Student of the Year 2 is second in the franchise that has been set up by Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions
Joginder Tuteja
A year ago, he was an army commando in Baaghi 2. Now in 2019, he has gone back in time by at least 10 years as he steps into the shoes of being a student with Karan Johar's make believe world of Student of the Year 2. As someone who can pass off as a 20-year-old as well as 30-year-old with aplomb, it has been quite some journey for Tiger Shroff who started his career with Heropanti.
No wonder, he is attached to campus entertainers and his excitement can well be gauged from the manner in which he is approaching his part in this Punit Malhotra directed film which also marks the debut of Tara Sutaria and Ananya Pandey.
There is something about setting a film in campus which leads to a barrage of possibilities. One may think that this genre only leads to fun-n-frolic. However, there are countless examples of different genres been explored when it comes to a campus entertainer. Of course, youth is at the epicentre of it all but when it comes to Bollywood 'masala', there are not just love stories galore but also student politics, action and even murder mysteries that have been set in the campus environment.
Of course, considering the fact that Student of the Year 2 is second in the franchise that has been set up by Karan Johar and his Dharma Productions, one expects a lot of vibrancy in this fantasy world. Just like was the case with the Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra entertainer, even Student of the Year 2 has sports at the core of it. The role is reversed though when it comes to a love triangle coming into play as this time around there is one leading man and two girls vying for his attention.
None of that was the case though in Fukrey which was again a campus entertainer but with a set up that is as realistic as it gets. Pulkit Samrat led the show and he got good company of Ali Fazal, Varun Sharma and Manjot Singh. The film was a success and it led to Fukrey Returns which turned out to be an even bigger success.
However, when it comes to making a serious statement via a campus flick, Aamir Khan has been leading the show.
He spearheaded Rajkumar Hirani's 3 Idiots along with Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, and in the process ended up saying quite a few things by means of humour. The film stays on to be a textbook of campus entertainers and while it is a case study in itself, its content is the kind that just cannot be replicated due to its unique nature. Ditto for Rang De Basanti where he had an entire team around him with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra as the captain of the ship. The film made quite a few political as well as social statements without going overboard.
In his earlier days though, Aamir Khan had done a quintessential campus love story in the form of Dil. Today, a few of his scenes in the film featuring Madhuri Dixit may come across as objectionable but back then it was a roaring success. That was not really the case though with Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar which was again set in a campus and had a sports event forming a major part of the narrative. Today though, the film is being looked at as a cult classic.
Ditto is the case with Nagarjuna's Shiva as well, which brought Ram Gopal Varma on the map of filmmaking. A gritty violent campus entertainer, it formed the template for many more such films to come. However in this genre the ones that are remembered most are Yuva and Haasil. On their release these films did not really do quite well. However, Mani Ratnam's vision of college politics with Ajay Devgn playing a student leader was impressive, and same was the case with Tigmanshu Dhulia's handling of the subject too where politics entered campus.
No wonder, for most of the times, especially back in the 1990s, filmmakers played safe when it came to romance entering the campus. Abbas-Mustan set their Akshay Kumar and Deepak Tijori starrer in an easy-breezy campus setting where boys as well as girls had a lot of fun. However, things took a turn after a murder. Aided by hit music, the film was a good success. Even bigger success though was Ajay Devgn's entry into the tinsel world, Phool aur Kaante. The campus entertainer had Devgn romance Madhoo in what eventually turned out to be a family drama.
There was a bit of a drama in another popular campus flick as well, Jaan Tere Naam. Ronit Roy is doing quite a few interesting roles today as a villain or a brooding character. However, back in 1992, he became a heartthrob of millions when he romanced Farheen while serenading her with more than half a dozen popular Nadeem-Shravan songs. Later in years to come, songs were the driving factor for Shahid Kapoor's debut flick Ishq Vishk as well as ensemble affair Yaariyaan as well which had Himansh Kohli and Rakul Preet Singh making their debut.
As can be seen, audiences have been quite receptive of the youth entertainers set in a campus, especially when there is a love story involved and the music is quite popular as well. Student of the Year 2 indeed has things going in its favour, what with Tiger Shroff leading the pack, a couple of new entrants making their debut, a premium production house, a director who has delivered a youth hit in the form of I Hate Luv Storys and the composer duo Vishal-Shekhar who have a penchant of delivering chartbuster scores.
How good does this package indeed turn out to be would be known in a few weeks from now once Student of the Year 2 hits the screens on May 10.
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)
