Karan Johar’s movies are not known for portraying stark reality, but Student of the Year is based in a hyper-real world. The “school” in the movie (St. Teresa) is perhaps the size of Hogwarts, houses students who are impossibly multi-faceted, good-looking and rich, and even the “Bata” gang dresses in premium brands.
Brands, brands, brands!
Alia Bhatt is Shanaya, the vain bimbo, who marvels at her beauty and pampers herself with brands. You name the brand, and it’s there. Her introductory song (Gulabi Aankhein) has a chorus which mentions and features luxury brands like Manolo, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Stella McCartney. Really! Take a look:
And then begins a game of spot-the-brand. Rishi Kapoor, for instance, pops open a Burberry umbrella in the sun, and reads notes from a Louis Vuitton case/ folder. Alia Bhatt totes a Dior bag and an Hermes Birkin. Even the sportswear is sponsored- the football uniforms by Puma and the triathlon clothes by Fusion (a UK brand specialising in triathlon clothing). As for the men in the movie—they are walking-talking Ray-Ban advertisements. 😀
Key Looks
Shanaya is a feminine girl who wears mostly dresses and skirts, sometimes hot shot pants. On a normal day, she carries a Birkin, and brings a Dior bag to her school canteen. The lucky girl also wears Manish Malhotra outfits to a wedding. Her wardrobe is so out of touch with reality that she doesn’t have “hospital” clothes.
Alia’s makeup (done by Mickey Contractor) is only about red lips, and her hair is straightened and slicked back with a cutesy hairband. This lucky young lady has got to wear the best designers and brands, but it’s unfortunate to see her in a uniform look throughout the movie (pun intended).
Rohan (Varun Dhawan) and Abhimanyu (Siddharth Malhotra) are The Dudes At School, so they look good in every frame. Varun plays an aspiring musician, hence quirky prints like Mickey Mouse tshirts and the like are his statement. Siddharth Malhotra is dressed a bit more “serious”. Even so, his character is “poor” enough to be on scholarship, but can afford Quiksilver tshirts, Aviators and designer kurtas. The guys’ buff bods work well for them and are an essential part of their look, since they need to look sexy in their body-hugging sports gear.
Meanwhile, Rishi Kapoor’s gay character wears polka dotted and pink ties with mismatched shirts and blazers with quirky brooches on the lapel (like a koala bear and crystal-encrusted reptile!).
The Coolest School
The uniform of this cool “school” is pretty awesome- you can wear anything you want, as long as you wear the school blazer over it. Manish Malhotra has styled the lead actors while Shiraz Siddique and Archana Walavalkar have worked with the supporting cast.
Being a Karan Johar movie, all characters look good, wear cool clothes and are quite trendy. If I went to such a learning institution, I’d either die of brand envy or spend an hour a day choosing my wardrobe and fixing my hair and makeup. Not to mention I’d end up draining my family’s precious money on clothes. And of course, there wouldn’t be time to study. 😉
While Karan Johar has attempted to make the movie as slick as possible, but the high dose of fashion seems looks almost implausible in real life. So yeah, if you like good-looking movies, Student of the Year is for you. If you like good movies though, then you can bunk this class.
All Pictures Courtesy: Dharma Productions