Ever watched a movie and felt like you’ve figured out the whole story from the very first scene? That’s ‘Student of the Year 2’. A repetitive formula of the ‘rich vs poor’, ‘good vs evil’ drama that has been frequently used in Bollywood for almost a century now. So SOTY2 is a teenage drama with an attempted coming of age story, puppyish love angles, little comic relief, and a few so-so action sequences. A typical Bollywood masala, but without the main ingredients of a moving story: captivating screenplay and convincing acting.
Tiger does all the things a Bollywood director would want him to: flex 8-pack abs, dance, fight, play kabaddi and even parkour
The movie revolves around the ‘prestigious’ Dignity Cup and the Student of the Year title which is hosted by St Teresa’s College, one of the biggest and poshest colleges in Dehradun. Now our lower-middle class hero Rohan (Tiger Shroff) dreams of leaving his lower-middle class Pishorilal Chamandas College, Mussoorie to… not win the cup actually, but be together with his sweetheart Mridula aka Mia (Tara Sutaria). He does manage to get into the college on a sports scholarship for his kabaddi prowess, but all is not well for our poor hero. He has to face two formidable foes in the form of spoilt, rich brats Shreya (Ananya Pandey) and Manav (Aditya Seal) who’re basically the most powerful siblings in the college because their dad is a trustee there. Sigh!
The original Student of the Year (2012) launched the careers of Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddartha Malhotra. All the starlets from the highly successful movie managed to impress both the audience and the critics, and get more work as a result. Alas, the same cannot be said for this time’s debutants Tara and starlet Ananya (Chunky Pandey’s daughter). They falter in dialogue delivery and expressing emotions. Their dancing is just heavily choreographed mechanical movements. Not their fault. They’re made to dance next to the hunky Tiger, who shines, for the sheer lack of competition. The girls have a very forgettable debut in SOTY2 and they should definitely work on honing their skills while they’re young if they do not want to end up playing second (or third or fourth) fiddle in B-grade rom-com ensembles.
Tiger, on the other hand, does all the things a Bollywood director, Punit Malhotra in this case, would want him to do. He flexes his 8-pack abs, dances, fights, plays kabaddi like a kung fu master and even parkours. But the one thing he, despite of his talents, fails in is romance. Not entirely his fault again. Looks like Bollywood has forgotten to make young people romantic since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Low-key actor Aditya Seal, playing the stereotypical college jock Manav, almost outshines Tiger at some points. He does justice to his character of a wealthy and arrogant but skilled college idol with his stony countenance and resolute acting.
Rohan’s friends from Pishorilal also manage to add humor and the best thing about the movie is that it maintains a healthy pace throughout, not slowing down to boring sequences.
Who should watch it?
It may lack originality but the movie is not altogether boring for a Bollywood masala fan. You can at least watch it for the overgenerous production. Even poor people cut three-layer cakes in Dharma movies, so you can definitely watch SOTY2 for the larger-than-life characterizations and enjoy it as one big fashion show.
Movie: Student of the Year 2
Genre: Drama
Cast: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
Direction: Punit Malhotra
Rating: 2/5
