Student Of The Year (2012) - Movie Review

Filmmaker Karan Johar’s name is synonymous to romance. Trust this filmmaker to fully understand how a romance should go and render them eloquently and charmingly on film.  Love is universal and spares no one and KJo explores this dogma to the fullest.  College/teenage romance are KJo's forte.  KJo's 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai' college romance caused millions to almost faint away, while the Student of the Year promises teenage mushy romance.  Let us see if its three big debutant stars will be able to similarly capture the youthful audience’s heart that it targets.

The film set their location at picturesque Deiehradun, within the campus of St. Teresa, supposedly the best school in India.  The school boasts of a hip canteen, an impressive campus and the typical group of snobbish airheads who just to school to show off their bodies clad in Prada and Gucci and their shiny Ferraris.  To make any story as interesting as possible there should always be two opposing forces, good and bad, the airheads and the brainy, and right – the rich (the Tatas)  and the poor (the Batas). In this film, KJo decided not to go to the extreme and rightly so, and made the third protagonist Abhimanyu (Siddharth Malhotra), a hardworking, middle class boy enter the school under a sports scholarship grant.

Abhimanyu dreams to be in the shoes of Ashok Nanda the school’s trustee (Ram Kapoor).   He plans to work his way up the ladder of success and wealth but this will not be an easy task, not when he begins to have romantic feelings for the most spoiled brat college boy’s sweetheart Shanaya (Alia Bhat).  Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan) which happens to be the Ram Kapoor’s son is not anything like his father and chooses to be a musician.  It goes without saying that Rohan and Abhimanyu find themselves in a web of rivalry not only for most coveted title - Student of the Year, but also for the affection of Shanaya.  These two young men chase the same dream but for different reasons.  For Abhimanyu, this could be his ticket to the big time, for Rohan, it is to be recognized for his own talent and not for being the son of Ram Kapoor.

The characters, in pursuit of their modern day college romance, showed how it goes with the lifestyle of the rich and famous.  The college kids are depicted with very one-dimensional concerns the most complex of which is finding their way to their exclusive parking slot for their flashy cars or flaunting their designer clothes even in inappropriate places.

Rensil Dsilva, the movie’s writer used the method used in 'Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na' wherein some former students narrate the story of the love triangle and the ongoing love-hate relationship between the three main characters.  Nevertheless the technique did not do much for this film because this storytelling becomes a bit boring as it progresses. The deliberate injection of absurd situations in the narrative makes the story somehow interesting.  The movie consistently swings from Abbas Tyrewala's 'Jaane Tu Yaa Jaane Na' and Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots'. Much of the film showed romance, friendship and high fashion but nothing about studies and educational system which runs contrary to its chosen title ‘Student of the Year’.

A large part of the film is dedicated to displaying the muscles of the two good looking hunks and the beautiful but overbearing heroine who cares for nothing but getting attention and wearing the latest designer fashion.

The film’s saving grace is its characters.  KJo has succeeded in priming the three debutantes, (Alia Bhatt, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan) to tackle their characters with credibility and naturalness.  Alia Bhatt is a revelation; she is pretty, glamorous, and can become quite a good actress.  Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan look good in their parts and both showed strong presence all through the film.   The supporting cast did a good job as well.  Rishi Kapoor is delightful as the gay Dean showing his versatility to tackle offbeat characters with aplomb. Ram Kapoor and Ronit Roy’s acting are also commendable.

All in all, Student of the Year may not the best movie of Karan Johar.  This film is not for moviegoers looking for sensible, purposeful cinematic work.  However if you just want to be entertained or get awed by the glossy lifestyle and romance of spoiled rich kids and not in the mood for serious stuff, then this film could still be a good watch.