Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year clocked six years on October 19. It is also the only occasion in his career when the super-versatile Rishi Kapoor played a gay man.
In an unpublished conversation Rishi Kapoor told this writer, “When Karan came to me with this offer I was like, ‘Tu paagal hau kya. Me play gay?’ But then I read the script and began to respond positively to the role. It really didn’t matter after a point whom my character loved. It was the feeling that mattered.”
The most interesting character in Student Of The Year was Yogendra Vashisht, the Dean of the college who had the hots for the sports teacher Karan Shah(Ronit Roy). The swanky Dean was played by Rishi Kapoor who had no qualms about playing a gay character.
Speaking to this writer Rishi had said, “Yeah , I play the Dean of the college who has a soft corner for the sports coach. Did I have any reservations about playing the character? Yes, initially . But then I thought, why not? It is a character and an interestingly written one. As an actor, I should be open to playing any character, and I am.”
For a sequence in the film that was shot in Thailand, Ronit Roy who played Rishi Kapoor’s object of lust, got into physical shape to appear shirtless and ogle-worthy. He gave up drinking for months ahead of the shooting.
Karan Johar has a rare ability to laugh at the very world of the rich and the beautiful that he inhabits, without seeming savage . Student Of The Year is an unabashed celebration of candy floss cinema. Filled with colour, gaiety charm and joy, it has a sweet winsome appeal.
