Student of the Year

You work hard all week so that you can enjoy your weekend, with anticipation that a good movie will make all the hard work worthwhile. But then life produces people like 'Karan Johar' to keep reminding you that not every Friday night will be fulfilling. After watching SOTY I felt like watching a good movie (at least twice) to completely erase from my memory the 3 hrs of non-sense I had to go through.

SOTY is everything that is wrong with today's bollywood movies. After watching the way people have acted in the movie, I could bet 'Justin Bieber' could have done a better role than these newbie's :-P. SOTY tries to capture the friendship among two friends in a college who... fight over one girl, duh! There is absolutely no chemistry between the friends or the couples. The two new heroes have tried their best to make their friendship look good, but I would say their friendship is more of a sunken-ship. It never even comes close to the chemistry friends share in 'Dil chahata hai' or 'Aisha' or 'Zindagi Na Milegi Doobara'.

The new heroine is like a doll, whose face has been painted white. There's something weird about the girl's face that looks extra (Photoshop) white than it should normally be. Of all the actors, Rishi Kapoor is the only one who stands out being soundly suitable and interesting for his role.

I felt the movie lost connection with the Indian audience when they started showing foreign things in the movie, like college arranging prom nights and triathlon. Then there are scenes where people start getting emotional for things that don't concern them and not to mention the half a dozen songs squeezed into the movie, on top of that half these songs are remake of old Hindi songs. This movie lacks innovation, acting, good story or a good casting.

My suggestion: All those who plan to watch "Student of the Year"... change your plans!

STOY was one of disastrous movie ever made in recent time once again confirming that it is the content of the film that makes it watchable and not glossy and glamour look.

Student of the year tells the story of 3 friends in a school and how their life cross and influence each other to ultimately win the annual STOY competition.

Directed by Karan Johar , STOY promises all the glitters and glosses with candy floss romance which was unnecessary but fails to mark in the most important aspect - script. The movie begins in flashback describing 3 pivotal character in the most stupid way possible. For instance - Karan Malhotra's character is a middle class struggling student but he is entering the college with some high-end expensive motorbike, Aliya Bhatt's character introduction is in a night gown which is none lesser than a bikini ( was wondering which kind of female student wears these dresses in their hostel), Varun's character is still decent but not even close to reality. The biggest camouflage is that the students shown in the film wearing trendy cloths , riding on expensive cars and bikes , traveling to Thailand and they do not even look like school-going kids. ( In India , I thought student had uniform to wear) Worst is the introduction of so many songs that you will feel like pulling out hair.I have never liked Karan Johar's movies and this was an icing on the cake confirming his in capabilities. He uses glamour and expensive set decoration for his movies but never works on the screenplay. Pathetic direction is followed by terrible screenplay followed by even worst story. Music by Vishal-Shekhar is a big letdown. The talented duo has given so many good music before but could only provide 2-3 songs which can be listened once. Coming to the performances , Varun Dhawan has potential to make it big. He emotes expressively and has an attitude to become a big star. Karan Malhotra's acting was wooden. He still needs to work on his performance skills. Aliyah Bhatt looks gorgeous but thats it .. in term of acting she has long way to go. Talents like Rishi Kapoor and Ronit Roy are wasted.

Overall , a terrible movie in every context. I would suggest you to watch Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar again as it relishes the spirit of sport rather than this boring flick !! Bad 0.5 /5

Not a bad film but a great film. Good time pass. Songs were great and chemistry of Varun, Sid n Alia

It would've been more apt to title this movie 'Dancer of the Year', instead of 'Student of the year', because that's what Karan Johar's pretty students do the most. They break into a jig at the drop of a hat.

From extravagant weddings to snow-clad mountains, to funky clubs, to almost anywhere, they invest every waking hour in matching their steps to a host of remixed, old Hindi film classics.

At KJo's new school, it's only the dance moves that count, and nothing else.

Textbooks, sports and any other extracurricular activities, barring the one that touches the heart, are sidelined and pitched towards the fag end of the two-and-a-half-hour race.

third class acting and zero percent logic. Only fools could like this.

SOTY is definitely not the movie of the year. Given the fact that it was directed by a maverick and talented filmmaker Karan Johar, one should keep in mind that SOTY is no Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or K3G. Storywise, the film looked like a rehash of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. It's the story of three people, Abhimanyu, Rohan and Shanaya (newcomers Sidharth, Varun and Alia) who come to terms with life in St. Theresa School (or college I don't know). Who comes out as the eventual winner in this battle of supremacy forms the rest of the story.

Newcomers Sidharth, Varun and Alia show much promise as first-timers. Sidharth looks confident though he has no background in acting. He looks fab and got good dialogues too, as is the case with most of the movies of Karan Johar. Varun is handsome and has expressive eyes. This kid could go a long way in the future. Alia is simply brilliant, given the fact that her father and half-sister, Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt are from the same acting background. She looks super-confident as a debutante and looks gorgeous too. Rishi Kapoor was annoying as a homosexual dean of St. theresa's.

There are a lot of things though which should've been well-written or explained at least from a director of Karan Johar's caliber.

1) I didn't get whether St. theresa is a school or college 2) the relationship between Rohan and his father should've been better explained. Rohan's father is a man who has all the evil intentions for his son. His character is so one dimensional. 3) too much westernization of the plot like prom night, cheerleading, speeding in the middle of the road with no interference from the cops, parties look so un-indianized that the traditional song "Radha" sticks out like a sore thumb. 4) the ending seems too abrupt and unrealistic.

The songs of the film were good but copied from old classical songs, like the late Nazia Hassan's magical 1980's song "Disco Deewane" and Mohammed Rafi's classic hit song "Gulabi Aankhen Jo Teri Dekhi" (from The Train). I certainly didn't expect this kind of stuff from Karan Johar. Did his creativity go out the window?

Overall, SOTY is definitely a one-time watch. You won't be disappointed with the performances of the three lead actors.