10 years of Student of the Year

On this day 10 years ago, Karan Johar launched three debutants in a romcom that marked the beginning of a new era of stardom for the newcomers. Student of the Year, a tried-and-tested story of college romance, produced three of the most successful stars of their generation — Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra. 

The Karan Johar-directed movie, which hit theatres in 2012, became a sensation with Alia’s Shanaya becoming almost as iconic as Kareena Kapoor’s Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Sidharth’s Abhimanyu and Varun’s Rohan had just as much competition in real life as on screen as they were pitted against each other in a tug of war quite similar to the Robert Pattinson-Taylor Lautner competition during the Twilight craze. 

Cut to 2022, Alia, Varun and Sidharth have led several films to box office success and received critical acclaim for their acting prowess. 

Alia’s has been a trailblazing career, with three back-to-back box office hits in 2022 itself — Gangubai Kathiawadi, RRR and Brahmastra — making her one of the youngest actresses to achieve this feat. 

Both Varun and Alia were termed ‘nepotism kids’ during their initial days in Bollywood, but they managed to prove their mettle. After Student of the Year, Varun went on to deliver a number of box office hits such as Dilwale, Judwaa 2 and Badlapur. Varun’s capability as an actor shone through in Shoojit Sircar’s critically acclaimed October. 

Sidharth’s career has been a mixed bag so far but the talented actor has time and again proved his worth with films like Shershaah, Ek Villain and Ittefaq.

On the 10th anniversary of the film, Karan Johar said, “Student of the Year to me is a celebration of everything I love about cinema. The youth, the zest, the zing, the music, the energy, the comic timing. Everything that I’ve always loved about Hindi cinema is a part of Student of the Year,” Karan said. “This felt like I was an old student in high school,” he added.  

While Varun and Sidharth haven’t had a chance to work in films together after Student of the Year, Alia Bhatt has worked with both her SOTY co-stars in box-office hits.

Source: Telegraph India