’Student Of The Year’ ( SOTY ), directed by Karan Johar, featuring newcomers - Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra is such a typical K-Jo movie! I mean, seriously, if you missed the beginning credits of the movie and weren’t aware of the fact that this is K-Jo’s movie, the first few minutes are enough to make you believe that this is definitely K-Jo’s work.
It’s a given that a KJo movie has to be promisingly ostentatious, supremely surreal and unbelievably unrealistic. You know that there will be a dream world crafted to perfection, there will be snow-clad mountains, pretty actors serenading in the best designer outfits, extravagant weddings and over-the-top emotional hoo-ha. But then you still anticipate a generous dose of drama and oodles of entertainment from the stylish director’s glossy creations.
Set in the picturesque locales of Dehradun, lies Saint Teresa. A college, of course, with KJo’s own rules. Students must drive to school in ostentatious cars, party and have fun whenever possible, think of anything other than studies and try to be as snobbish as possible. Run by a gay dean ( Rishi Kapoor ) who is after the coach ( Ronit Roy ), it is very clear that this is one of the best and most hi-fi colleges ever.
Rohan Nanda ( Varun ), son of Ashok Nanda ( a super-rich business tycoon ) is only interested in music and aspires to become a rock star. This has led to a disturbed relationship with his father as his dad strictly disapproves of this ambition. His girlfriend, Shanaya ( Alia ) is another rich student of this school who is all concerned about designer clothes, shoes and handbags. Rich, snobbish and the most popular girl on the campus, Shanaya soon succeeds to win your heart over.
Enter : Abhimanyu, a.k.a. Abhi ( Siddharth ). Coming from a middle-class family, he is highly ambitious, and full of attitude but at the same time, sensible and caring. Though they are rivals in the beginning of the movie, they soon become friends and develop a special bond.
Now comes the Student Of The Year competition. Set in three rounds, which will test the participants’ in academics, a treasure hunt, a dance competition and finally, a triathlon. Competition, love, jealousy and envy invade into Rohan and Abhi’s friendship, and they soon become rivals again. Towards the end of the term, the foes-turned-friends-turned foes, Abhi and Rohan, are ready for a face-off and battle lines are drawn through the length and breadth of the campus, with only one goal in everyone’s eyes - Student Of The Year Trophy.
Who wins the trophy in the end ? Who gets the girl? But most importantly, what happens to Rohan and Abhi’s friendship ? Watch SOTY to find out.
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Cast Performances :
Rich, hot-shot and super-cool, Varun Dhawan plays his part really well. He is so damn cute and even though his role was not that good, he gave a wonderful performance.
Snobbish, beautiful and really cute, the always-talking-about-a-fashion-designer girl, Alia Bhatt again, gives a brilliant performance. Though, I liked the guys more than her, she still stuns you with her gorgeous looks and wonderful acting.
Charming, sensible, So-DAMN handsome - Siddharth Malhotra is just WOW. Seriously, I have no words. When he was on the screen, I actually couldn’t look at anything else. He makes it hard to believe that this was his first movie. Overall, for me, he was the highlight of the movie.
Songs :
Another highlight of the movie were the songs. Directed by Vishal-Shekhar, this was one such album in which I loved ALL the songs. Kukkad and Vele brought fun into the film, Radha gave it a traditional touch and Ishq Wala Love was simply melodious. Where Ratta Maar was soothing to hear, Disco Deewane gave us the perfect felling of a fun-filled prom.
Cinematography was just perfect and brought the unreal, dream world of KJo into life. Overall, SOTY was an absolute entertainer with crisp, fresh dialogues, and though predictable in most of the parts, gives you a fun-filled two and a half hour of humor, love, jealousy, competition but most of all - friendship.