How SOTY stars Varun, Alia and Sidharth hit a goldmine

The three stars in the making - Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra talk about their Bollywood debut film 'Student Of The Year''

Varun Dhawan
'Amitabh Bachchan even tweeted about me'
David Dhawan's younger son Varun Dhawan made an impressive debut with SOTY. Not only has the audience loved the film but the critics have also praised him. 
Varun says, To be very honest the biggest thing for me was when Amitji (Amitabh Bachchan) spoke to me and even tweeted about me. For an aspiring actor like me when Amitabh Bachchan says something and mentions my name, what more can I ask for? 

Another very overwhelming thing for me is the fact that Yash Chopraji saw the film and I think these two people mean everything to me.
I never thought the critics would like my performance and for them to give special mention about me was something great. For me, acting comes first and everything else is secondary. 

Varun adds, A lot of people have been saying that this is a film with two heroes but I would want to add that this film has only one hero and that is Karan Johar.

Alia Bhatt
'I wanted to see the weekend collections before calling it a hit'
Alia Bhatt might be only 19 years old but understands the business of cinema like no one else, courtesy her uncle Mukesh Bhatt. 
Alia says, Only an idiot would not do a Karan Johar film and I am happy that I had to go through the grind like anyone else. I was one of the 400 girls who were auditioned for the role, followed by the look test, photo shoot, etc. My father never offered me any film and even if he would have, I would not have done my first film with him.

The actress adds, I was keen to see how the film opens and what would be the weekend collections before I could call it a hit. I follow box office figures and my chachu (Mukesh Bhatt) tells me everything.
Finally speaking about the comparisons with older sister Pooja, Alia says, It was expected as people say that I look like her but I am happy that now people won't know me only as Mahesh Bhatt's daughter or Pooja Bhatt's sister!

Sidharth Malhotra
'Karan and Varun are my friends now'
From the word go, Sidharth clarifies that he doesn't understand the business of cinema. However, the actor is glad that people have started recognising him on the roads.
The actor recalls, I went out to buy something and realised that people around me were whispering. Another day, I was walking down the road when a group of youngsters spoke to me and even clicked pictures with me. Things are changing. It is all because of Karan Johar and Dharma Productions.

Incidentally, given that the film was a two-hero project, Sidharth and Varun even had a little chat between the two of them to sort out their priorities.

I spoke to Varun after a couple of shots and told him that there could be a situation where the two of us could be pitted against each other. 
People would say various things but we needed to be friends first. That's what happened and today Varun is probably my only friend from Bollywood apart from Karan.

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Box Office: SOTY collects Rs 28.43 crore

Karan Johar's first directorial venture without Shah Rukh Khan, hits gold at box office in its first weekend

Karan Johar's much-anticipated Student of the Year did not disappoint at the box office and as predicted the film has managed to attract the youngsters at the ticket windows. Student of the Year has collected about Rs 28.43 crore (Rs 8.98cr on Friday, Rs 9.36 cr on Saturday and Rs 10.09 cr on Sunday) at the box office in its first weekend.

On the other hands, the figures of Delhi Safari are at around Rs 37 lakh approximately, Shudhra and Jaanleva 555 are at less than Rs 10 lakh for the weekend. 

On the other hand, OMG has touched Rs 75.44 crore till Sunday night and is running in its fourth week and English Vinglish is at around Rs 29.56 crore after its third weekend.

Hollywood film Argo, which has shown an impressive rise in spite of opposition from Student of the Year, deserves a special mention. Trade analyst, Atul Mohan says, I think the only reason for SOTY to work is one man Karan Johar.
Not only has he made a commercial film but has left no stone unturned in terms of production value and promotions for the film. It's only plus for him from now as there are two holidays coming up this week.

Trade guru Amod Mehra points out, When a director like Karan makes a successful film with newcomers, it is an encouraging sign for others to bring new talent to the industry. The film's a definite hit.

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Movie Review: Student Of The Year is definitely worth a watch

Starring: Siddharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Rishi Kapoor, Ronnit Roy, Ram Kapoor 

Directed by: Karan Johar 

Music: Vishal-Shekhar

Duration : 2 Hr 26 Min

Rating ***

It is widely seen, that when it comes to making a mega budget cine cantata, then merchants of showbiz instead of betting on the newcomers, usually prefer to gamble on the established stars of tinsel town.

But it looks like, K.Jo who usually don't mind breaking away from the established stereotype, firmly believes that it's actually entertainment and appealing quotient of the onscreen substance that matters at the end.

So the newest visual delight, that has come out of Karan's art-lab is cine flick “Student Of The Year”, which features newcomers Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra. 

Inspite of the absence of glossy star cast, this cupid love cantata of K.Jo, shaded with a soothing dose of love, envy, heartbreak and competitiveness, with its roots embedded in the premises of typical K.Jo styled fairy land high school opened with an occupancy of around 35-40 % at multiplexes.

Synopsis:
Student Of The Year, is a pastiche based on the delectable lives of three high school pupil which is taken over by the circumstances and is exhibited to envy, betrayal, heart break competitiveness and failure.
Story: 
Student Of The Year is the tale about foe turned friends and again turned foes, Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan) and Abhimanyu Singh (Siddharth Malhotra) who have a rendezvous with competitiveness, and life in their mini-universe called St. Teresa's High School, Dehradun, where the notion of Tata Bachche ( children belonging to elite section) and Bata Bachche ( children from relatively lower societal hierarchy) use to prevail.

As the story takes off, it showcases Rohan in somewhat a spoilt brat avatar, who is the son of India's leading business tycoon Ashok Nanda (Ram Kapoor) and his relationship with Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt) who too belongs to an elite family.

With moving ahead of frames, steps in Abimanyu Singh, who is an orphan child belonging a family which relatively low in the social hiearchy. And with in no time of his joining St Teresa, Abhimanyu starts emerging as a threat to fiefdom of Rohan, who is otherwise considered as the Rockstar of the campus. Initially the protagonists clash with each other in the locker room, football field, but turn into good later on. 

But the things get bog down, when Rohan's childhood love interest, Shanaya enters the equation, towards whom Abhi gets infatuated. Things get worse when Shanaya's quiet reciprocation causes a rift in the friendship of Rohan and Abhimanyu, leading to a clash for Student Of The Year trophy, which turns into a question of life and death for the duo.

Script: 
As far as the premise of “Student of The Year” is concerned then High school or college romance has so far been one of the safest bet for the cine sorcerers and cine flicks like Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, 3 Idiots, Mohabbatein, and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na are the conspicuous examples of the same.

So as far as the script of SOTY is concerned, then it won't be wrong to say that the story seems to be more of a rehashed version of aforementioned cine flicks. But the thing that deserve accolades in this is Karan's adroitness in rejuvenating a banal script, with an entertaining dose of novelity and gen-x factor, which leaves no scope for monotony and no where allows you to yawn. 
Screenplay: 
It will not be wrong to say that in SOTY, primarily it's grandiose screenplay which leaves the audience mesmerised while watching the movie. Screenplay of the movie gives you a thorough glimpse of K.Jo's style of movie making with all those fairy world like locations and beyond perfection cinematographic techniques and camera work.

And as far as flow of the narration is concerned then it can't be better than it is in the movie. Since frame one, story takes off so beautifully that you nowhere feels like parting your gaze of the celluloid. With absolutely no dose of melodrama, Karan has once again proved he is marvelously good story teller.

Leaving the treasure hunt sequence, which looked somewhat an obtruded commodity, every thing adds on to the ambiance of the movie. Infact it won't be wrong to say that, through the flow narration Karan completely manages to have a control over the flow of the tale and the performances of the protagonists.

Dialogues: 
Besides outstanding screenplay, another component of the movie that deserves to be bestowed with tons of accolades is Niranjan Iyengar’s dialogues which very well complemented the soul of the script, and never gets inflated with those unwanted literary decorations.
Music and Lyrics :
Despite having a bunch of remixed tracks, sound tracks of SOTY are quite catchy and seemed to be tailored to go with the spirit of the movie in order to fascinate the youth audience. In the music department Vishal and Shekhar has contributed exceptionally well, by creating the peppy sound tracks which are up till an extent are the inseparable part of K.Jo flicks.

But as far as lyrics domain is concerned, then the original tracks of SOTY looks quite bland in offering you an aural delight for your soul.

Performances:
Call it the cinematographic dexterity of Karan or something ascribed to the protagonists, performances of all the three newcomers (who nowhere looked like newcomers) Varun, Sidharth and Alia will simply leave you thinking about their newcomer status.

Though after seeing the three budding superstars performing on the celluloid, it is very difficult to tag one of them as the best performer. Son of director David Dhawan Varun performs, exceptionally well and steals the show. Be it dialogue delivery, shaking the legs or exhibiting the emotions, Varun thoroughly leaves you impressed by his acting potential. 

Besides Varun newcomer Siddharth too deserve accolades, for his well groomed, lovable charming avatar which very well competes with the catchy performance of Varun. 

Alia has looked pretty through out the movie in designers clothing, at times her performance reminds you of Poo (Bebo) of Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, but inspite of story's being knitted around Varun and Siddharth Alia manages to catch you attention. 

But the performer who deserves tons of praises for playing a somewhat gay dean is Rishi Kapoor.

And as far as the supporting cast comprising of Ram Kapoor, Ronnit Roy et al is concerned then they to succeed in delivering a sinewy performance to add on to the impact of the movie.
BO Potential 
There are no doubts about the fact that SOTY is thoroughly appealing but as far as its BO Potential is concerned then, it somewhere lacks the substance to emerge as a commercial blockbuster or to rewrite the success saga of Karan Johar's previous flicks. In a nut shell SOTY can be one of the good flick from the cine arsenal of Karan but it is not the best one. 

Verdict: 
To sum up inspite of not having a glossy star cast or any novel spell to charm you, Student Of The Year is appealing and is expected to please the Gen-X brigade of audience.

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Alia, Sidharth, Varun all have second projects on the anvil

Even before their film releases The Student Of The Year trio has moved on to their next projects. It is reliably learnt that producer Karan Johar has offered all three of his protegees further Dharma films regardless of the outcome of their debut film. 

However Varun Dhawan would have to take a raincheck on that second film for Dharma. He is now committed to do a film with his father David Dhawan next. 

It is reliably learnt that David would now whisk away his younger-born for a home-production that his elder son Rohit(of Desi Boyz) would direct. 

Says David, I've a director and a leading man at home now. So I am very keen to start my own home banner. But I had to wait. Neither of my sons wanted to make his debut in a home production. They wanted to prove themselves outside the comfort zone and my wife and I totally endorsed their plans.
Now that both his sons are out with their first efforts David is keen to start a home banner. 

Says the indefatigable entertainer, All three of us are definitely doing something together.

A source informs, Karan has launched newcomers for the first time. And he's very keen to see their careers through to success. Unlike Ram Gopal Varma who says he uses new talent for as long as it suits him, Karan Johar sees all three debutants as his responsibility.

On Thursday evening all the three debut-making leads actors from Student Of The Year had their own individual screenings for their family and friends. While Varun and Alia had their screenings in Mumbai, Siddharth who is a Delhi boy flew to his hometown to show his film to his near and dear ones.

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Not-so-filmy Siddharth found acting tough

Being the only lead actor in "Student Of The Year" (SOTY) with no film background, Siddharth Malhotra felt he was at a slight disadvantage. Nevertheless, he enjoyed the ride, which came to him as a surprise from director Karan Johar.

Siddharth, a model-turned-actor, worked with Johar as an assistant director earlier. In "SOTY", releasing Oct 19, he shares screen space with Mahesh Bhatt's daughter Ali and David Dhawan's son Varun.

He says he found it tough to be as dramatic as the other two, due to his non-filmy background.

"The only disadvantage in being from outside is doing filmy things. I'm not so dramatic and not comfortable doing over the top things. When you look at Shah Rukh Khan, it's not what he sings on screen, but how he sings too. He sings (lip syncs) with so much passion and love. This was a challenge at least for me," Siddharth told.

"These guys (Alia and Varun) have seen this right from the beginning," he added.

Siddharth, who hails from New Delhi, says he couldn't believe it when Johar gave him the chance of being a part of the movie. And there was no way he could refuse it.

"Karan Johar doesn't offer you a film, he announces it. Who are we to refuse him? When he told me he would be directing it, I asked him why he wanted to take me," he said.

But acting has been a tough job, he admits.

"Being an actor is not easy. You have 13 to 14 hours-long work schedules and hardly get anytime to sleep. You need to keep working out so that you look good and perform well," he said.

Siddharth came to Mumbai five years ago in the hope of signing a film. But the project didn't materialise. After being prodded by a friend, he decided to take up the job of an assistant director to enter Bollywood.

He established connect with Johar's Dharma Productions.

Working as an assistant director on "My Name Is Khan" made it easier for Siddharth to understand the inner workings of a film set, and that experience helped him for his acting debut as well.

"You know what not to do. You understand the importance of something which an assistant director comes and tells you. You understand production deadlines. You understand the workings of it because you have been that person," he said.

It was on the sets of "My Name is Khan" that Siddharth met and got to know his co-actor Varun as he too was an assistant director on the film.

"We had a lot of time to know each other off screen. We travelled together, went to Los Angeles together and stayed together," he said.

After a romantic comedy film like "SOTY", Siddharth says he would love to do an action film. The actor might be taking up another film with Dharma Productions soon but didn't want to talk about it.

"There is a film that is being talked about, but nothing has been finalised as yet. It's too early to talk about," he said.

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Student of the Year grooves to disco track

Filmmaker Karan Johar is making the lead actors of his directorial venture ‘Student of The Year’ rehearse hard for a disco track.

Karan recently tweeted: “Big rehearsel for our last song and dance in SOTY!!! Remo choreographing the new kids in SOTY!!! Looking forward to it...it’s a DISCO song!!!”

The movie, which is still on the filming stage, is about college-going people and their lives.

The film starts debutants Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra.

The Dharma Productions movie will release on October 19.

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