Karan Johar keeps his upcoming film Student of the Year short

Director, producer, television host and reality-show judge Karan Johar has been known to give all of his films a dash of extravagance and glamour. More than just feature films, Karan Johar’s creations are termed as sagas that take viewers through time-frames and periods. And given the fact that all of his films have been meticulously detailed, without leaving out crucial inputs, Karan Johar’s films remain particularly long.

Till date, the Dharma Productions chief has directed four films, making his debut as a director in 1998 with the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Stretched to 185 minutes, the film was followed by Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001). This film starred Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Kajol, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor in the lead and plays for 211 minutes. His longest film, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, runs for a whopping 215 minutes and chronicles the lives of characters played by Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta and Kirron Kher. His latest directorial venture titled My Name Is Khan on the other hand was timed at 161 minutes.

Karan Johar’s next, Student of the Year, is marked as the director’s shortest film. Starring newcomers Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, the film will follow the trend of contemporary movies and stay short. “Yes this is going to be the shortest film of my career. Though I am yet to arrive at the final cut, it should be around 135-140 minutes at maximum,” said Karan Johar. The director has also been reported to have overshot the film. In regards to this, he adds, “We have some days of shooting still left. I think I am making a sequel along with the film. I think it’s a never-ending saga... though it’s a fun-frolic, happy film. But I may have overshot it a tad."

Shorter films are known to do well at multiplexes, allowing a larger number of shows to be featured on a daily basis. The upcoming Student of the Year film will be produced jointly by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. The film will be Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan’s first big screen appearance and will release on the 19th of October, 2012.