Movie Review: Student Of The Year 2
Student Of The Year 2 Review: Pretty young things in designer short dresses, dapper dudes with ripping muscles, scorching hot wheels and a colourful campus buzzing with all sorts of extra-curricular activities. Welcome to the class of 2019 at Dehradun’s most upscale college Saint Teresa, where everything and everyone is glossed over. Film’s leading man (Tiger Shroff) fits right into the scheme of things when he secures an admission on a sports quota. But his many talents start becoming a cause of concern for the current poster boy of the college Manav Mehra (Aditya Seal) and his eccentric sister Shreya played by Ananya Panday. This sets the stage for a testosterone led confrontation of male one-upmanship that involves love, ladies and competitiveness. Much of the story revolves around the four main characters, who fall in and out of love without much ado. There’s no heartbreak too deep to shatter them, or a punch strong enough to break them.
A bulk of the burden falls on Tiger Shroff’s strong shoulders and he manages to hit the marquee, when it comes to action. His heroics are captured with skill and attention – whether he is dancing like a dream, running on the tracks (the camera accentuating his muscles and sinew in close ups), playing kabbadi or flipping in the air and landing with a blow. His sharp smoldering looks enhance his starry screen presence even when he is an emotional or a physical wreck.
While film’s leading ladies Tara and Ananya are always glammed up and sport the best designer wear that money can buy, their roles aren’t tailored to perfection. Especially, Tara’s character seems quite flippant in her choices and her performance is underwhelming. Thankfully, for Ananya, her character gets a definite curve and a convincing backstory that works in her favour. Her performance eventually gradually grows on you, especially in some of her meet cute scenes with Tiger. Ditto for the film’s anti-hero Aditya Seal. He plays his part with perfection looking every bit the spoilt brat with class and appeal.
While there was a lot more scope for comedy, some of the best laugh out loud moments come from Tiger’s gang of friends. Among them, Youtuber Harsh Beniwal leaves a lasting impression with his wisecracks and a natural flair for humour.
A lot of drama and action remains out of the classroom, with focus on sports, dance and romance, but the chemistry between Tiger and the two debutantes never really takes off. Even with so many conflicts, competitions and confrontations, the film’s narrative remains light and quite focused on the overall visual appeal that often hampers the seriousness of the story. There is a genuine attempt to infuse filmy drama with a few heavy-duty dialogues by Tiger, but they seem quite out of place in such a frothy flick. Music is quite average, unlike the previous SOTY, where you find the songs like Radha on your playlist even today. The edit could have been crisper.
Overall, this chapter doesn’t have much of that ishq wala love, but there is ample dosti, kabaddi and cool stuff to keep you going. Think of it as a much snazzier version of ‘Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander’ minus the realism.
