Student of the Year 2 movie review: Tiger Shroff executes his dances-and-fights efficiently, even though his struggles to appear student-like are far more evident than his co-stars.Student of the Year 2 movie cast: Tiger Shroff, Aditya Seal, Ananya Panday, Tara Sutaria, Gul Panag, Manoj Pahwa, Samir Soni
Student of the Year 2 movie director: Punit Malhotra
Student of the Year 2 movie rating: One and a half stars
A grand edifice meant to be a fount of excellence in education? Check. Pretty young things all buffed and polished wandering around the corridors of the ‘college’ masquerading as ‘students’? On point. The clash of the entitled snobby rich vs the earnest, grounded middle-class? All present and accounted for.
SOTY 2 is a sequel to 2012 film SOTY and it doesn’t even bother refreshing the template: everything is determinedly familiar. And that is precisely the problem: despite the presence of singing-dancing-fighting hot star Tiger Shroff, two brand new female leads, Tara Sutaria and Ananya Panday, and a whole new set of ‘teachers’, this part two comes off choppy and jaded.
When you have Tiger Shroff as your primary eye-ball gatherer, the script has to be bent to his strengths, and as Rohan Sachdev the-underdog-with-big-dreams who enters the hallowed portals of St Teresa’s, he is given every opportunity to ripple his admirable musculature, and show off his dancing prowess. But what can even the most agile workhorse do if the set-pieces are so done-to-death?
Hang on, there is one new thing in the film. And that is the introduction of kabaddi in the big inter-school competition. There is a great deal of pom-pom-shaking cheer-leading young ladies schitck and locker-room enthusiasm in the playing of it, but SOTY 2 takes care to offset the commonplace-ness of that game with the dance-offs leading to the big dancing competition. I have to say the kabbadi raids are far more interesting than all the dancing done in this film: there is not one spirited ‘Radha on the dance-floor’ in this movie, alas.
Shroff executes his dances-and-fights efficiently, even though his struggles to appear student-like are far more evident than his co-stars, who may just pass off as young college-goers if they took the layers of make-up and tube dresses off.
That niggle may be moot because this is a Karan Johar production where no-classes-no-books rule. But the standard of what passes for acting being so low sticks in the craw. Sutaria is perfectly put together and yet looks assembly-line produced. Panday (daughter of Chunkey) is much more animated, and shows promise. There is much more happening between the two male leads, Shroff and his chief rival, the Bad Rich Boy Manav, played by Seal, who sparks here and there.
The running time is too long for what is, essentially, yet-another-buffed-up-version of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander crossed with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. This class of 2019 has predictable beats, which is to be expected in an underdog story, but that it is so stilted is disappointing: from K Jo, I expect much more sparkle and swish.
