Move over Hogwarts, because our very own St. Teresa's High School, Dehradun is here! A school as glamorous as the iconic castles of the Harry Potter universe, with one twist though. Here the underage Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley have been replaced by three dashing debutantes – Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, and Varun Dhawan.
Just like the magic flowing in the veins of the protagonists in the books of JK Rowling, never let down the readers, here too Karan Johar the director is for the most part aptly justified in working with these rank newcomers with royal filmy blood flowing through their veins, and boy do they keep up to their reputation! Siddharth plays Abhimanyu - the relatively poor sports quota entrant into the prestigious institution with big dreams and bigger ambitions. Likewise, Alia's portrayal of Shanaya - the spoilt rich yet lonely only daughter of her twice married mother with 4 step sisters, and Varun's portrayal of Rohan - the dreaming to be a Rockstar son of the top industrialist trying to cope with parental pressure - would surely make their respective dads Mahesh Bhatt and David Dhawan proud.
As the terrific trio compete in Karan Johar's version of the Triwizard Tournament – here referred to as 'Student of the Year' everything between them changes. Lovers part, friends become sworn enemies, and children forever separate from their parents. In between of course, there is ample display of well sculpted bodies (Siddharth and Varun) in the shortest of swimming trunks rising above the water, err competition, and Alia in a range of super glamorous designer labels and a scarf enhanced Bikini seducing the boys, (or was it the audience?) into gasps of desire.
For anyone who has ever worn a designer label, or wishes to buy one, this film is like an encyclopedia of fashion that they can immediately relate with. If college dynamics between warring sections of students attracts you, you would love the one upmanship banter between the students. If you love to see fast cars, bikes, and action, you are likely to love the portions involving the 'Tatas' and the 'Batas' or in other words the unbelievably rich and the more than upper middle class rich. If you love old Hindi songs, you are likely to cheer the innovative incorporation of their remixes to introduce key characters be it 'Papa Kehte Hain', 'Gulaabi Aankhen', 'Dafli wale', or the icing on the cake – 'Disco Deewane'. If you loved the happy and gay portions of Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na ho and Dostana, you are likely to fall in love with the dean Rishi Kapoor's wet and wild ways of trying to attract the attention of the brand new coach Ronit Roy – the one who makes him sing 'Coach Coach Hota Hai'.
But if the above things do not interest you, well then this film might already be a humbug you would need an aspirin to get over with. This is like a soufflé that you need to already acquire a taste for. If you are expecting a cup of no nonsense filter coffee, Indian style, you are likely to hate Karan's version of Choco Frappe with a spoonful of whipped cream. To be honest, not everything is perfect, and certain supposed key actions are not well justified. But these are mostly super seeded by the thorough conviction of the director, his vision, and the actors who support it through and through.
Watch it for the rising stars, their thrilling ride, their motley group of extremely well etched friends - Kayozee Irani (the son of actor Boman Irani) as the daring Dikra - Sodo who questions the very foundation of a brazenly biased triathlon towards the finale while managing to curb his intelligence that clearly isn't enough to keep him in the rat race, Shanaya's once helpful but now manipulative tomboy friend Shruti's (Mansi Rach) manipulative mind, the bimbette head cheerleader Tanya (Sana Saeed, who played the young Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) trying to pocket the heart of the uber rich Rohan, his erring errand friend Jeet (Sahil Anand of Roadies 4 fame), or the lanky Manjot Singh (of Oye Lucky Lucky Oye fame) as the 'Bata' Dimpy. Or for that matter the superb supporting cast of Rishi Kapoor (superb), Ronit Roy (just right), Ram Kapoor (extremely effective), or for that matter that of Manini De, Boman Irani, and Farida Jalal in brief yet extremely effective cameos. This is a ride that won't disappoint. Go for it for some escapist entertainment at it's glossy best!
Just like the magic flowing in the veins of the protagonists in the books of JK Rowling, never let down the readers, here too Karan Johar the director is for the most part aptly justified in working with these rank newcomers with royal filmy blood flowing through their veins, and boy do they keep up to their reputation! Siddharth plays Abhimanyu - the relatively poor sports quota entrant into the prestigious institution with big dreams and bigger ambitions. Likewise, Alia's portrayal of Shanaya - the spoilt rich yet lonely only daughter of her twice married mother with 4 step sisters, and Varun's portrayal of Rohan - the dreaming to be a Rockstar son of the top industrialist trying to cope with parental pressure - would surely make their respective dads Mahesh Bhatt and David Dhawan proud.
As the terrific trio compete in Karan Johar's version of the Triwizard Tournament – here referred to as 'Student of the Year' everything between them changes. Lovers part, friends become sworn enemies, and children forever separate from their parents. In between of course, there is ample display of well sculpted bodies (Siddharth and Varun) in the shortest of swimming trunks rising above the water, err competition, and Alia in a range of super glamorous designer labels and a scarf enhanced Bikini seducing the boys, (or was it the audience?) into gasps of desire.
For anyone who has ever worn a designer label, or wishes to buy one, this film is like an encyclopedia of fashion that they can immediately relate with. If college dynamics between warring sections of students attracts you, you would love the one upmanship banter between the students. If you love to see fast cars, bikes, and action, you are likely to love the portions involving the 'Tatas' and the 'Batas' or in other words the unbelievably rich and the more than upper middle class rich. If you love old Hindi songs, you are likely to cheer the innovative incorporation of their remixes to introduce key characters be it 'Papa Kehte Hain', 'Gulaabi Aankhen', 'Dafli wale', or the icing on the cake – 'Disco Deewane'. If you loved the happy and gay portions of Karan Johar's Kal Ho Na ho and Dostana, you are likely to fall in love with the dean Rishi Kapoor's wet and wild ways of trying to attract the attention of the brand new coach Ronit Roy – the one who makes him sing 'Coach Coach Hota Hai'.
But if the above things do not interest you, well then this film might already be a humbug you would need an aspirin to get over with. This is like a soufflé that you need to already acquire a taste for. If you are expecting a cup of no nonsense filter coffee, Indian style, you are likely to hate Karan's version of Choco Frappe with a spoonful of whipped cream. To be honest, not everything is perfect, and certain supposed key actions are not well justified. But these are mostly super seeded by the thorough conviction of the director, his vision, and the actors who support it through and through.
Watch it for the rising stars, their thrilling ride, their motley group of extremely well etched friends - Kayozee Irani (the son of actor Boman Irani) as the daring Dikra - Sodo who questions the very foundation of a brazenly biased triathlon towards the finale while managing to curb his intelligence that clearly isn't enough to keep him in the rat race, Shanaya's once helpful but now manipulative tomboy friend Shruti's (Mansi Rach) manipulative mind, the bimbette head cheerleader Tanya (Sana Saeed, who played the young Anjali in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) trying to pocket the heart of the uber rich Rohan, his erring errand friend Jeet (Sahil Anand of Roadies 4 fame), or the lanky Manjot Singh (of Oye Lucky Lucky Oye fame) as the 'Bata' Dimpy. Or for that matter the superb supporting cast of Rishi Kapoor (superb), Ronit Roy (just right), Ram Kapoor (extremely effective), or for that matter that of Manini De, Boman Irani, and Farida Jalal in brief yet extremely effective cameos. This is a ride that won't disappoint. Go for it for some escapist entertainment at it's glossy best!