School of Fantasy

The Dharma School of Films

SOTY,produced by Johar’s Dharma Productions,is a story of three friends Rohan (Dhawan),Abhimanyu (Malhotra) and Shanaya (Bhatt) set in the uber-trendy high school of Dehradun. There,love and friendship intertwine as its two male protagonists and friends-turned-foes compete for the ‘Student of the Year’ title. The film,Johar unabashedly admits,belongs to the world the audience associates his films with — sugar-coated fantasy populated with fashionable protagonists. About the last bit,he shared a joke with Malhotra,whose character in the film comes from a middle-class family. “When I was giving Manish (Malhotra) the brief to design Sidharth’s clothes according to his background,Manish says,‘I get it,it’s Dharma middle-class’.”

Johar,however,insists that despite the candyfloss treatment,the film’s emotional core will appeal to all. “The movie’s world is escapist and larger-than-life. Yet the viewers,will go back with warm emotions of the characters,” he said.

Dismantling SRK’s image

For Johar,who has mostly cast Shah Rukh Khan as the lead actor,it was quite a task to erase the superstar from his mind and direct three newcomers. “Few days into the shooting,I realised I was trying to give them Shah Rukh Khan-instructions. I had to start dismantling him in my head. I had to understand these new kids in order to direct them,” he said. For the three debutantes,Johar tapped into their real life traits to build the characters around them. “I noticed the slightly mad,vibrant side of Varun,the silent intensity of Sidharth and the mainstream chirpiness of Alia. We built their characters on these strengths.”

The actors,less media-savvy than their seasoned mentor,spoke fondly of their first day of shoot. “There was a lot of nervous energy. It was the shooting of the song Radha at Yash Raj studios. Yashji had come for the mahurat. After a while Salman Khan,who was shooting in another floor,walked in,” said Malhotra.

Actors prepare

For Dhawan and Bhatt,both of who hail from famous film families,SOTY was a leap in terms of their understanding of films. “I wasn’t aware of things like continuity,and other aspects of filmmaking. This was the first big step for me. My father (Mahesh Bhatt) was probably relieved that Karan took all the burden of introducing me in films,” she said. While for Dhawan,who had grown up in an environment admiring Govinda and Salman Khan’s histrionics courtesy his father David Dhawan’s films,his big lesson was to avoid emulating his on screen idols. “Salman bhai had told me that when he gave his first shot,he had Sanjay Dutt in his head. But he soon realised that he had to be himself in order to succeed. Similarly SOTY taught me despite my liking for certain stars,I had to eventually be myself on screen.”

(For a detailed coverage,check Screen issue dated October 12)