Several alumni reminisce about their final year at St. Theresa's College and the events that shaped their lives.
Dean Yoginder Vashisht (Rishi Kapoor), retired, has fallen gravely ill. Several students from his final year at St. Theresa's College rush to his side. In flashbacks, they all recall the events that none of them have gotten over yet, including the dean, and how the "Student of the Year" competition shaped who they were, how they related, and what they've become.—L. Y. Hostrawser
Dean Yogendra Vashisht of St Teresa's school in Dheradhun is on his death bed who had distanced from everyone over the last ten years but wishes to see students of his last batch.Sudo,Shruti,Jeet and Tanya arrive to meet him at the hospital where they reprise their memories of their old days and how dean held Student Of The Year competition every year since last 25 years.Apart from the four the gang belonged to rich brats Rohan and Shanaya who are dating each other but have differences among themselves then enters Abhimanyu a small town boy who has big dreams.Rohan and Abhimanyu have differences but end up being best friends Abhimanyu tries to help Rohan and Shanaya mend their relationship but ends up falling in love with Shanaya.Shanaya to realizes that Abhimanyu loves her and starts liking him when Rohan finds about it their friendship and the Student Of The Year competition turns into rivalry.—[email protected]
Yogender Vashishtha (Rishi Kapoor) is the dean of St Teresa High School, now retired for the last 10 years. Yogender has suffered a heart attack in the present, the entire student batch of the high school decides to gather in Dehradun. The movie is in flashback.
At the esteemed St. Teresa's College, Rohan "Ro" Nanda (Varun Dhawan) is the handsome, rich, and popular younger son of its trustee, Ashok Nanda, an influential business tycoon. Ashok dislikes Ro's passion for music and wants him to become a businessman like his elder son Ajay.
Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhatt), a beautiful, rich, and popular girl at college, is Rohan's girlfriend and feels dissatisfied with Ro's constant flirtations with her rival Tanya Israni (Sana Saeed).Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh (Sidharth Malhotra), a handsome new student from a middle-class family who idolizes Ashok, soon becomes the college's heartthrob. Abhi is an orphan whose grandmother is the only person he truly loves.
They live in their mini universe of St. Teresa's High School, Dehradun. Abhimanyu Singh "Abhi wants to achieve great heights of success and prosperity, the first step to which will be the Student of The Year trophy. Abhimanyu wants to prove himself with hard work. Rohan & Abhimanyu are both alpha males & not soon after both are competing in college over pretty much everything.
Yogender announces the Student of The Year competition which will allow the winner to study at an ivy league college. The competition is sponsored by Ashok Nanda (Ram Kapoor), Rohan's father, who is also the biggest donor to the college.
Rohan starts playing practical pranks on teachers & blames it on Abhimanyu. On one such occasion, Rohan is close to being caught, when Abhi owns up to the prank & takes the punishment. Rohan befriends Abhi & introduces him to Shanaya, who is already impressed with Abhi's all-round abilities.
In a crucial inter college match, Abhi sets up the winning goal but allows Rohan to score it. This makes Rohan the hero, but it was clearly Abhi who had won the game for the team. Many believe that Abhi did this to get closer to Rohan.
Rohan is not sure about his love for Shanaya. He keeps flirting with other girls in front of Shanaya & keeps hurting her feelings. Abhi consoles Shanaya & encourages her to flirt with other boys as well. Shanaya convinces Abhi to fake flirt with her to make Rohan jealous. In the fake flirting Abhi starts loving Shanaya. But Shanaya gets her result by getting close to Rohan.
Yogender declares the Student of the Year competition open. Rohan & Abhi decide to fight for the trophy at all costs. The game rounds are a quiz test, a treasure hunt and a dance battle.The race is neck & neck with Rohan winning a few competitions & Abhi a few. They remain close throughout with a healthy camaraderie. Abhi's grandmother Sadhna (Farida Jalal) has a heart attack & Shanaya decides to visit her in the hospital. That's when Shanaya gets closer to Abhi & even starts to reciprocate his feelings for her. Abhi's grandmother eventually dies. After her death, Shanaya helps Abhi cope and the two share a kiss in a tender moment, feeling attracted to each other. Ro witnesses them.
That night Rohan has a fight with Abhi & then also with his dad, who kicks him out of the house. Rohan decides to grow up & challenges Abhi to the Student of the Year trophy. Rohan's dad has never supported Rohan's dream to become a guitarist, & he is very impressed with the clarity of thought within Abhi. He openly ridicules Rohan & supports Abhi to win the trophy.
Shanaya and her best friend Shruti Pathak (Manasi Rachh) fall out over the competition, much like Ro and his longtime friend Jeet Khurana (Sahil Anand) after he asks Shanaya out to be his partner. Shanaya, conflicted by her feelings, leaves in the middle of the dance battle and gets eliminated, while Ro and Abhi proceed to the final round.
At the final competition, a triathlon consisting of swimming, cycling and long-distance running. With scores tied Rohan & Abhi race, Rohan beats Abhi by a whisker at the last leg of the race. The question everyone is left with is whether Abhi threw the race & let Rohan win. Rohan refuses to accept the trophy from Yogender at the awards ceremony, citing personal reasons. After Ro steps down, Yogi is heavily criticized by Ro and Abhi's mutual friend Kaizad "Sudo" Sodabottleopenerwala (Kayoze Irani), who rants about how the entire concept of the Student of the Year competition has always been rigged. He claims the competition broke their friendship of two years and was unfair to people like him, who were not as popular and attractive as Abhi or Ro. This causes Yogi to retire eventually. The students soon graduate and lose contact with each other.
Ten years later, Yogi, terminally ill and on his deathbed, requests to see the students from his last batch. Some arrive to meet him, along with former coach Karan Shah (Ronit Roy), and hold themselves responsible for the lively Dean's falling ill.
Ro is now a rock musician, and Abhi is now an investment banker married to Shanaya. They run into each other when they visit Yogi; in an argument which initially starts off over their shared history and conduct with Shanaya, the two begin releasing the anger they have held back for the last ten years.
Ro ultimately reveals he is greatly angry at what he considers an intentional move on Abhi's part to lose the triathlon; he reveals that he intentionally allowed him to win after noticing Ashok was happy to see his son losing, and it was his way of surpassing Ashok in stature. While bickering, they end up in a friendly banter, much like in college, and finally reconcile, rekindling their friendship.
Yogi apologizes to his former students and dies at peace. Rohan and Abhi have a friendly running race on the same college field, which they ran during the competition.
