May 21, 2013 05:09 PM
2240 Views
Karan Johar is known to direct more of family based dramas with a dose of humour in them.No doubt,each of them in the past have been unique in their way as well as superhits,be it his debut movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai(1998), Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham(2001),or Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna(2006). But,here is a movie completely focused on college life and the ultimate aspiration of its students - to win the Student of the Year trophy.
Plot :- The movie begins with the narrator explaining about the dean of St Teresa's college,Yogendra Vasisht(Rishi Kapoor) who has spent a successful career heading this prestigious institution and several years after retirement,his mental and physical health has deteriorated,thus leading to his hospitalization.It then focuses on each of the students of this college,who on hearing of the news of their ailing dean,decide to head to Dehradun,his hometown to meet him at the hospital.Initially,few of the students who play sidekicks to the main trio meet at the hospital and then the movie heads to a flashback as each of them discuss past events. Here,shots of St Teresa,India's premier academic institution is revealed.It looks more of a utopian institution than a real one. Throughout its history,only the best have survived and only the best will in the future.
Shanaya Singhania(Alia Bhatt) is the rich glamourous babe whom every guy in the college wants to be with.Her entry showing her dressed up in world class apparels and an attitude may remind you of Kareena Kapoor in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham(2001).Rohan Nanda(Varun Dhawan),the spoilt son of India's richest business tycoon Ashok Nanda(Ram Kapoor) is the star attraction of the college with his music talent and openly flirts with Shanaya(whom he has special feelings for) and other girls,specially Tanya Israni(Sana Saeed),who is the head cheergirl and desperately vouches for Rohan's attention.
Enter Abhimanyu Singh(Siddharth Malhotra),coming from a middle class family,with impressive looks and personality turns the whole college upside down as he outperforms everyone with his impressive skills in all fields,thus envying Rohan and his gang. Although Rohan is quite a bully,he also has a heart of gold and instantly becomes best buddies with Abhimanyu.The duo then head out for parties,long rides,talk personal stuff and Abhimanyu meets Rohan's parents and family,especially Ashok Nanda who gets impressed by him. Each of the characters shares interaction with their family members.Abhimanyu's parents are no more and he lives with his Uncle(Akshay Anand),Aunt(Maninee Mishra) and Grandmother(Farida Jalal).She is deeply concerned about him and loves him a lot as opposed to his highly suspicious and pessimistic Aunt. Meanwhile Shanaya begins to feel insecure as Rohan does not acknowledge her feelings and comes up with a plan along with Abhimanyu to teach Rohan a lesson.Rohan begins to feel jealous seeing the closeness of Shanaya and Abhimanyu,but he later reveals that it was a plan to get Rohan and Shanaya together. The major part of the movie focuses on the students gearing up for the 'Student of the Year competition' by participating in challenges,dance,athletics,among others.Finally 16 students are selected to participate in the final competiton. Meanwhile,Shanaya begins to develop special feelings for Abhimanyu,especially since his grandmother had been on her deathbed in the hospital.Later Shanaya goes to meet him,trying to explain her feelings for him.They then share an intimate moment which enrages Rohan,thus turning him to be Abhi's greatest enemy.He later challenges Abhimanyu that he would win the Student of the Year competition.
After the dance competition,8 are shortlisted and prepare for the final day,which goes off in a bang. Finally,Rohan and Abhimanyu turn out to be the only survivors and the duo are engaged in a tiff final race which seems to be decisive in deciding who would win the trophy. Finally,who would win the competition and whom would Shanaya ultimately be with??? The finale of the movie reveals it all.
Overview :- Despite the entry of three newcomers as well as all glitz and glamour from start to end,specially viewing the movie in HD mode,Student of The Year,no doubt has an 'X' factor or that extra element to bag the viewer's attention.Its theme of a triangular love story as well as the zeal of each of the students to bag the ultimate trophy does not seem uncommon in Bollywood.The movie does lack a strong storyline which may seem uninteresting as one gets into the movie.However,the plus points of the movie include the three newcomers,glamarous locations and costumes,hit songs and extravagant performances.
Direction/Performances :- After directing three superhit family based dramas in the past,Karan Johar is back again with a movie with a totally different theme. He manages to bring the new entrants,a glamorous looking institution,locations,flashy costumes,catchy songs,among others into one superhit package.Also,it is important to note that the entire movie and its songs were completely shot in India,which itself is amazing as its trailer had given a different kind of feel.
It's difficult to comment on who gave the best performance since almost all of the actors,including the lead actors gave in their best shot to make it look as authentic as possible.However,personally speaking,Varun Dhawan in his role as Rohan Nanda was deeply intense and all the facets displayed, be it song,dance or emotions were that of a die hard passionate achiever. Alia Bhatt,as mentioned before,did manage to display a Kareena Kapoor style attitude as of K3G, blending it along with glamour and emotion quite effortlessly.Siddhart Malhotra,did not look as good as Varun in terms of acting but his personality and physical traits did the speaking. Rishi Kapoor looked as ntense as ever,specially as the Dean of the college with a stereotypical gay shade to it.His constant wooing of Mr Shah(Ronit Roy),the sports coach of the college added a humorous side to him. Ram Kapoor as Ashok Nanda,looked the typical businessman and there seemed no difference in his performance as compared to those in his TV serials,which appeared naturally effortless.Ronit Roy as Mr Shah,the sports coach of the college too managed to do justice to his role,resembling that of his TV characters. The other students too managed to play their characters well.Sana Saeed,the little Anjali of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was nothing more than a glamour doll in the movie and her acting skills were not put forth this time,despite a comeback after a gap of more than 12 years.Manjot SIngh,looked the typical Sardar and Kayoze Irani as Pseudo was the stereotypical 'fat' or 'healthy' guy.Mansee Rachh played Shanaya's friend in a tomboy look and Sahil Anand played the sidekick to Varun Dhawan. Other performances such as those of Sushma Seth,Akshay Anand,Maninee Mishra,Farida Jalal,Prachi Shah,Gautami, were quite small and difficult to comment on.
Music :- The music has been composed by the superhit duo Vishal-Shekhar and the lyrics penned by Anvita Dutt Guptan.All of the songs are catchy and some such as 'Disco Deewane' ,'Radha' and 'Ishq Wala Love' had become popular several weeks before the film released. Other tracks such as Vele and Kukkad Kamaal Da have the typical Punjabi flavor.Vishal-Shekhar,Shreya Ghoshal,,Shahid Mallya,Neeti Mohan,Udit Narayan and Salim Merchant have lent their voices for the tracks.
