Student of the Year
- Director
- Karan Johar
- Studio
- Dharma ProductionsRed Chillies Entertainment
- Release Date
- 18 October 2012
- Running Time
- 146 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
- Budget
- ₹59.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹109.00 Cr
Review
Karan Johar's directorial venture is an unabashed celebration of youth, luxury, and romance—a film that understands its audience and delivers precisely what it promises, even if the delivery feels occasionally hollow. The narrative unfolds with surprising efficiency; what could have been a tedious love triangle instead becomes a vehicle for exploring friendship, loyalty, and the messy emotional territory between desire and commitment. Varun Dhawan brings infectious energy to Rohan, managing to make a privileged, flirtatious protagonist feel sympathetic through sheer charm, while Siddhant Chaturvedi as Abhi provides a compelling counterpoint—the outsider whose moral compass gradually bends under pressure. Alia Bhatt's Shanaya, though written as somewhat passive, is elevated by her nuanced performance; she conveys genuine conflict between attraction and principle without requiring extensive dialogue.
Where the film stumbles is in its willingness to paper over complexity with spectacular set pieces and music. The Student of the Year competition, while visually impressive, feels narratively convenient—a device to manufacture stakes rather than organic conflict arising from character choices. The screenplay occasionally sacrifices psychological depth for sentimentality, particularly in its resolution, which wraps up the emotional turmoil with more speed than earned finality. Johar's direction is assured and technically proficient, yet one senses he's more interested in the surfac
Storyline
So basically, there's this super posh college called St. Teresa's where all the rich kids hang out, and the main guy is Rohan—he's got everything: good looks, money, and he's the son of this big business guy. His dad's always pushing him to be serious and join the family business, but Rohan's more into music and having fun. He's dating this gorgeous girl named Shanaya who's totally into him, but she keeps getting annoyed because he's always flirting with other girls. Then this new guy Abhi shows up, and he's from a regular middle-class background but he's absolutely charming—everyone loves him. At first Rohan and Abhi don't click, but they end up becoming best friends pretty quickly.
Things get a little messy when Shanaya notices Rohan flirting yet again and decides to get back at him by flirting with Abhi instead. The problem is, Abhi actually starts catching real feelings for Shanaya, even though he's supposed to be loyal to his friend. Meanwhile, Shanaya's feelings are shifting too—she's kind of starting to like Abhi for real. All three of them are now caught up in this complicated love triangle situation while trying to navigate their college life together.
Then the college decides to hold this big competition called Student of the Year, which has different rounds like quizzes, treasure hunts, and dance competitions. Our trio decides to compete together, and as they go through the rounds, everything gets more intense—both the competition and the emotions between them. Just when things are getting really dramatic, something tragic happens in Abhi's personal life that changes everything, but I won't spoil what that means for their friendship and the competition!
