Student of the Year

Student of the Year is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Karan Johar, based on a story by Johar and a script by Rensil D'Silva and Niranjan Iyengar, and produced by Hiroo Yash Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions and Gauri Khan under Red Chillies Entertainment. The film stars debutantes Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan in the lead roles, and also features Rishi Kapoor, Sana Saeed, Ronit Roy, Sahil Anand, Ram Kapoor and Farida Jalal in major supporting roles, with Boman Irani, Kajol, Farah Khan and Vaibhavi Merchant in guest appearances. This was Johar's first and only feature film directorial venture without Shah Rukh Khan, as his next film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, had Khan in a cameo appearance.

Student of the Year was released on 19 October 2012 in over 1400 locations across India. It was one of the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2012.

A temporally unrelated sequel, Student of the Year 2, helmed by Johar's protege and I Hate Luv Storys - Gori Tere Pyaar Mein director Punit Malhotra, was released on 10 May 2019, as a quasi-sequel, starring Tiger Shroff alongside debutantes Tara Sutaria and Ananya Pandey.

Plot
Former principal Dean Yogendra Vashisht (Rishi Kapoor) of St. Teresa's High School, Dehradun, had aged and fallen ill. His last wish was to see the students from his last batch, who were part of the "Student of the Year" competition. Some former students arrive at the hospital to meet the Dean and talk about their regrets from ten years ago in college. They hold themselves responsible for the lively Dean having fallen ill. The film then goes into a flashback set ten years back at the college.

The richest and most popular guy in the college, Rohan "Ro" Nanda (Varun Dhawan), is the son of a huge business tycoon Ashok Nanda (Ram Kapoor), who also is the chief trustee of the college. His father wants him to be a businessman just like him and disagrees with his passion for music. Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt), a fashion addict and the most popular girl in the campus, is Rohan's girlfriend. She is dissatisfied with her family, as her mother (Gautami Kapoor) constantly divorces and marries rich men. Shanaya gets upset with Rohan's regular flirting with Tanya Israni (Sana Saeed), another student and Shanaya's arch-nemesis. Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh (Sidharth Malhotra), a new student, arrives at the college and becomes the classy new heartthrob. An orphan from a middle-class family, he lives with his aunt, uncle, and grandmother (Manini Mishra, Akshay Anand and Farida Jalal). His dream is to become a big business tycoon like Ashok. Ro and Abhi initially don't get along but soon become best friends. Ro introduces Shanaya to Abhi, warning Abhi not to get involved with her romantically, though Abhi convinces Ro that Shanaya is poles apart from him and that she better be with Ro only.

Abhi is invited to Ro's elder brother's destination wedding in Thailand, which Shanaya and other rich family friends are attending as well. In Thailand, Shanaya sees Tanya and Ro flirting again and gets even more upset when Ro is rude to her and takes sides with Tanya. Abhi tells her that they can teach Ro to respect his girlfriend. At the sangeet, Shanaya openly flirts with Abhi, attempting to make Ro jealous. The plan works but Ro discovers she did this to get him back on track.

On the wedding day, Ro apologizes to her and is easily forgiven while Abhi realizes that he is in love with Shanaya. They head back to India, where the "Student of the Year" competition, which determines the best student intellectually and also the best sportsperson, commences. The first round is the quiz in which Ro, Abhi, Shanaya and most of their friends win. The second round is the treasure hunt. Abhi and Shanaya's team wins the hunt, though Ro's team also qualifies. Abhi's grandmother falls sick and eventually dies. Shanaya stands by him during this difficult time. Upset with his grandmother's death, Abhi tries to send Shanaya away, but she feels attracted to him, stays back and they happen to share a kiss. Ro sees this and is heartbroken, which leads to a heated argument and fight between him and Abhi, resulting in them becoming enemies again.

In the third round, the Prom, a confused Shanaya picks Ro's friend Jeet Khurana (Sahil Anand) as her partner as she can't choose between Abhi and Ro. Disowning Jeet and ending his friendship with him over this issue, Ro goes with Tanya and Abhi goes with Shanaya's former best friend Shruti Pathak (Manasi Rachh) after she had a split with Shanaya, who is disqualified for leaving the dance before it ends. The last round of the competition is a triathlon. Abhi is winning but slows down and Ro wins. In the award ceremony, Ro declines to accept the award citing personal reasons. Yogi is abused by a drunken friend of theirs, Kaizad "Sudo" Sodabottleopenerwala (Kayoze Irani), due to which he eventually retires.

In the present, Ro has succeeded in becoming a pop star but is still single. Abhi and Shanaya married each other and Abhi at present is a successful investment banker. They all run into each other when they come to visit their ailing principal (Boman Irani). Abhi and Ro end up fighting during a confrontation when Shanaya tries to get them talking, and happen to release everything they were holding back for the last ten years. Ro comes to terms with his anger over the entire drama when he discovers the truth about the triathlon, as to how Abhi saw Ashok happy when Ro was losing, and that he intentionally allowed Ro to win because he didn't want to be too evil like Ashok and that it was his way of surpassing Ashok in stature. Both of them realize how important friendship is, and reconcile.

Cast

 * Sidharth Malhotra as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh
 * Alia Bhatt as Shanaya Singhania, later Shanaya A. Singh
 * Varun Dhawan as Rohan "Ro" Nanda
 * Sana Saeed as Tanya Israni
 * Rishi Kapoor as Dean Yogendra Vashishth
 * Sahil Anand as Jeet Khurana
 * Manasi Rachh as Shruti Pathak
 * Kayoze Irani as Kaizad "Sudo" Sodabottleopenerwala
 * Manjot Singh as Dimpy
 * Ronit Roy as Coach Ashok Shah
 * Ram Kapoor as Ashok Nanda, Gayatri's husband; Rohan's father
 * Gautami Kapoor as Gayatri Nanda, Ashok's wife; Rohan's mother
 * Farida Jalal as Abhi's grandmother
 * Akshay Anand as Abhi's uncle
 * Manini Mishra as Geeta Singh, Abhi's aunt
 * Prachi Shah as Ashok Shah's wife
 * Nandini Sen as Shanaya's mother
 * Boman Irani as Harkishan Sanon, the principal of St. Teresa's football match rival
 * Sushma Seth in a cameo appearance as Yogendra's mother
 * Farah Khan in a guest appearance as a judge in "The Disco Song"
 * Vaibhavi Merchant in a guest appearance as a judge in "The Disco Song"
 * Kajol in a guest appearance in "The Disco Song"

Development
On 5 January 2011, Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan both uploaded the first look poster of the new film on the micro-blogging website Twitter. Student of the Year marks the debuts of Alia Bhatt, the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, the son of director David Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Boman Irani's son Kayoze Irani and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai fame Sana Saeed (role of "Anjali" as the daughter of Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji).

Malhotra and Dhawan had previously worked as assistant directors under Johar during the making of the 2010 film My Name Is Khan. Rishi Kapoor played a gay dean.

The first official trailer was released on 2 August 2012. Karan Johar later tweeted saying that the film will be released on 19 October 2012.

Filming
On 16 August 2011, director Karan Johar took the Mahurat shot and Mumbai socialite Parmeshwar Godrej rolled the cameras. Some parts of the movie were shot in Kashmir and Dehradun (Forest Research Institute, Dehradun). The external view of the school was taken from Kasiga School Dehradun, whose name was changed to St. Teresa. The hospital scenes were filmed outside The Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar. The film was also shot in Thailand. Rob Miller of ReelSports, who had worked with Shahrukh Khan on Chak De! India, was hired to direct the sports action in Student of the Year.

Marketing
The film targeted viewers with contest-based marketing. Stressing 'competition' which would make up for a significant part of the movie, contests such as the 'Nano Student of the Year', 'The Buddy of the Year' and 'FedEx International Student of the Year' were launched targeting students across the country.

Tata Motors, on-ground promotion partner for the movie, launched the 'Nano Student of the Year' contest for all college students in India. In the first round students were judged on four parameters; namely, academics, culture, sports, and social life. The top eight finalists would compete for the 'Nano Student of the Year' title. The contest was held across India in mid-September 2012.

The production house partnered with FedEx Express announcing a special 'FedEx Student Offer' and launch of 'FedEx International Student of the Year' campaign. It was aimed at individuals in India applying for higher education abroad. Student of the Year was promoted across non-fiction properties such as Kaun Banega Crorepati on Sony Entertainment Television and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Bigg Boss on Colors. Radio stations such as Red FM, Radio City, Big FM were used for the promotion of the film and its music.

Pre-release business
The satellite rights of Student of the Year were sold with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani for inr 500000000 together to Sony Entertainment Television. The music rights were sold to Sony Music for a sum of inr 70000000.

Post-release box office
Critics were apprehensive of the success of the film as several hyped movies have flopped over the years. Also, the movie had a very high price tag and newcomers starred in the movie. However, the film took a thunderous start at the box office, becoming the biggest non-star cast opener ever in Bollywood. The movie surpassed trade expectations and caused profit to both makers and distributors in the first week itself. It remained the highest-grossing non-star cast film in Bollywood until its record was broken by Aashiqui 2.

India
Student of the Year had a good opening at multiplexes while little lower at single screens due to limited release where it had collected inr 74800000 on its opening day. The film showed good growth on its second day and collected inr 85000000 nett. Student of the Year collected a good figure of around inr 253000000 at the end of its first weekend. It did very well and collected inr 431000000 nett in its first week. The film had a moderate second weekend where it earned around inr 80000000 nett. Student of the Year had a drop in its second and third week where it had collected inr 140000000 and inr 32500000 respectively to make a total of inr 633000000 in three weeks.

As per the latest updates, Student of the Year stands at an all India collection of inr 700000000 after four weeks run at the box office.

Overseas
Student of the Year collected about US$1.25 million, which Box Office India thought was a poor showing for having been released on 300 screens. It collected around $1.85 million in ten days. The film fell in the second week in most markets. Student of the Year closed at around million in overseas markets.

Critical reception
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars, saying, "Student of the Year is a love story that traverses the trodden path. But KJo is an artisan with intellect and taste and he ensures that the script is spruced up and modernized with such elan that it doesn't offend the spectator's wisdom or intelligence. The accomplished director takes on familiar material and gives it an entirely new twirl. This is an escapist cinema at its best! On the whole, Student of the Year is amongst Karan Johar's most accomplished works. The youth brigade would love it and those who have already passed that age would want to revisit those days. This one's entertainment, entertainment, and entertainment at its best. KJo has a winner on hands, yet again!" Komal Nahta also gave it 4/5 calling it a "supremely entertaining" movie. Raita Tandon of Filmfare gave it 4/5 stars stating "All in all, Karan’s SOTY world is surreal and spectacular yet it has moments that will bring you back to reality and warm the cockles of your heart. This is escapism at its best." Joginder Tuteja of Indiaglitz gave the movie 4/5 stars and commented,"With a fun outing like Student of the Year, Karan Johar has proven once again that he can fluctuate between making a relatively serious film like 'My Name Is Khan' and come back to candy floss youth entertainer in the mode of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. With an eye on some lavish entertainment translating on-screen and bringing new talent to the industry, 'Student of the Year' is a winner." Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 stars, stating that "Student of the Year takes you back to your books and sinks you in true-blue Bollywood syllabus, following the 'formula' – Two boys, one girl, one glorious trophy and lots of testosterone. It is larger-than-life, colorful, lavish, beautifully shot and directed. With medleys, dance, drama, and everything good-looking (from cast to couches, dorms to discos)." Indicine gave it 3.5/5 stars, commenting "Overall, there isn’t a dull moment in Student of the Year. It has something in it for everyone – romance, action, entertainment, good performances, and catchy music. Go for it." Social Movie rating site MOZVO gave it a score of 3.7/5 putting it in the recommended category.

Rajeev Masand of IBNLive gave it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Nitpicking aside, this is a breezy, enjoyable film by a director who knows his craft." He remarked, "If fun is what you’re seeking, you won't be disappointed." Giving the film 3/5 stars, Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times wrote, "Karan Johar's forte is excess. He creates fantastical worlds brimming with beautiful people and expensive things and yet anchors them in high emotion. His films work as both designer porn and soap opera." She also praised the performance of the cast. Sukanya Verma of Rediff gave 3/5 stars, commenting that "Student of the Year is no Kuch Kuch Hota Hai but Karan Johar makes it look good." Rubina A Khan of The First Post gave the film 3/5 stars, stating that "Student of the Year is not KJo's finest work. Sure, it’s got all the elements of finesse and expansive production values that his films are known for, but he has also been very pivotal in directing and producing films with engaging stories in the past." Nabanita of Oneindia gave it 3/5 commenting "Student of the Year is a youthful and interesting movie that deserves a thumbs up. Three cheers for this." India Today also gave the film a rating of 3/5. Sify awarded it 3/5 stars saying, "So there you have it – a fun, frothy film that won't insult your intelligence and sensibility. Worth a watch!"

Roshni Devi of Koimoi gave it 2.5/5 stars, praising the performances. Kanika Sikka of DNA India gave 2.5/5 stars, concluding that "Student of the Year is not something you would want to miss if the surreal setting with bubble gum romance is your calling. The performances make this film a great watch." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 2.5/5 stars, commenting that "Student of the Year definitely isn't the film of the year. But if you like your entertainment to be served up with glitzy but pulpy garnishing, pirouette your way to the nearest screen by all means." Ananya Bhattacharya of Zee News gave the film 2/5 stars, saying that "Student of the Year is worth a watch only for the debutantes. They have pulled off a tough task of playing praiseworthy roles in a film which suffers from the lack-of-a-story syndrome."

Home media
A two-disc DVD set was released on 24 December 2012 which contains the making of the film, song, and deleted scenes. Bollywood Hungama gave the DVD 4/5 stars.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Vishal-Shekhar with the lyrics penned by Anvita Dutt Guptan. "The Disco Song" is a revamped cover version of "Disco Deewane" (1981) by Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan, incorporating her vocals along with those of Sunidhi Chauhan and Benny Dayal.

Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama gave the album 4/5 stars, saying that "Student of the Year is a winner with Vishal Shekhar (yet again) justifying their stance of doing a few films but lending quality sound to it. They create the kind of score which totally compliments the mood of the campus setting without straying even once." IANS of CNN-IBN gave the album 4/5 stars, concluding that "The soundtrack of Student of the Year is a good mix with very minor flaws that can surely be ignored to enjoy the music that perfectly describes the mood of the movie." Satyajit of Yahoo! gave the album 3.5/5 stars, stating that "Student of the Year is complete youthful musical entertainment, an album that brings all the positive elements of a typical Karan Johar entertainer. Vishal Shekhar delivers a potential winner this time."

The romantic track "Ishq Wala Love" became the biggest hit of the album concluded by "Radha" and "Disco Song". On 26 September 2012, The Times of India reported that the soundtrack was "appealing to people of all tastes and there's something for everyone in it".

Awards and nominations
Student of the Year won several awards, particularly for its direction, performances of the lead actors, and music.