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. The actress posted a photo with a caption about how grateful she is for Student of the Year.
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 posted a throwback video of him talking about the making of Student of the Year and the defining relationship he has with the three stars.
“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.
He also gave fans a treat with throwback pictures of Varun, Sidharth and Alia.
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.
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014)
Varun Dhawan and Alia’s first film together after Student of the Year was the Shashank Khaitan-directed Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania. Alia-Varun’s comic timing and screen chemistry, along with the foot-tapping numbers, made it a breezy watch. Alia’s Kavya was a breath of fresh air with her desi but on-the-face attitude while Varun’s Humpty was the regular small town guy who falls in love with Kavya’s confident self. Late actor Sidharth Shukla made his Bollywood debut in the movie as well.
Kapoor and Sons (2016)
The 2016 Shakun Batra-directed Kapoor and Sons gave us a family drama with just the right amount of humour and high drama. Sidharth and Alia’s on-screen chemistry in this film was even better than Student of the Year. What seemed like a regular love triangle turned into an emotional tale of the bond between brothers and their struggle with the broken marriage of their parents. With stunning performances by Fawad Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah and the star of the show, Rishi Kapoor, Kapoor and Sons remains a unique family tale.
Badrinath Ki Dulhania (2017)
After the box-office success of Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania, Alia and Varun came together again for the Shashank Khaitan-directed Badrinath ki Dulhania. This time, Varun played an overenthusiastic lover boy, Badri, to Alia’s Vaidehi Trivedi, a flight attendant. While their roles remained quite similar to their previous film together, Badrinath ki Dulhania gave us another fun romcom with the regular old Bollywood drama.