Student Of The Year Movie Review

Student Of The Year (Hindi)

Release Date:
October 19, 2012

The road from youth to adulthood is paved with myriad emotions and Student Of The Year celebrates this colorful coming of age. It is the story of Abhimanyu Singh (Sidharth Malhotra) and Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan) who traverse the path of competition, envy, triumph, failure, manipulation and heartbreak in their mini-universe of St. Teresa's High School, Dehradun. Abhimanyu Singh a.k.a Abhi comes from a middle-class family and wants to achieve great heights of success and prosperity, the first step to which will be the Student of the Year trophy while Rohan Nanda a.k.a Ro, is the son of a business tycoon who grapples with a complex relationship with his father and knows that winning the Student Of the Year trophy will bag him the approval that he subconsciously craves for. When the two protagonists with distinct backgrounds and clear goals clash with each other in the locker room, football field and the canteen, there is no question in anyone's mind that the preset equations of the St. Teresa's campus were about to change.

When Abhi and Rohan's rivalry takes an unexpected turn to friendship, neither pre-empts the complications that would brew. Things are further knotted up when Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt), the most popular girl on the campus enters the equation. While Shanaya and Rohan are childhood sweethearts, Abhi's attraction for his best friend's girlfriend and Shanaya's quiet reciprocation causes a rift in their friendship that would have a long lasting impact. Looming large over the various friendships in the campus is the Student Of The year trophy and Dean Yogendra Vasisht's (Rishi Kapoor) emphasis on success and victory. Towards the end of the term, the foes-turned-friends-turned foes, Abhi and Rohan, are ready for a face-off and battle lines are drawn through the length and breadth of the campus, with only one goal in everyone's eyes - Student Of The Year Trophy. As new ambitions are born and old loyalties fall by the wayside, each segment of the Student Of The Year competition manages to tear apart both, the participants and the spectators, to redefine the choices of the three protagonists.

What will Abhimanyu choose? Victory or Friendship?

What will Rohan choose? Victory or Dreams?

What will Shanaya choose? Victory or Emotions?

The road from youth to adulthood is paved with myriad emotions and Student Of The Year celebrates this colorful coming of... Show More

How can such a lively premise result in such dullness? The blame may lie with characters who are as clichéd as they come.

The Hindu

If you have patience and a taste for the overblown

Hindustan Times

A breezy, enjoyable film by a director who knows his craft

This no-holds-barred musical brimming with bright new faces has enough going for it to ensure a good time

It doesn’t even feel as if it is trying for novelty, despite the brand-new talent it showcases

Indian Express

Though most of the film is predictable, the way it ends is not. The climax is well worth the wait because this is where Johar runs into home stretch and gives SOTY one mighty emotional heave and almost wins you over

Mumbai Mirror

Strange, but you don't mind the film despite its unapologetic brainlessness. The key lies in Karan's storytelling. For all its pulp packaging, SOTY doesn't have a single dull moment

It’s a light and breezy film, but the progression of the plot is rather arduous and stretched

Firstpost

In a world in which Yash Johar’s son creates a star vehicle for Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter and David Dhawan’s son, it’s probably natural for life to seem preordained. I wish another world were possible

Firstpost

Student Of The Year is all fluff sans much stuff. Watch it if you are a big fan of frothy, glossy romance. For the ones looking for realistic meaningful cinema, this isn't the film for you

nowrunning

It offers nothing new or inspired and yet, for those that delight in fluff, it might even feel like a breezy entertainer

You may not like this movie if bubble-gum romances, picture-perfect worlds and candy-floss clouds are not your idea of a movie-going experience

Times of India

There's no room for boredom or monotony in this high-on-energy movie

BollywoodHungama