Movie Review | Student of the Year: Strikes a chord with today's generation!

The film, “Student of The Year” (SOTY) is basically a story about friendship, love and rivalry when friendship ends – reason, the girl. The story is nothing new except that it has been presented in a style so typical of Karan Johar films. So you have a lot of student crowds in splashing colours, lavish sets, designer costumes, min skirts, foot tapping dance & music and the neo-rich culture thrown in.

As for the story, the setting is Saint Teresa, a school in Dehradun whose Dean is Yoginder Vasisht (Rishi Kapoor) and where rich kids with a world of their own study flaunting designer wear, bags and attitude. Vasisht has instituted the annual award called “The Student of the Year,” award since the past 25 years. The award is for the student who excels in academics, dance and a trialathlon competition. The winner is sponsored for further IB League study by the school. Also there are kids with not so rich background who are looked upon by the Richie Richs. On one hand there is Rohan (Varun Dhawan), the spoilt son of the biggest industrialist of the land (Ram Kapoor) whose only mission in life is to flaunt car, wealth and date his girlfriend, Shenoya (Alia Bhatt). He is open to flings with other girls and has little regard for Shenoya. His other passion in life is to play a guitar and he want to become a musician as he does not like his dad running him down at the drop of a hat. Poor mother is a silent spectator. Everything seems fine amongst friends until Abhimanyu (Varun Malhotra) enters school – an expert on everything, be it playing football, 

 dancing or athletics. He has a middle-class background whose aim in life is to be The Student of The Year, is not interested in girls and is initially looked up by Rohan and taunted by him for his middle-class background. He and his group of friends ridicule him initially but they become friends afterwards. Abhimanyu wants to be as big as Rohan’s father and that is his single-minded purpose. Initially he is not interested in Shenoya as he feels she is not her types. But when he observes Rohan ignoring her for other girl, Tanya, he develops sympathy for Shenoya and helps her win Rohan back. In the process Abhimanyu develops feeling for Shenoya but curbs it since he does not want to offend his friend Rohan. But cupid eventually strikes as Shenoya too makes advances towards Abhimanyu who eventually reciprocates and this drives the wedge in friendship. Friends turn foes but the rivalry is winning the coveted trophy. Rohan also leaves his father’s home to pursue his ambition of becoming a musician and in winning the trophy has a point to prove to his dad. Who wins the trophy, who loses it and what are the reasons behind the same? Who marries Shenoya? For this one has to watch the movie.

The movie features newcomers Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan in the lead roles with Rishi Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor, Sana Saeed, Farida Jalal, Sushma Seth, Akshay Anand, Prachi Shah, Manjot Singh and Manini Mishra in supporting roles. The movie also features Boman Irani, Kajol and Farah Khan in guest appearances. The film marks the debuts of Alia Bhatt, the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, the son of director David Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra, Boman Irani's son Kayoze Irani and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai fame Sana Saeed (role of "Anjali" as the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan & Rani Mukerji in the film).

Malhotra and Dhawan had previously worked as assistant directors under Johar during the making of the 2010 film, My Name is Khan. This is the first directional venture of Karan Johar where Shahrukh is not the lead actor. As a director he has donned the hat quite well. As an artisan with intellect and taste, he ensures that the script is spruced up and modernized with such elan that it doesn't offend the spectator's wisdom or intelligence. The story although not new is presented in a fresh manner and is entertaining. The movie is appealing to the young generation and is full of witty jokes – double meaning at most of the places. It should do well at the box-Office. The Dean in an interesting role is hovering as someone with gay inclinations and interest in school’s coach. After Agneepath where he played a villain, Karan Johar has once againg utilized Rishi Kapoor’s talent aptly. New comer’s debut too is impressive and they have a screen presence – it could not have been a better launch for them. The films music by Vishal-Shekhar is foot tapping and will appeal to today’s generation. The soundtrack is a good mix with very minor flaws that can surely be ignored to enjoy the music that perfectly describes the mood of the movie. It is already popular. Cinematography is excellent and typical of Karan Johar’s films is colourful. Not much to talk about locales as the movies seems to have been filmed or restricted to a few settings.

Adgully gives Johar's “Student of The Year” a decent 4 out of 5 Stars; Overall its a value for money entertainment. | By Kiran Pandya