Let’s face it, as a yet another launch vehicle for star kids, the expectations for Karan Johar’s Student of the Year 2 weren’t too high to begin with but the trailer has still made us scratch our heads and wonder, wtf was that?
The trailer presents to us Tiger Shroff, flanked on the side by newcomers Tara Sutaria and Chunkey Pandey's daughter Ananya Pandey.
The film has been directed by Punit Malhotra, another KJo protégé who worked as an assistant director on Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and made his directorial debut with a disastrous I Hate Luv Storys. But at every point in the trailer, it feels almost as if KJo is ghost-directing the film himself with its over-the-top, too picturesque to be real treatment.
Tiger Shroff starts defying gravity, physics and all things science within the first three seconds. Isaac Newton must be turning in his grave somewhere wondering ki apple ki jagah ped kyu nahi gir gaya mujh pe?
We also witness him performing some sort of superhero kabaddi where he seemingly effortlessly dropkicks six grown men who fall to the side like dominoes.
It’s probably just as well that Tiger’s abs get more air time than his face because he only manages to look bored for the entire duration of the trailer.
Female Leads Remain ‘Song & Dance’ Props
The two leading ladies are, predictably, scantily dressed and have about 10 seconds of dialogue in the whole testosterone-fuelled three-minute trailer. Even the basketball court seems to have more personality than Tara Sutaria and Ananya Panday combined. They dance, lust over Tiger Shroff, dance some more and exit stage right. Seriously.
We’d love to talk about them some more but there’s only that much you can deduce from gratuitous objectification.
In a recent appearance on Karan Johar’s chat show Koffee With Karan, Ananya acknowledged that having famous parents helped her get a foot in the door. “I accept I am a product of nepotism, but I hope I get to prove myself,” she said. From the looks of it, Student of the Year 2 isn’t the film that will help her do that.
A Sequel No One Asked For?
The trailer for the film suggests that the story belongs to men and their aggression. The women exist, petite and delicate, on the sidelines. It’s a shame that we’re still seeing this tired Bollywood trope play out in 2019.
We’re tempted to say that Student of the Year 2 looks like a mix of Student of the Year and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. We’re hoping we’re wrong but we aren’t holding our breath either.
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