The American romantic drama The Summer I Turned Pretty has become a sensation in India because of its interesting plot. Interestingly, the craze around the series has now caught the attention of filmmaker Karan Johar, who recently shared that The Summer I Turned Pretty reminds him of his own 2012 directorial Student of the Year.

Karan Johar on SOTY being similar to The Summer I Turned Pretty

On Friday, Karan Johar took to Instagram Stories and shared a picture of Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra from their debut film Student of the Year. The two were seen standing in traditional attire with their backs towards each other. Sharing the picture, Karan drew a comparison between the film and The Summer I Turned Pretty and wrote, “Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? It’s Team Rohan or Team Abhimanyu! #WeWereHereFirst #SummerShanayaTurnedPretty.”

However, while in The Summer I Turned Pretty, the two boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, are brothers who fall in love with the same girl, in SOTY, Varun and Sidharth are best friends who fall in love with the same girl, Shanaya (Alia Bhatt).

The Summer I Turned Pretty

The series is based on the bestselling trilogy by Jenny Han, who also created To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2022 and quickly became a fan favourite. The story follows Isabel “Belly” Conklin, a teenage girl who spends every summer at Cousins Beach with her mother’s best friend’s family—the Fishers. What was once a routine summer suddenly changes when Belly finds herself at the centre of attention between the two Fisher brothers, Conrad and Jeremiah. The show, which stars Lola Tung, Gavin Casalegno and Christopher Briney in lead roles, has three seasons, with the finale of the third season set to air on 17 September. It’s available to watch on Netflix.

Student of the Year and Karan Johar’s upcoming film

Helmed by Karan Johar, the romantic drama Student of the Year released in 2012, marking the grand Bollywood debuts of Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. Set in the fictional St. Teresa’s High School, the narrative follows three students navigating love, friendship and rivalry as they compete for the prestigious titular trophy. The film was a commercial success, collecting ₹96 crore against a budget of ₹59 crore.

Meanwhile, Karan is currently awaiting the release of his upcoming production Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, the film stars Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, Rohit Saraf and Sanya Malhotra, and is scheduled to release in theatres on 2 October.