Daily Times

Seven years after a memorable outing with Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt, we are back in the world of St Teresa, cheering for three new students — Rohan, Mridula and Shreya.

The first edition of the ‘Student of the Year’ franchise not only launched phenomenal actors but also gave songs that make us dance our heart out. Naturally then, ‘Student of the Year’ arrived amid soaring expectations.

The story revolves around an inter-college kabbadi-cum-dance competition as the kids vie for the prestigious Student of the Year trophy. The competition marks the class difference as the glamorous and rich St Teresa students compete with the middle-class Pishori High School kids. Couple that with infatuation, betrayal, new friendships – and a typical love triangle playing out between Tiger, Tara and Ananya – and you’ve got the story laid out.

‘Student of the Year’ has been my all-time favourite film and the second part had me excited ever since it was announced. The dances and action sequences were spectacular. Tiger Shroff continues to charm the audience with his backflips, flexing biceps and stunts. When it comes to the girls, the costume designers definitely deserve a round of applause. Their wardrobe is every chic teenage girl’s dream. Never mind that it is nowhere close to the kind of clothes that Indian colleges expect students to wear. A special mention to our antagonist Manav Randhava whose rich, arrogant kid act is on point.

That said, the film did not match the expectations of an ardent fan like me. The plot was limited to merely song-and-dance routines and kabbadi and track competitions. While it had some hilarious one-liners mouthed by Tiger’s friends from Pishori Lal college, the writing otherwise was weak with no memorable dialogues. Gul Panag seen as a lesbian coach, hitting on a female colleague, is wasted. Adorned with some surprise appearances, ‘Student of the Year 2’ is, at best, a light-hearted rom-com adorned that deserves a one-time watch.

The dances and action sequences were spectacular. Tiger Shroff continues to charm the audience with his backflips, flexing biceps and stunts. When it comes to the girls, the costume designers definitely deserve a round of applause. Their wardrobe is every chic teenage girl’s dream. Never mind that it is nowhere close to the kind of clothes that Indian colleges expect students to wear

For a film that is aimed at millennials, Tiger Shroff’s ‘Student of the Year 2’ offers a clear message – ‘Focus on your dreams first’. Staying true to a Dharma production, this message comes laced with several elements, including romance, humour and action. The star of the campus caper is, undoubtedly, Shroff. The actor has you rooting for him as he takes on St Teresa’s blue-eyed boy Manav Randhava in his bid for the Dignity Trophy. While his previous films have only depicted him as an action star, ‘Student of the Year 2’ proves that Shroff is as much at home in a romance comedy. All eyes are on Tara Sutaria and Ananya Panday since this film marks their Bollywood debut. Even though their roles offer them little scope to show their acting chops, the girls shine in portions. Director Punit Malhotra deserves a special mention for taking forward the ‘Student of the Year 2’ legacy with deft storytelling. A fun campus drama, this film will surely strike a chord with college-going students.

‘Student of the Year 2’ is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language teen film written by Arshad Sayed and directed by Punit Malhotra. It was produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the banner Dharma Productions and was distributed by Fox Star Studios. A sequel to the 2012 film ‘Student of the Year’, it stars Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria and Ananya Pandey. The film follows Rohan, a college student who switches to a better university to rekindle his relationship with his childhood sweetheart who studies there. When Rohan is rusticated, he returns to his old college and vows to lead his new team to victory in an inter-college cup against his former college, thereby becoming Student of the Year.

‘Student of the Year 2’ was announced in November 2017. Initially, Malhotra and Shroff were to collaborate for a different film; when they found the final script unsatisfactory, they tweaked it and planned to make it a sequel. It marks the debut of both Sutaria and Panday, and pursues a plot that is unrelated to its predecessor. Principal photography for the film began in April 2018 at Dehradun, and ended in September 2018. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Vishal-Shekhar, with lyrics written by Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kumaar and Vayu, and released under the banner Zee Music Company.

‘Student of the Year 2’ was theatrically released in India on May 10, 2019. The film received generally mixed reviews from critics, with the script and unreal situation receiving criticism; Shroff’s action sequences were praised. As of May 17, it has earned Rs 78.62 crore worldwide, against a production budget of Rs 65-80 crore, to become the ninth highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2019.