Student of the Year was released on 19 October 2012 across India and emerged as a commercial success.[6] It received mixed reviews from critics with praise for its cast performances, technical aspects, direction and music, but criticized its script. 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").
At the esteemed St. Teresa's College, Rohan "Ro" Nanda is the handsome, rich, and popular younger son of its trustee, Ashok Nanda, an influential business tycoon. Ashok dislikes Ro’s passion for music and wants him to become a businessman like his elder son Ajay. Shanaya Singhania, a beautiful, rich, and popular girl at college, is Rohan’s girlfriend and feels dissatisfied with Ro's constant flirtations 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. Abhi is an orphan whose grandmother is the only person he truly loves. He 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 that 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. Back at the school, the annual Student of the Year competition commences under Dean Yogendra "Yogi" Vashisht. The game 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 passes the quiz test and 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 fallout 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 after he asks Shanaya out to be his partner. Shanaya, conflicted by her feelings, leaves in the middle of the dance battle and gets 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, slows down during the end, resulting in Ro winning the competition. However, Ro 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 and attractive as Abhi or Ro. This causes Yogi to retire eventually. The students soon graduate and lose contact with each other.
Ten years later, Yogi, terminally ill and on his deathbed, 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 is now a rock musician, and Abhi is now an investment banker married to Shanaya. They run into each other when they visit Yogi; in an argument which initially starts off over their shared history and conduct with Shanaya, the two begin releasing the anger they have held back for the last ten years. Ro ultimately reveals he is greatly pissed off at what he considers an intentional move on Abhi's part to lose the triathlon; he reveals that he intentionally allowed him to win after noticing Ashok was happy to see his son losing, and it was his way of surpassing Ashok in stature. While bickering, they end up in a friendly banter, much like in college, and finally reconcile, rekindling their friendship. Yogi apologises to his former students and dies at peace. Rohan and Abhi have a friendly running race on the same college field, which they ran during the competition.
Cast
Varun Dhawan as Rohan "Ro" Nanda; Abhi’s best friend, Shanaya’s ex-boyfriend
Sidharth Malhotra as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh; Ro’s best friend, Shanaya’s husband
Alia Bhatt as Shanaya Singhania; Ro’s ex-girlfriend, Abhi’s wife
The first official trailer was released on 2 August 2012. Johar later tweeted that the film will be released on 19 October 2012.[10]
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.[citation needed] 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[11] 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.[12]
Student of the Year received mixed reviews from critics, with praise directed towards its cast performances and music, but received criticism for its escapist script.[16][1]
Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave 4/5 stars and wrote "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."[1]Komal Nahta also gave 4/5 stars and called it a "supremely-entertaining" film.[17]
Raita Tandon of Filmfare gave 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."[16]Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave 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."[18]
Anupama Chopra of Hindustan Times gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Karan Johar's forte is excess. He 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.[19]Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 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."[20]
Ananya Bhattacharya of Zee News gave 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."[21]
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.[22] However, the film became the biggest opener, not starring mainstream actors, in Bollywood,[23] and surpassed trade expectations to profit both makers and distributors in the first week itself.[24]
India
Student of the Year had a good opening collecting ₹7.48 crore (US$880,000) on its opening day.[25][26] It showed growth on its second day and collected ₹8.50 crore (US$990,000).[27] It had collected ₹43.1 crore (US$5.0 million) by the end of its first week.[28] It had a drop in its second and third week where it had collected ₹14 crore (US$1.6 million) and ₹3.25 crore (US$380,000) respectively to make a total of ₹63.3 crore (US$7.4 million) in three weeks.[29][30]
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.[31] The film fell in the second week in most markets and closed at around $3 million from overseas markets.[32]
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."[34]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."[35]
The romantic track "Ishq Wala Love" became the biggest hit of the album, ranking in Radio Mirchi's Top 20 until 2013.[36]
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.
^Nahta, Komal (19 October 2012). "STUDENT OF THE YEAR Review". Komal Nahta's Blog. Komal Nahta. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
