Aditya Chopra made "Mohobbatein" after "DDLJ," which was much inspired by "Dead Poet's Society". Similarly, Karan Johar tries to bring a high school musical "Student of the Year" after the success of his romantic musicals like "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam" and "Kabhi Albida Na Kehna." But unfortunately, "Student of the Year" nowhere touches the feel of a high school drama. It just presents a very superficial story with very passable and unrealistic characters. They story hasn't succeeded to depict a high school story nor a good romantic story. The new actors fail to create a freshness due to the unnatural or the half baked story the film develops. Instead, they appear brash and annoying. You just wonder what the hell the central theme was and where the story is going. (Was it about the rivalry between students for a trophy, a love triangle, or sorting a family drama.) As a result, none of the stories gets to develop thoroughly. The hit songs and production values just coat the weak film as a thin layer of caramel which tries to grip you a bit though you won't love it much. Well, except for few foot tapping songs like "Disco Deewane" I won't remember the film for anything else.Rating: 1 star out of 4

Over 95% of India's population lives in object poverty. There are thousands of children without homes. Women still have little standing on a day-to-day basis. But people still go to the cinema. Bollywood is still able to make movies that make over 100 crores. Cinema has the unique ability of providing mindless entertainment, that anyone can watch, and for two to three hours viewers can forget about their own problems. Karan Johar has brought us great movies: Dostana, which subtly opened India up to homosexuality, My Name is Khan, which highlighted an important issue about Muslims in America. And then he made Student of the Year; a mix of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai's love triangle and 3 Idiots' theme of competition. The movie was, I think, an attempt to reflect on friendships and underline their importance over 'being the best'. It was an attempt to show that, in the end, the trophies you win, the grades you get and the money you make does not define you. Instead, what defines you, are the people you touch and the relationships you have. It was at heart a beautiful concept and, in my opinion, an important one too. Student of Year did achieve that goal, but in its wake it left a trail of subtle hints that all point to disrespect and ignorance.Don't get me wrong it was entertaining. The movie was funny, it had great eye candy, catchy tunes and even the acting was okay. But in the process the movie described a life in which all women were good for was talking about shoes. The movie overlooks that the majority of its' audience will never ever be able to live like the glamorous snobby people embodied. Cinema should be a trend setter; it should strive to make the country a better place to live in. Instead it told women that they should sit back and read fashion magazines and worry about their hair and boys. It told women that they would never be able to compete with men. It told women that all they will ever achieve is being a housewife. What message is that? And what message is a young woman like Alia Bhatt sending the country when she accepts a role that does this? We live in the twenty-first century and this film has taken us back seven decades. As movies strive to reach their audience, they should portray hope and satisfaction; but from the opening credits to the final song this movie flaunted a blatant indifference toward the destitution in India. What kind of a movie parades around such an obvious waste of wealth and prosperity? The movie was literally floating in a vast sea of affluence and fortune. This is all okay, I mean fine, make a movie about rich people but don't go so far as to estrange society to the extent that they cannot even imagine the displayed life anymore. Student of the Year in its essence spoke to the chauvinism so rampant in the country and alienated the entire middle class with avid disregard for money. In its quest to sell tickets and make money the makers have shown an uncaring disregard for their roles as cinematographers. It has take away the very thing movies are supposed to give, hope.

Student of the Year (2012) Karan Johar writes yet another fantastic movie that keeps you wanting more. This year Karan Johar decides to spice it up with new faces taking the spotlight. Some born to famous families and others to commoners, yet Siddharth Malhotra was as amazing as the rest and in fact he was also known as the possible next Shahrukh Khan.The story starts off with the dean of St.Teresas college being ill and summoning the group of students who were close to him on his last year before he retired. The students all come for two reasons, to meet the Dean and get the answer to a question they've had for the past 11 years. The main characters involve, Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan), Abhimanyu Singh (Siddharth Malhotra), and a spoilt, loving, rich girl Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt) This was one of my favourite movies because it has a family friendly concept. Most movies lately don't have a mixture of emotions but this film has a hint of every emotion to make every person in the family have a blast. The songs were very catchy and had different emotions as well.This movie is family friendly which is the biggest concern nowadays. My favourite part was when the student of the year competition began and there were different stages such as the dance, IQ test, and the triathlon.However, the song lyrics aren't as amazing as the music. On the other hand, people don't listen to the lyrics so much to get the emotion in happy songs and most songs in this film are happy and peppy.This movie has some scenes that involve swearing and fighting between friends when they are having an argument. In that case, you could just tell the children to go away or forward it a little.Finally, this movie has some scenes with inappropriate clothing with men and women but you could just forward that scene or cover the eye of who it is inappropriate for.I think that children and adults would enjoy this film and that it is a good film for weekends.Student of the year is a fun filled adventure that takes you through the college life for three students who are caught in the battle of friendship and love.

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.