Karan Johar’s newcomers taste sweet success with Student of the Year

Karan Johar has recently successfully launched the careers of four promising young actors, Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Kayoze Irani, with his new release titled Student of the Year. A campus romance to be precise, the film includes spectacular performances by the young actors, all of who have made their first big-screen appearances with this new Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment release.

And as expected, the young actors are enjoying the spotlight turned on them. Basking in the success of their first film, Siddharth, Alia, Varun and Kayoze have been soaring high. The actors are tremendously pleased with the response their film and their performances have received. Speaking about the film before its release, Alia stated, “He (Karan Johar) has worked with the best in the industry while neither of us had ever faced the camera before. I have to ensure that he is not let down. There is a pressure of different kind. We all want to make the audience happy as once they accept you, all noises die down". The young actors might have seemed nervous before Student of the Year hit cinema screens but have upped their confidence levels after the film’s success.

"The response has been overwhelming. Having everyone from the film industry congratulate me was a surreal experience. If I try recollecting what Mr Amitabh Bachchan had to say about me, I blank out. I was actually star struck. And when he wrote about me on his site, it felt great," said Kayoze Irani recently, gushing about Student of the Year. In the film, Kayoze’s character, Sudo, narrates the tale of Shanaya (Alia Bhatt), her boyfriend Rohan (Varun Dhawan) and Abhimanyu (Siddharth Malhotra), three students at a school presided over by a gay dean, Yogendra Vasisht (Rishi Kapoor).

The film released on the 19th of October, 2012.

Karan Johar revisits campus-romances with Student of the Year

Karan Johar has been regularly dishing out one hit film after another. His most recent blockbuster titled Student of the Year stars newcomers Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. A campus romance to be precise, the film has been compared to Karan Johar’s first directorial venture, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998). While the previous film was set around a love triangle ensuing in a college campus, Karan’s latest portrays a similar triangle of love in a school. But that’s where the similarities end!

The new film revolves around the lives of three students at a prestigious educational academy nestled in Dehradun called the St. Teresa’s High School. Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt), the campus sweetheart, has a steady and ongoing relationship with her boyfriend Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan), the swaggering son of a wealthy industrialist. Things begin to turn around when Abhimanyu Singh aka Abhi (Siddharth Malhotra), a middle-class boy enrolls at the school on a sports scholarship. Meticulous and ambitious as ever, Abhi looks to reach the top and quickly turns away the spotlight from Rohan onto himself. As expected, a rivalry begins taking its roots with Rohan and Abhi turning against each other. Their relationship however turns into a bromance after an incident, making Rohan and Abhi the best of friends.

When Abhi falls in love with Shanaya, she reciprocates. However, when her boyfriend Rohan finds out, he fights it out with Abhi, leading to a destroyed friendship. The trio then locks horns as they are pitted against each other in the Student of the Year competition announced by the school’s gay dean played by Rishi Kapoor. Finally, who wins the trophy and who wins Shanaya’s heart makes up for this film’s perfect ending.

The film also includes appearances by Sana Saeed who played the child Anjali in Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. A debut film for actor Boman Irani’s son Kayoze Irani alongside Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, Student of the Year released on the 19^th of October, 2012.

Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan - masters of the big-screen!

Karan Johar and Shah Rukh Khan together have created magic on screen several times before, with the former directing some of the best received movies starring the latter in the lead. Karan Johar has always been full of praise for his lucky star and good friend Shah Rukh Khan, extolling the superstars work in his films, both produced and directed by Karan Johar. Shah Rukh Khan has on previous account played the lead in all of the films directed by Karan Johar including Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Khushi Kabhi Gham (2001), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006) and My Name Is Khan (2010), except the director’s most recent film, Student of the Year. The new film instead stars three newcomers in the lead including Varun Dhawan, Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. Karan has however produced this film jointly with Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment.

Speaking about his debutants and their wish to reach the realm of stardom Shah Rukh Khan basks in, Karan articulated, “These kids want to be like Shah Rukh, I just told them the way Shah Rukh Khan shoots, takes the light, does not fumble even once and controls the camera with his eyes... no one, I repeat no one, can ever do that! There is only one Shah Rukh Khan....” The actor has helped the film’s young star-cast with acting tips too! "During the shooting of 'My Name Is Khan', he (Shah Rukh) came to know that we both wanted to act. I used to give the clap and then sit down. He used to prepare his lines and then suddenly he used to start talking 'You should come early, see the props, touch things and feel them, look at your surroundings'," said Siddharth Malhotra. Varun Dhawan has also previously stated, "He (Shah Rukh Khan) is an institution of acting, the way he functions, the way he goes about his work, you could just learn by looking at him".

Shah Rukh Khan has inspired actors in B-Town since long and will continue doing so as he reins the big-screen with passion alongside his director-producer friend, Karan Johar.

“Age doesn't matter," says Karan Johar’s newbie, Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt has been shot into the realm of stardom with her fabulous and successful debut, Karan Johar’s most recent release titled Student of the Year. The Bhatt girl stars in the film’s lead alongside two more debutants, Siddharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, both of who vie for her attention in this campus romance. The 19-year-old is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan and hails from a strong filmy background, with Pooja Bhatt for an elder sister.

Being young and a fresher hasn’t kept Alia Bhatt from proving her worth in front of the cameras however. "There are actresses who started working at a very young age. Like my sister (Pooja Bhatt) started working when she was 17. So age doesn't matter," articulates Alia. "I had decided to become an actress when I was much younger. It was a conscious decision. I just didn't know it would happen as soon as I finish my college".

Despite being from one of the most illustrious families in B-town, Alia chose to launch her career with Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions instead. If a doctor’s son wants to be a doctor, he’s sent to a medical school to study. In the same way, I want to go out and study acting for myself. If I had started off with my father’s film, it would’ve all been too easy,” says Alia.

And yes, Alia wasn’t handpicked for this Karan Johar directorial venture. Instead, the pretty young actress was required to audition for the film to prove her knack for the big screen. "I had decided that I would not start off with my father's production only because it's an easier option. For this film, I had to work for it, like lose weight, prove myself, etc. There were around 500 girls who had given the auditions along with me."

Catch Alia Bhatt as the campus sweetheart Shanaya Singhania in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year.

A closer look at Karan Johar’s new leading man, Siddharth Malhotra

Siddharth Malhotra would love to go back in time to set his scorecards to a perfect 90% and impress his mom. The lead actor from Student of the Year who has impressed everyone with his debut in the latest Dharma Production, Siddharth was an average student in academics but was bent towards acting and dancing from the very beginning. Born in Surat to an educated family, Siddharth’s father Rajeev Malhotra is a doctor and mother Leena Malhotra is a school principal. Expected to follow in their footsteps and choose engineering as a career, Siddharth instead entered modeling at an early age of 16 year. From there on he went to win the title of Mr. Gujarat in 2007 and the 2^nd runner up award in Gladrags Mega-model & Manhunt contest in the same year.

As an established model he has walked the ramp for famous designers Manish Malhotra & Rohit Bal and appeared in the ad campaign of Roberto Cavelli, apart from being the face on the cover pages of Redbook and Gladrags. Having proven himself as a model, he took over new a role as an assistant director. He chose to learn the traits of the career he wanted to establish himself in. He has also worked as an assistant director in NDTV Good Times and for Karan Johar in My Name is Khan. Siddharth articulated, “The idea was always to turn actor. The way I thought about it was that if I had to be in Hindi films, I had to first learn how to make them. This is the reason why I took on the role of an AD for My Name Is Khan. It wasn’t an easy choice though. I was doing well as a model and knew that as an AD, you could well be treated like a servant. You are required to do all odd jobs, including even wiping the floors. I wasn’t even a chief assistant director; I was just one of those many ADs out there”.

Looks like the tough choice made by the young actor prepared him well, helping him bag a lead role in Karan Johar’s newest movie, Student of the Year!

Student of the Year, a campus love-triangle with a dash of glamour by Karan Johar

Director-producer and reigning head of Dharma Productions, Karan Johar’s movies are synonymous with lots of glamour, larger-than-life characters and more, all sprinkled and tossed with emotions. His most recent release titled Student of the Year sticks to the Karan Johar-movie-making trend and includes fantastical worlds that’ll have you day-dreaming. The film stars newcomers Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, who despite their freshness have managed to grab the hearts of audiences in India and internationally. Student of the Year has been declared a blockbuster post its release.

A perfectly glamorous campus romance-drama to be precise, Student of the Year revolves around the lives of three students enrolled at a prestigious school who face the ups and downs of friendship, love and rivalry. Model-turned-actor Siddharth Malhotra plays Abhimanyu Singh aka Abhi, a virtuous and self-dependent boy from a middle-class background who enrolls at the esteemed St. Teresa’s High School on a scholarship. At the school, Abhi is torn between the school’s rich and swaggering students and the rest who, like him, hail from middle-class families. As the story proceeds, he befriends Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan), the wealthy and son of a business tycoon, after an incident that brings them together. Things begin to turn upside down when Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt) steps into the picture. In the film, she is seen dating Rohan. That however doesn’t stop her from reciprocating Abhi’s advances. As expected, this causes a rift between Abhi and Rohan.

The trio is then made to compete against each other as they each try their hand at winning the Student of the Year Trophy announced by the gay and disciplinarian school dean, Yogendra Vasisht (Rishi Kapoor).  Who amongst the three ultimately wins the trophy and Shanaya’s heart is the premise of the rest of this film. 

Rishi Kapoor plays a Gay dean in Karan Johar’s latest!

Breaking away from his chocolate boy days in the era of 70’s and 80’s to an altogether different image, Rishi Kapoor started experimenting with his versatility as an actor by appearing as supporting characters which made an impact in various movies. The latest to showcase the talented actor’s artistic brilliance is his gay character in Karan Johar’s blockbuster movie SOTY. The actor features as a gay Dean who has soft corner on PT Teacher in the campus. Dean Vashisth played by him is an absolute delight and amusing character to watch. His excellent performance has been hugely appreciated and is believed to change the way gays are being portrayed. Speaking on the same Rishi Kapoor says, "Yes, the role is not a caricature in our film. Film characters depend on directors. In Student of the Year, it was a personal take by Karan, the director and Rishi, the actor."

The actor believes the gay characterization in the movie has taken sensitive approach and applauds Karan Johar for his guts to go by his instincts and direct them so well. Giving the credits to the director for all the successful built up of the characters, the actor also shares about is equation with Karan Johar on the sets of Student of the Year, "... as a professional, he can't call me uncle. He could call me Chintu, Chintuji or even Rishi, but I don't believe in this uncle business…. I don't believe in bringing family relations to work. I never called Raj Kapoor papa or daddy on the sets, I called him Saab."

The other characters in the movie played by young faces Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have also received praises from the veteran actor who terms them terrific. He frames them as talented and focused youngsters waiting on the threshold of a big career.