Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/student-of-the-year-2-movie-review-tiger-shroff-baradwaj-rangan
WWhatever you say about Student of the Year 2, you’ll have to admit it possesses a sense of irony. Here’s a sequel without a shred of dignity, but revolving around a sporting trophy called… Dignity Cup. Though, on second thought, maybe that’s really about the line of brassieres clothes worn by the female leads (Tara Sutaria as Mia, Ananya Panday as Shreya). They always seem one hand-stretch away from a wardrobe malfunction. A small army of tailors has worked very, very hard to maintain their… cups of dignity. The college student who looks like she stepped out of a Dior perfume ad isn’t new, of course. It goes back at least as far as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which made an entire nation of young boys reconsider IIT coaching classes in favour of whatever exam would get them into the Karan Johar Schools of Higher Education, where the female students apparently couldn’t get a hall ticket unless they wore a miniskirt. But KKHH had more. Much more. It had characters. It had a plot. SOTY 2, on the other hand, has Tiger Shroff’s biceps. And triceps. And lats. And glutes. The film, too, is all glutes. It’s a major bummer.
Even the title seems all wrong. Given that hero (Rohan, played by Tiger) is 29 and his opponent (Manav, played by Aditya Seal) is 31, I would have gone with ‘Millennials in Their Second Dotcom Job’ of the Year 2. This isn’t about authenticity. After all, Aamir Khan was 27 when he starred in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which SOTY 2 is a kinda-sorta remake of. It’s about the utter lack of young-ness, student-ness, that morning-dew freshness of youth you sense when you watch Pehla nasha for the 2769th time. Rohan and Manav face off like grown-ups, like a masala-movie hero and villain. Manav’s rich. He could be saying: Mere paas maal hai. When he senses Rohan has an eye on the coveted trophy, he could be thinking: Dignity Cup ko pakadna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai. Rohan, meanwhile, isn’t giving up without a fight, even though Manav’s father is one of the college’s trustees. He’s thinking: Yeh college hai, tumhare baap ka ghar nahin.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2019 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Karishma
May 11, 2019
Woah! Now that’s as scathing as it comes. Not saying that the movie does not deserve it, but man… some people might need something more than paltry “Burnol”.
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Vikram s
May 11, 2019
Deliciously wicked…is this the point in time when KJo stops writing forewords for books and the party invites stop :-))
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KK
May 11, 2019
Man! Your review could have gone vulgar the way you have taken notice of such minute details of the attires of the heroines. “Cups of dignity”. Epic. Did you do it intentionally or you were forced to, considering the blandness of the movie?
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brangan
May 11, 2019
Vikram s: I don’t think so. He’s very sporting about these things 🙂
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abishekspeare
May 11, 2019
BRbequed
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V
May 11, 2019
My teen daughter who must have watched SOTY a zillion times AND who likes Tiger isn’t showing any interest to watch this – an indicator of the poor pre-release buzz. This review just reaffirms what the trailer indicated.
Why did Karan Johar not direct this one? He has a flair for such campy/campus films. Even in SOTY (1) the leads weren’t young enough for school, but they had the naivety and innocence to pull it off. To me, Karan, Sid, Varun & Alia made that film work – in that order. Anyway, atleast this film inspired ROTY-2 (Review Of The Year 2 – next to Super Deluxe’s)
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pooja1712
May 11, 2019
another fabulously worded review as always sir! however I’m curious to know how come there is no mention of the predecessor SOTY directed by the mentor Kjo himself. Did it not warrant any comparison , was it intentional on your end to avoid any comparison?
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Vidya Ramesh
May 11, 2019
The overwhelming feeling I had after watching this movie is that I am a very weary 35 yr old..there was a young girl in the seat next to me who was on the edge of her seat during the climax kabaddi match clenched fist and all..I was like a long married woman faking an orgasm muttering to myself, come on just get it over with, how much longer now! Watching these movies ages you rapidly Mr BR.
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sachita
May 12, 2019
Are you really praising varun dawan? I havent watched soty 1, might have watched 1/2 of varun’s movies. but he definitely didnt come off great in those ones.
Also wasnt alia bhatt, the best of soty bunch? not sure how she was in soty but she was superb in highway.
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Odiyan Hater
May 12, 2019
Varun Dhawan is considered a good actor by some because he’s the only young star actor who does goofy comedy… Not because he’s good at it but he’s the only one who does it… (Main tera Hero, Dishoom etc.)… (Ranveer did Simbaa only recently) + Plus the immense PR work and backscratching by bollywood folks…
Alia again is considered good mainly due to her being able to cherry pick roles and the praise showered on her for doing the smallest thing expected of a professional actor… (Kinda like Fahadh Faasil in Malayalam cinema)…
Siddharth Malhotra is the underrated guy among the trio… He’s a bit stiff but has never induced cringe like the other two… He was pretty good in ‘A Gentleman’ but that movie was panned by critics, I don’t know for what reason… He was insanely good in Hasee toh Phasee too but all the attention was grabbed by Parineeti’s character as it was more OTT and in your face – just like how Shahid Kapoor got the short end of the stick despite a solid performance in Jab We Met…
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Kid
May 12, 2019
This can’t be said enough but it’s remarkable how insightful your writing on cinema can often be even in a minor piece like this when, on surface, all you seemed to be doing is having fun taking the mickey out of the film- who else could have thought of Ardh Satya here. And your Ravi K Chandran point tells me that after all these years I continue to learn from you on cinema (without you ever attempting to teach me..unless of course you are writing for that Firstpost world-cinema column where you teach a lot and I learn nothing).
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Drax
May 12, 2019
Mr. Rangan, you can make snide remarks against millennials but the truth is that we millennials are ruling the world. There’s nothing you or your jealous ilk can do anything to us. We will continue to rock. You are jealous because you became an old, outdated man way back in your teens just like Anupam Kher and Alok Nath.
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brangan
May 12, 2019
Hello? What just happened here?
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Srimugunthan Rishithan
May 12, 2019
Judging by the name of the person who commented that, you have met YOUR perfect arch nemesis… a red-pilled (Alpha) millennial who is going to roast you into resignation. BE-AWARE RANGA BE-AWARE… 🙂
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abishekspeare
May 12, 2019
I can’t stop laughing
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Srimugunthan Rishithan
May 12, 2019
@brangan Drax is the Kedi Billa to your Killadi Ranga.
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Voldemort
May 12, 2019
I was scrolling through music channels today, and ended up seeing Venmegam Polave from Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam. The heroine gifts the hero, who is a director with a book on Mani Ratnam, and guess what it was ? CWMR by BR. 🙂
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Varsha Ganesh
May 13, 2019
This comment was even funnier than the other one on Vishal’s video that you had tweeted about BR 😀 As a fellow millennial I’m tempted to join forces and protect our tarnishing reputation 😀
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Anu Warrier
May 14, 2019
@abhishekspeare – laughed out loud at that comment. 🙂 Plus, your screen name – boss, that’s punning at its best.
@Odiyanhater – about Alia ‘cherrypicking’ her roles – well, give her credit for choosing those. She’s doing the fine balance between content and fluff, and the fluffiest of her roles was her debut. Afterwards, she’s been pretty choosing pretty diverse roles. I mean, to come from being a Dharma heroine prancing around in SOTY to doing that role in Highway… Or to choose Udta Punjab and Raazi argues a fine sensibility at work – it’s not as if someone’s choosing her roles for her, and she’s playing a wind-up doll in them.
Just my opinion, but I think she’s the best of the present bunch and I don’t think it is backscratching at work to say so.
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Odiyan Hater
May 14, 2019
I feel that her being the best has more to do with the well written roles that she gets to portray while I don’t remember the last time I saw Huma Quereshi on screen…
Raazi was supposed to have been made with Kriti Sabun and Aliya lobbied for the part…
She definitely deserves credit for knowing what kinda roles would help her cement her stardom and increase her clout…
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Anu Warrer
May 14, 2019
That you don’t see Huma Quereshi on screen is not Alia’s fault, surely? That writers are writing roles for Alia means they feel she has what it takes to portray their writing on screen? As for Alia lobbying for Raazi, that’s not true. Meghna Gulzar went to her; she didn’t go to Meghna.
https://www.timesnownews.com/entertainment/news/bollywood-news/article/alia-bhatt-was-the-first-and-only-choice-for-raazi-reveals-director-meghna-gulzar/223736
p.s Who is Kriti Sabun?
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rsylviana
May 14, 2019
@Anu – Alia is a wonderful actress no doubt about it. But you have to accept that she has it hella lot easy than the majority of the other poor souls in Bollywood (you can include the men too here). She was launched by the Big Daddy of Bollywood who is capable of promoting or making every other kind of movie there is replete with an army of PR machinery enough to make and break careers. Look at her career graph both onscreen and offscreen – it seems too calculated and crafty for a new and young actress. Like you said ,she came in as the airheaded girl in one of the most sickeningly saccharine movies of our time which made people write her off as just another Bollywood Bimbo – boom – she did Highway which made people notice the actress in her. She yapped some nonsense in one of her mentor’s shows and got branded as “The dum-dum of Bollywood” – boom – she did a video with the then flavor de jour of social media and made people go all “Oooohh she maybe dumb people, but she is the only actress in India who can take a joke on herself”. Later her weight was critised – boom – she became 3 sizes too thin. People(both inside and outside Bollywood) pitted her against Parineeti and Shradhha and even went as far as betting on Parineeti to be the next actor-star, next thing you know those poor girls got lost in oblivion. And then came the season of politically charged films that wore its nationalist pride on its sleeve – what do you know , she headlined in a similar movie all the while being extremely cautious as to not lose out on her “I’m too cool to be clubbed along with these neanderthals y’all” image. Even now with Kalank , I can sense a “Guys calm down about Deepika ! Alia can do the whole period heroine routine too you know” kind of air around it.
Of course I don’t know all this for sure and its undeniable that Alia is a gifted and a hardworking actor; however I cant help but wonder what an equally talented and shrewd actress with no such backing or clout would be left to do in Big Bad Bollywood.
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kaizokukeshav
May 14, 2019
Alia had the prefect look for Raazi,. But it always felt like she is about give the revealing expression next second, never felt like she can really hold that pain of a spy.
But going through the above comment Huma Quereshi would have done an incredible job if she was given a chance in Raazi ! Wish, wish.
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Apu
May 15, 2019
rsylviana: I will not deny that Alia’s path seem cleverly thought out. The thing is – I don’t see anything wrong there. I mean, why would you want to blame someone for making the right moves 🙂 ?
Or taking risks that pay off mostly?
For e.g. Kalank went wrong, and many spoke of her miscasting in a period film. So there – a risk taken that did not work.
“Of course I don’t know all this for sure and its undeniable that Alia is a gifted and a hardworking actor; however I cant help but wonder what an equally talented and shrewd actress with no such backing or clout would be left to do in Big Bad Bollywood.”
Maybe been like Deepika? (Her father’s stardom does not extend to Bollywood) Or Anushka?
We have been talking about Highway and Udta Punjab (not to forget “Dear Zindagi” and Gully Boyz), whereas I am thinking of her birthday scene in “Kapoor and Sons” where I wanted to cry with her and her ability to charm audiences in even a formula film like “Humpty Sharma ki Dulhania”. Yes of course she has support, but so had Esha Deol.
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anu
May 15, 2019
Would want Karan Johar to make SOTY films every month so that we get to read such hilarious reviews from BR
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Odiyan Hater
May 15, 2019
@rslyviana : – “it seems too calculated and crafty for a new and young actress.” – Exactly!
@Apu: – “The thing is – I don’t see anything wrong there. I mean, why would you want to blame someone for making the right moves 🙂 ?” – Nothing wrong, just that she isn’t the greatest actress of this generation…
And the Deols are a diff beast altogether… Dharmendra has to be the worst guide… Sunny lucked out for a while somehow… Dharmu himself lucked out it seems at times…
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