MOVIE REVIEW: STUDENT OF THE YEAR

Director: Karan Johar

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Sana Saeed

Almost every youngster has a display picture containing Varun, Sidharth and Alia and it is no surprise, because Karan Johar's Student of the Year is definitely THE movie of 2012. It is the ultimate movie for youngsters with all the necessary cliches and a fresh storyline. Also needless to say, the cast is extremely good looking AND fresh, sure to pull in a crowd.

Set in the sprawling grounds of St. Theresa's School, Delhi, SOTY is the story of Rohan Nanda (Dhawan) and Abhimanyu Singh (Malhotra), two very different boys coming from contrasting backgrounds. Rohan is the typical brat with a stylish red car and a beautiful girlfriend Shanaya Singhania (Bhatt), whom he takes for granted. He rules the school and even has his own chamcha in Jeet (Sanyam). Every girl wants him and every guys wants to be him. Well they did, until Abhimanyu enters. He is the guy who lives a modest life, but wins everybody over with his talent, style and attitude.

This tale is narrated to the audience by four other members of the gang while they were at the hospital because their school Dean Yoginder Vashisht (Rishi Kapoor) was in the hospital in a very critical condition, and their coach (Roy) had asked them all to come and see him.

Varun Dhawan (left) and Sidharth Malhotra (right) as Rohan Nanda and Abhimanyu Singh, respectively.

Despite their initial rivalry, Abhimanyu and Rohan become good friends, and over the period of time, best friends. On seeing that Rohan is always flirting with different girls, especially Tanya Asrani (Saeed), Abhimanyu and Shanaya hatch up a plan to flirt with each other and make him jealous. This works to an extent, but only causes for Abhi to fall in love with her as well.

Varun Dhawan (left), Alia Bhatt (centre) and Sidharth Malhotra (right).

All this is the natural cliched stuff. This is the point where the twist enters. The dean announces that a competition is going to take place known as 'Student of the Year' based on which one student from the school gets to fulfill all their dreams. This is being funded by Ashok Nanda, Rohan's father, with whom he shares a very complex and negative relationship. All the students gear up for the competition, not bothering about anyone else.

What follows is how the competition causes a lot of problems and ruins personal relationships by forcing everyone apart. Lies, deciets and other such stuff take place. Amidst all this, Abhimanyu begins to develop deeper feelings for Shanaya, while Rohan continues to take her for granted.

Shanaya and Abhimanyu caught in a moment.

The story is a classic example of old wine in a new bottle. It's a refreshing story with all the cliched elements, but it works, it really does work. The story is fraught with emotions and that definitely helps it to connect with the audience. All the girls will have a good time, as there is plenty of shirtless scenes of the boys to ogle at. It also has quite a few heart wrenching moments that will make one shed a tear or two. 

Disco Deewane.

St. Theresa seems to be the perfect school to study in. The campus is beyond beautiful and so is the environment there. The dialogues are realistic. The soundtrack is refreshing. Disco Deewane is a personal favourite, while almost every single person has Ishq Wala Love as their Facebook/Whatsapp/Twitter statuses. 

Ishq Wala Love.

Sidharth Malhotra has given a really good performance and he's done justice to the role of Abhimanyu. Alia Bhatt was good as well, but she has the scope to improve. The show stopper was definitely Varun Dhawan, as he brings Rohan Nanda to life in such a realistic and beautiful manner. Rohan was not someone you might like at first, but by the end of the story he is mostly going to end up as your favourite character. Rishi Kapoor didn't disappoint as the lovable dean harbouring feelings for the coach, and as for his part, Ronit Roy was excellent as well. The supporting cast did a marvelous job.

The show is packed with amazing dialogues, especially the one about friendship right at the very end. If you are looking for a feel good movie that you can see with your friends, then this the one for you. 

PS: The very reason I didn't discuss Alia Bhatt's Shanaya is because there's very little patience I have for such people before I hit them on the head with a brick over and over again.

RATING: ***.5/5