Dent of the year

There is something amazing about Karan Johar and his movies... Maybe I like them more when I watch it flights where I sit in economy class and look at business class with a sense of awe even though I fly almost every second week.. Does it mean I would be happier if I get to fly business class ? That's the wrong question ... It does prick me and I sigh at times or wait with impish glee at that elusive upgrade ...the world that Karan Johar paints is similar to that ...

Karan johars movies are after all the business class of bollywood entertainment.... The environment can be spotlessly squeaky and sugary sweet but the emotions are real ... Can't Mukesh Ambani have issues raising his son, just like Raichand in kabhi khushi kabhi gum ... And these emotions are the same --- Loss /discovery of love be it from girlfriends or parents / rich vs poor ...Richness is everywhere be it in the locations, upholstery or the emotions in true Bollywood style with a gaiety and pomp Ka tadka KJo style

Student of the year was a tough consideration since .. The 'school' was so distasteful to start with for starters... But hey didn't we watch Jo jeeta wohi sikandar when the whole concept of gear wala cycle was as new as ishqwala love... And st Lawrence and Pooja bedi were those 'convent girls whose skirts seemed shorter than average' that we watched in Hindi tuition class....

So why did we accept JJWS as an iconic movie of our generation ... ? Of course there was pehla nasha... But the big driver was a genuine sense of emotions from the underdog ... the lovable Aamir khan, there was just enough to root for him.. Be it the mahatma Gandhi tunna, a few scenes that depict the realities of his life ...and since it was set in Ooty or some scenic place where boarding schools exist, we believed more... Imagine 3 idiots without its IIT type setting...

Of course why are we comparing croissants with maska paav.... ( taste Ka mamla hai)

In fact I like that Kjo has returned to what he does best... Emotions and narrative ... But he invests on the wrong side .. Here the rich guy father - son relationship ( siddharth malhotra - ram kapoor) is much better than the not so rich guy( Sid Dhawan) ..in fact we see the not so rich guys household for exactly 10 mins in the movie...
He invests in the Dean rather than the students... and as usual he can't get rid of his pet jokes -- gujjus ( the Neo-rich of the locality he grew up in) , loser type fatso ( a reflection of some lost childhood perhaps) and the usual marriage videos and the Archie comics he grew up with..

The movie has some good dialogues ... the description of 'tata students - jo notes fek ke padhne aate hai vs bata students - Jo notes pad hike aat hai... '
Or the funny' yeh Jodi rab ne nahi , baapon ke club me banayi hai'


And it's a fairly decent college yarn - fraandship, insecurities, system, jealousy, coming of age, etc . But the problems is each of these parts have been analyzed much better in other movies .. System in 3 idiots, fraandship in kjo's KKHH, and so on... The problem is like the malls of the India - we have become specialized in our purchasing - nobody buys sports shoes at big bazaar.. And kJo forgets that in creating the supermarket of college ( sorry school) stories... And student of the year is just a dent on the 100 cr ka revenue clubs or the 100 cr Ka junta ki emotions, not a big impact..