Mumbai: Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions backed ‘Student Of The Year 2’ has opened in theatres today. The rom-com is directed by Punit Malhotra and introduces two fresh female faces—Ananya and Tara to the showbiz world. Expectations are high from this outing as the original ‘Student Of The Year’ which released back in 2012 was a big hit and marked the debut of three newcomers then—Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra.
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 smouldering looks enhance his starry screen presence even when he is an emotional or a physical wreck.
A word about the girls. Tara as the gold-digger is insipid and anal. Ananya is a shade better but rolls her eyes way too much. Both girls have envious teenage forms but lack screen-character. In the future, with an investment from a real filmmaker, the girls may bloom. Aditya Seal could make an interesting villain if he does a little more than just stare daggers! Here he has more clothes in his wardrobe than expressions on his face.
Much to the joy of SOTY fans we are happy to pronounce that the second edition is equally glossy and picture perfect, though as only to be expected, shallow. Rohan Sachdev (an extremely buff Tiger Shroff) and Manav Singhania (Aditya Seal who is a sure sight for sore eyes) spend an entire academic year preparing for the prestigious Student of the Year competition where the focus is not on academics (as you must have learnt from the first movie) but on winning a Kabbadi match. Why Kabbadi, you may ask. Perhaps KJo was doing his bit to promote the lesser popular sport – he certainly infuses a cool factor to the game with his players doing back flips and slow- mo jumps a la Keanue Reeve in Matrix.
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