Story: The tracks are
ready and the race is
on. What’s at stake? Love, friendship and the coveted Student of the Year trophy.
Review: It’s KJo-Wala Love! Served fresh and piping hot from the Dharma college canteen of romance.
And it’s a high (class) school that you’d never want to miss a lecture of, ever. Except that it has its own set of Karan rules.
Read the prospectus: 1. Leave your text-books at home but ensure you’re carrying your designer bags and heels. 2. Drive a Ferrari to school, or if you’re poorer, take a bike. 3. Dating, mating, separating and love lessons shall be part of the syllabus. 4. Girls, don your shortest minis, and guys, rip off the shirts. Welcome to St. Teresa’s. Rest assured, it’ll be a well-rounded entertainment experience.
ST is run by a happy and ‘gay’ Dean – Yogendra Vashisth (Rishi), who drools over John Abraham, and when he sees the much-married hot coach ( Ronit Roy) usko ‘coach coach’ hota hai!.
The hotshot student of the school is rich brat Rohan Nanda (welcoming Varun Dhawan), who zips around in his hot-wheels, flirts, and dreams of being a Rockstar.
His childhood sweetheart, another super rich kid, Shanaya (super filmy intro, Alia! Alia! Alia!), is Ms. Popularity and Drama Queen (don’t miss the red pout) known for her brands and beauty. Enter (grandly) Abhimanyu (Sidharth), a middle-class boy with mega dreams, a chalta-phirta KBC (Mr Know-it-all), and the in-house Milkha Singh.
There’s a typical rich-poor division in school, the Richie Rich Tatas v/s the bechara gareeb Batas. But with Abhimanyu’s entry the competition heats up – With both boys showing ample abs & attitude (teeny-weeny trunks, for all you drooling women!), chasing the same gal (Shanaya), and aiming for the same trophy – Student of the Year!
Their equations from friends-to-foes changing quicker than their school grades. Their muscles rippling more than their egos; the competition gets tougher and the boys – leaner and meaner.
Their loyal friends adding chaos to campus – Eg. Tanya who tries everything in the ‘date- bait-book’ to seduce Rohan (including push-up bras); the Parsi ‘Pseudo’ – the ‘minority report’-card in this bunch; Jeetu – Rohan’s chamcha; tomboy Shruti – Shanaya’s other half (minus her designer do).
This is what we call grandiose debut(s)!!! Karan’s definitely swooshed his cane for this one.
The trio has done him proud and has set a high ‘bench-mark’. Varun expresses and emotes with superb confidence and storms the dance floor with swag. Sidharth stands equally tall, has amazing screen presence and is man of few words and many smouldering emotions.
Alia wins your heart with her cuteness, effervescence and naivete. Yes, she reminds you of Kareena’s Poo days (with all that oomph), but she comes into her own.
The chemistry between the three (even outside the lab) grows on you.
Shabhash! SOTY’s supporting cast is brilliant, each have favourite subjects and score high in those areas.
But the star who scores a straight A-Plus is undoubtedly Rishi Kapoor – simply superb. The other guy who can take a bow is the director.
The film is full of KJo-isms – it’s larger-than-life, colourful, lavish, beautifully shot and directed. With medleys, dance, drama and everything good-looking (from cast to couches, dorms to discos).
Vishal-Shekhar have caught the right beat with this high-school musical, and the songs are as fresh as the leads.
The story is simple and entertains throughout, though it’s not the first time this marathon of an idea has run past the screen.
‘SOTY’ takes you back to your books and sinks you in true-blue Bollywood syllabus, following the ‘formula’ – Two boys, one girl, one glorious trophy and lots of testosterone.
If this one doesn’t pump you up with nostalgia, it’s time for you to go back to school already! Tip Off: You may not like this movie if bubble-gum romances, picture-perfect worlds and candy-floss clouds are not your idea of a movie-going experience. (Agencies)