After the forgettable debut of Simbu in Kaadhal Azhivadhillai, it is the turn of Sibi, another star son, to make his debut. Sibi is the son of Satyaraj and to his credit, his debut is not half as bad as Simbu's. There is no hype or self promotion in the movie. Just a few lines of dialog referring to his father's movies or popular lines mark his link to the film industry. On the other hand, his arrival does not raise the expectations associated other recent new actors like Shaam or Srikanth. It is a low-profile, unassuming debut in a movie that manages to be marginally entertaining because of its fast pace.

Sibi(Sibi) joins R.K Law college, determined to become a lawyer. The college is under the grip of Sathya(Yugendran), who prevents the students from making any attempts to study. In order to get Sathya out of the way, Sibi makes thoughts of romance flower in his heart. As a result Sathya falls for Anjali(Sherin) and turns over a new leaf to impress her while Anjali herself is in love with Sibi. When Sathya realises this, he threatens to harm Anjali which makes Sibi reveal his past and his reason for studying to be a lawyer.

Student Number One, a remake of a hit Telugu film of the same name, has the advantage of maintaining quite a good pace throughout. With the suspense about Sibi's past, Yugendran's transformation and love for Sherin and the love triangle with the three of them, the movie gives the impression of having a substantial story. It never gets bogged down on on issue for too long and keeps moving along. Ofcourse none of these happenings are even mildly believable. The situation at the college with Yugendran effectively banning studying is too extreme while his change after falling in love and his method of picking his girl by thinking about all the girls he knows put a new, ridiculous spin on romance.

The movie sneaks in a good surprise with the truth about Sibi's past. It is quite unexpected and revealed in a befitting manner at a nice moment. But it is clear that the director has let go of all logic and banked only on the surprise element. The revelation raises questions about all of Sibi's activities so far. While his college attendance is understandable, it is highly questionable if he would have been able to go to other places like the beach and Sherin's house under his circumstances. The flashback itself is quite cliched with the stern father and the loving, protective mother. Thankfully, Sibi himself is not the usual good-for-nothing youth but opposes his father in order to follow his own path in life.

While the situations introduced are rather silly(Vinu Chakravarthy, the villain, is a man who leaks out question papers and chases answer sheets to modify the marks on them!), the story manages to lead well into a situation where Sibi has to save his own father. But after the set up, the payoff is rather disappointing. The obligatory court scene is lame and Sibi actually solves things using his brawn rather than his brains.

Sibi's height and body language remind us of Satyaraj constantly. While he fights capably, he has to work on his emoting and dancing skills. His unimpressive voice and lack of voice modulation affect his performance too. Sherin has precious little to do. Yugendran is impressive, both as the college dada and the giddy youth in love. Songs are disappointing though there is one song where the students praise their teachers that is a welcome change from movies where the teachers exist simply to be ridiculed by the students.