Sana Saeed returned to films with Student of the Year after a break from Bollywood. She was best known for playing Shah Rukh Khan's onscreen daughter in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), which was also Karan Johar's director debut.
Siddarth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan had earlier worked as assistants to Karan Johar in My Name is Khan (2010).
Father and son Boman Irani and Kayoze Irani both act in the film.
The romantic track "Ishq Wala Love" became the biggest hit of the soundtrack. In 2014, a Marathi film was made using the same name.
Karan Johar wanted to launch Sanjay Grover (Gulshan Grover's son) in the film. He declined the offer.