You know a Pizza has formulaic ingredients, no nutritional value, and yet, it offers instant gratification — an escape from the regular fare.
I haven’t watched Student of the Year, and so I cannot judge how Student of the Year 2 compares to it.
The movie reminds you of Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Main Hoon Na, The Karate Kid, Mean Girls, Glee and endless other films or shows in the same genre.
The Plot
Really, why should you care when the makers don’t give a damn for the plot? It’s all about the money anyway. Don’t trust me! Watch the movie, and you’ll find glaring bloopers like this –
“Talent ko Angrezi mein kya bolte hain?”, asks Manasi Joshi Roy who plays Rohan aka Tiger Shroff’s mother.
“Hunar,” replies the earnest son.
You wonder what the cast and crew of this movie were smoking that not one of them could pick up this obvious mistake.
So, let’s skip the sketchy plot and move on to the next.
The Analysis
SOTY 2 is a no-brainer which treats its audience as juveniles. The narrative is more telling than showing. Everything is laid out on the table for you so that you don’t need to apply your brains to think and waste your time on any cerebral activity whatsoever.
After all, you have more important things to focus on like Tiger Shroff’s rippling abs, and the never-ending legs of Tara Sutaria and Ananya Pandey.
The movie relies solely on pumping up the hormones of its target audience. Because, why bother about padhai, likhai and all those mundane academic activities?
The Problem
The biggest problem of the movie is not the outlandish fantasy, poor script/writing or lack of originality but the outdated sexism. Escapist cinema is understandable and in some way, even justified. There is no excuse, however, for blatantly ignoring 50% of the student population. Especially when you have the movie titled ‘Student of the Year’. Hello Mr.Karan Johar! It’s 2019! I know you stopped making sense a long time ago given the declining quality of your movies and TV shows. But, this is a serious issue.
The labour force participation rate for women in India is among the lowest in the world. Out of 131 countries, only ten countries were below India. The labour force participation rate for women in 2017 was 28.5% while it was 82% for men. The numbers are only dropping ever since.
As a country, when we are at a stage where we are working hard on extending the brilliant performances of the female student population to the workplace and creating an equitable environment to break the glass ceiling, we have Student of the Year 2 which goes back into the dark ages.
My daughter asked me in the middle of the movie, “So, the Student of the Year Award is for athletics only?” As mentioned earlier in the article, there is no mention of academics in the world of Student of the Year 2. In the name of escapist cinema, let’s give a pass to the makers here. But, try stomaching this –
The Student of the Year award is given only to male students who excel at sports. Female students are just there as eye-candies and for exploring a bright future in dance.
The makers’ idea of progressiveness is having a lesbian sports coach in Gul Panag. But then again, it’s like rubbing salt on the wounds. You have a female sports coach and no female athletes? And to think that in real life, it is the female sportswomen who brought international laurels to the country in recent years – Mary Kom, P V Sindhu, Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar, Sania, Mirza, Saina Nehwal, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepika Kumari, Karnam Malleswari, Krishna Poonia, and more.
Gul Panag’s lesbian character is mere tokenism and does nothing for the upliftment of the female student population. Worse still, she gets reduced to a joke that lasts for less than 2 mins. Even Maggi enjoys better respect and status! And here at home, I am motivating my daughter to aim for the General Proficiency, Best Student of the Year award, and more at school. And then, there’s Karan Johar and his sexist Student of the Year Award. Hmmmppphhh!
The Silver Lining
The saving grace is that while the educational system is patriarchal and misogynistic, Rohan, the male protagonist played by Tiger Shroff is not sexist and incredibly supportive of his girlfriend’s career ambitions. Rohan could be the modern-day desi poster-child for Bryan Adam’s ’90’s hit “Everything I do, I do it for you.”
Also, Tiger is more in his bare minimum than both the heroines combined. Oh, I forgot, there’s Alia Bhatt too who makes a special appearance in the ‘Hook-Up’ song at the end. So, there’s objectification with consent galore irrespective of the gender.
The Cast
Tiger Shroff is just as pleasing onscreen as he is offscreen. He fits the Bollywood masala hero to the T. The man can act, dance, kick, fly, and look dishy.
Ananya Pandey has unconventional looks for a Bollywood heroine which could prove to be her USP. Even though the Student of the Year 2 is focused on Tiger Shroff and Aditya Seal, it is Ananya Pandey who steals the show. She has the best debut with the interesting character of Shreya that has shades from the anti-heroine to the heroine. Ananya Pandey kills it with her appearance.
Tara Sutaria is a beauty pageant winner material – a living doll. But she is one of the weakest aspects of the film. Considering that she had prior acting experience with Disney earlier, you would expect more from her. But she disappoints even though she plays Mridula aka Mia, an equally grey character like Shreya, played by Ananya Pandey. Tara has the goods required for the glamour world. Maybe she’ll pick up in the upcoming movies as she learns the ropes of the game. Everyone has a different growth trajectory.
Aditya Seal is convincing as the anti-hero. Harsh Beniwal and Abhishek Bajaj stand out in the supporting cast while the rest including Gul Panag, Samir Soni as Principal, and Manasi Joshi Roy, are wasted and reduced to embarrassing caricatures. Farah Khan, Vishal-Shekhar, and Will Smith make a special appearance.
Final Thoughts
The Media and Entertainment industry plays a significant role in shaping the fabric of society. Apart from the material aspirations of minting money at the box-office, there needs to be an onus on the filmmakers to play fair while offering a sweet escape to its target audience.
Student of the Year 2 lacks soul and depth. Considering that the target audience is between 13-25 years at the max, SOTY 2 delivers the job. Some hits and some misses. On the whole, a one-time watch.
A Pizza isn’t necessary, but it’s not a crime if it exists on the menu. Enjoy without guilt or shame! In moderation of course.
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