Student of the Year

Student of the Year is a 2012 Indian teen film directed by Karan Johar and produced by Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment. The film features debutantes Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, and Alia Bhatt in the lead roles alongside Rishi Kapoor, Sana Saeed, Ronit Roy, Sahil Anand, Ram Kapoor, and Farida Jalal in supporting roles.

The film was released on 19 October 2012 across India and emerged as a commercial success. It received mixed reviews from critics, with praise directed towards the performances and the film's music, but was criticized for its story and screenplay. At the 58th Filmfare Awards, Student of the Year received 4 nominations including Best Male Debut (Malhotra and Dhawan) and Best Female Debut (Bhatt), and won the R. D. Burman Award for New Music Talent (Neeti Mohan for "Ishq Wala Love").

A standalone sequel titled Student of the Year 2, directed by Punit Malhotra, was released on 10 May 2019, starring Tiger Shroff alongside newcomers Tara Sutaria and Ananya Pandey. Although speculations were rife about the three leads from the original returning for a special appearance, only Bhatt made the cut in a song opposite Shroff.

Plot
At the esteemed St. Teresa's College, Rohan "Ro" Nanda is the handsome, rich, and popular younger son of its trustee, influential business tycoon Ashok Nanda. Ashok dislikes Ro's passion for music and wants him to become a businessman like his elder son Ajay. Shanaya Singhania, the beautiful, rich, and popular girl at college, is Ro’s girlfriend. She feels dissatisfied with his constant flirting with her rival, Tanya Israni. Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh, a handsome new student from a middle-class family who idolizes Ashok, soon becomes the college's heartthrob. He is an orphan whose grandmother is the only person he truly loves. Abhi and Ro initially do not get along but soon become best friends after a football match. Ro introduces him to Shanaya, reminding him not to get involved with her, and Abhi maintains he is uninterested. The trio eventually become close friends.

At Ajay's wedding, Shanaya sees Ro flirting with Tanya and feels betrayed. She openly flirts with Abhi, who tacitly hints her off to make Ro jealous. Abhi starts falling for Shanaya but keeps his feelings to himself. Afterwards, back at the school, the annual Student of the Year competition commences under Dean Yogendra "Yogi" Vashisht. The first rounds are a quiz test, a treasure hunt, and a dance battle. Shanaya slowly develops feelings for Abhi over the course of the competition. The trio pass the quiz test and the treasure hunt. Abhi's grandmother becomes ill before the dance battle and eventually dies. After her death, Shanaya helps Abhi cope, and the two share a kiss in a tender moment, feeling attracted to each other. Ro witnesses them, resulting in a fight and falling out between him and Abhi. Following an intense confrontation regarding his future with Ashok back home, Ro becomes determined to win the competition. Shanaya and her best friend, Shruti Pathak, fall out over the competition, much like Ro and his longtime friend, Jeet Khurana. Conflicted by her feelings, Shanaya leaves in the middle of the dance battle and is eliminated, while Ro and Abhi proceed to the final round.

The final round of the competition is a triathlon consisting of swimming, cycling and long-distance running. Abhi, in the lead, surprisingly slows down during the end, resulting in Ro winning the competition. Ro, however, declines to accept the award, citing personal reasons. After Ro steps down, Yogi is heavily criticised by Ro and Abhi’s mutual friend, Kaizad "Sudo" Sodabottleopenerwala, who rants about how the entire concept of the ‘Student of the Year’ competition has always been rigged. He claims the competition broke their friendship of two years and was unfair to people like him, who were not as popular or attractive as Abhi or Ro. After finishing his speech, he storms out. This causes Yogi to retire eventually. The students soon graduate and lose contact with each other.

Ten years later, terminally ill and on his deathbed, Yogi requests to see the students from his last batch. Some arrive to meet him, along with former coach Karan Shah, and hold themselves responsible for the lively Dean's falling ill. Ro, now a successful rock musician, and Abhi, now a successful investment banker married to Shanaya, run into each other when they visit Yogi. The two have a fight while talking about their past, releasing the anger they have held back for the last ten years. Abhi also reveals the truth about the triathlon, claiming he intentionally allowed Ro to win after noticing Ashok was happy to see Ro losing, and it was his way of surpassing Ashok in stature. While bickering, they end up in a friendly banter, much like in college, rekindling their friendship. Yogi apologises to his former students and dies at peace. Ro and Abhi have a friendly running race on the same college field they ran during the competition.

Cast

 * Sidharth Malhotra as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh; Ro’s best friend, Shanaya’s husband
 * Varun Dhawan as Rohan "Ro" Nanda; Abhi’s best friend, Shanaya’s ex-boyfriend
 * Alia Bhatt as Shanaya Singhania; Ro’s ex-girlfriend, Abhi’s wife
 * Rishi Kapoor as Yogendra "Yogi" Vashisht, Dean of Saint Teresa
 * Ronit Roy as Coach Karan Shah, Sports teacher of Saint Teresa
 * Ram Kapoor as Ashok Nanda, Gayatri's husband, Rohan's father
 * Sana Saeed as Tanya Israni, Rohan's one-sided love-interest
 * Sahil Anand as Jeet Khurana, Ro's sidekick
 * Manasi Rachh as Shruti Pathak, Shanaya's best friend
 * Kayoze Irani as Kaizad "Sudo" Sodabottleopenerwala, Shanaya, Abhi, Rohan, Tanya, Jeet, and Shruti's friend
 * Manjot Singh as Dimple "Dimpy" Singh
 * Gautami Kapoor as Gayatri Nanda, Ashok's wife, Rohan's mother
 * Farida Jalal as Sadhna Singh, Abhi's grandmother
 * Akshay Anand as Dharamraj Singh, Abhi's uncle
 * Manini Mishra as Geeta Singh, Abhi's aunt
 * Prachi Shah as Ruchi Shah, Karan's wife
 * Nandini Sen as Kamini Singhania, Shanaya's mother
 * Boman Irani as Harikishan Sanon, Dean of Saint Lawrence
 * Sushma Seth as Archana Vashisht, Yogi's mother

Special appearances

 * Farah Khan as Judge in "The Disco Song"
 * Vaibhavi Merchant as Judge in "The Disco Song"
 * Kajol in "The Disco Song"

Development
On 5 January 2011, both Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan uploaded the film's first poster on Twitter. The film marks the debuts of former model Sidharth Malhotra along with Alia Bhatt, daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, son of director David Dhawan, Kayoze Irani, son of Boman Irani, and as an adult, Sana Saeed, who portrayed Khan's screen daughter, in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Johar's debut in Hindi cinema.

Malhotra and Dhawan had previously worked as assistant directors under Johar during the making of My Name Is Khan (2010).

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

Filming
Most parts of the film were shot in Kashmir and Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. The external view of the school is that of the Kasiga School, Dehradun. The hospital scenes were filmed outside The Lalit, Grand Palace, Srinagar. Parts of the film were also shot in Thailand. Rob Miller, who had previously worked with Shah Rukh Khan on Chak De! India (2007), was hired to direct the sports sequences.

Marketing and release
The film targeted viewers with contest-based marketing.

Tata Motors, the on-ground promotion partner for the film, launched the 'Nano Student of the Year ' contest judging students on academics, culture, sports, and social life. The top 8 finalists competed for the 'Nano Student of the Year ' title.

The makers 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.

The satellite rights were sold with Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani for inr 500000000 to Sony Entertainment Television. The music rights were sold to Sony Music for a sum of inr 70000000. Late in October 2021, the film's satellite rights, along with those of Agneepath and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani were purchased and renewed by Colors Cineplex.

Indiagames also released a mobile video game based on the film.

Critical reception
Student of the Year received mixed reviews from critics, with praise directed towards the performances of its three leads and the film's music, but received sharp criticism for its escapist story and screenplay.

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it 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." He added, "This is an escapist cinema at its best! [...] This one's entertainment, entertainment, and entertainment at its best." Komal Nahta also gave it 4/5 calling it a "supremely-entertaining" film.

Raita Tandon of Filmfare gave it 4/5 stars stating that the "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." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave it 3/5 stars and wrote, "Nitpickings 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, "He [Karan Johar] 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. 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."

Box office
Critics were skeptical over the success of the much-hyped film. Additionally, it starred debutantes in the lead roles, and had a high budget. However, the film became the biggest opener, not starring mainstream actors, in Bollywood, and surpassed trade expectations to profit both makers and distributors in the first week itself.

India
Student of the Year had a good opening collecting inr 74800000 on its opening day. It showed growth on its second day and collected inr 85000000. It had collected inr 431000000 by the end of its first week. It 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.

Overseas
Student of the Year collected about US$1.25 million, which Box Office India considered was a poor showing for a release on 300 screens. The film fell in the second week in most markets and closed at around $3 million from overseas markets.

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 Nazia Hassan, incorporating her vocals along with those of Sunidhi Chauhan and Benny Dayal.

The soundtrack received positive reviews from music critics. 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." 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."

The romantic track "Ishq Wala Love" became the biggest hit of the album, ranking in Radio Mirchi's Top 20 until 2013.

The song "Radha" sampled the song "Dafli Wale Dafli Baja" (that originally had music by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and lyrics by Anand Bakshi) from the film Sargam (1979), which also starred Kapoor in the lead.