School of Fantasy

Karan Johar takes centre stage alongside his debutant cast,as they speak about their upcoming high-school drama Student of the Year.

Karan Johar takes centre stage alongside his debutant cast,as they speak about their upcoming high-school drama Student of the Year.

At a time when Hindi cinema,in its attempts to please the global audience,is gradually looking to renounce its song-and-dance routine,director Karan Johar is happy to flaunt it as a significant part of his brand of cinema. I dont want to do those cleverly done songs for the background. I want to go to Kashmir and shoot lip-synced love songs, said Johar on Thursday at the Screen Preview of his directorial film Student of the Year SOTY,that releases on October 19. Also present at the do were the films three lead actors debutants Alia Bhatt,Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan.

The Dharma School of Films

SOTY,produced by Johars Dharma Productions,is a story of three friends,Rohan Dhawan,Abhimanyu Malhotra and Shanaya Bhatt,set in an uber-trendy high school in Dehradun. 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 Sidharths clothes according to his background,Manish said,I get it,its Dharma middle-class.

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

Dismantling SRKs 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 debutants,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, said Johar.

The actors 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 wasnt 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. For Dhawan who had grown up in an environment admiring Govinda and Salman Khans histrionics,courtesy his father David Dhawans films the big lesson was to avoid emulating his on-screen idols. He said,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 that despite my liking for certain stars,I had to eventually be myself on screen.

For a detailed coverage,check Screen issue dated October 19.