abhimanyu Singh (Sidharth Malhotra), a small town boy with a big ambition, Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan) – a rich kid, who is emotionally messed up because of a complex relationship with his father (Ram Kapoor) and Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt), the girl every boy is in love with and every girl aspires to be in high school – popular, rich and gorgeous.

Rohan and Shanaya are childhood sweethearts in a tricky relationship (Rohan has quite the roving eye) and among the popular students of St. Teresa’s High School or St. T’s as it is fondly called. But things seem to go awry for all when Abhimanyu enters and ego clashes between the two boys play havoc. But after a series of verbal spats followed by a few practical jokes and some heartwarming moments, the two become thick as thieves.

Amidst all this, the much coveted Student Of The Year competition, founded by gay Dean Yogendra Vashisth (Rishi Kapoor, who’s track with coach Ronit Roy is amongst the highlights of the film), keeps everyone busy. But things get messy when Abhimanyu falls for Shanaya and she reciprocates to his feelings. Healthy competition turns into revenge as Rohan and Abhimanyu grapple with their emotions.

Even though SOTY is a high-school drama, at no point in the film does Karan offend the audiences intelligence. Every scene in the film engrosses you. While he takes familiar material, it’s his modern take that makes SOTY a special film.

Among the performances, Sidharth, Varun and Alia do their best not to seem like newcomers and they emerge triumphant. Sidharth’s restraint is impressive. Varun is charming; his brilliant dancing skills deserve a special mention. And Alia definitely has what it takes to be a star. The three make confident debuts.

Vishal-Shekhar’s foot-tapping compositions keep you in your seats. You’re not going to want to buy popcorn during these songs! Kajol’s cameo in Disco Deewane is sure to get the whistles. The cinematography and styling make this one helluva good-looking film.

A few scenes deserve special mention – the nail-biting climax of the competition, a silent sequence with just music playing in the background, Rishi Kapoor drooling over John Abraham’s six-pack body and his fantasizing moments with Ronit Roy. 

Karan deserves brownie points for a brilliant supporting cast. Kayoze Irani (Boman Irani’s son) stands out. Ram Kapoor does a fabulous job as the selfish businessman and bad father. His performance makes you feel sorry for Rohan, who subconsciously craves his dad’s approval through most of the film. 

All in all, Karan’s SOTY world is surreal and spectacular yet it has moments that will bring you back to reality and warm the cockles of your heart. This is escapism at its best. Oh and girls, there’s enough brawn to keep you drooling!