Student of the Year (2012)

Good movie but grossly overrated

good film but with many flaws

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Their is a sincere lack of sense and logic in the movie, but that was expected from Karan Johar. The film promises good looking actors and stupid teenage masala and entertainment and it delivers just fine.The director can only assure that it's the best god damn stupid teenage masala and entertainment film possible and he does it. Some scenes leave KJo hallmarks, like the silent sequence in the Varun's brother's marriage, otherwise they three are really good looking and I can watch them for 150 minutes.

'Student of the Year' (SOTY), though not a perfect film but was refreshing to see today's youth and its school life, although not representative of the general lot, but there are elite schools coming up all around, as the pie of the Indian middle class is expanding, so it was fun to watch SOTY. Intermittently it is better to have a movie like this being made, depicting the current life in schools or colleges, to enable populace at large, especially those that have crossed the age of 40 years and have a family of their own, to get a glimpse of the aspirations of the younger generation.This is a Bollywood film, hence one does not expect the story to match 100% of the real life, but it was still exciting to watch. One would love to see the number of songs getting reduced to cut short the unnecessary flab of fiction, unless they are spiced with extra-ordinary music and dance. Some of the songs could have been avoided. All the young actors were good and looked too innocent. Alia Bhatt looked cute, but not matured. Locales and costumes as usual of a Karan Johar film were beautiful. Overall the concept was good and the effort to make this movie does not go in vain, it is worth watching for once.

No script, no emotions, no depth in characters, only glam show and cinematography ! Music was just good enough and looked so not original kind of music as compared to a normal bollywood flick.Was it really a school or a fashion ground ? Director or filmmakers concentrated too much on dresses instead of acting quotient ! Female cast Alia Bhatt has been shown as a doll, totally dishonest with her character. Blank face with zero emotions.Script flawed in the end and no good explanation given why Alia chooses Sidharth instead she could choose Varun as her life partner.Guys, you may avoid this one in theaters !

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.