Student of the Year 2

Student of the Year 2 is a sequel to the 2012 Karan Johar-directed romantic comedy-drama Student of the Year.[6] Shortly after the commercial success of the first film, a sequel was announced by the producers.[7] In November 2017, a press release by Dharma Productions revealed that the sequel is slated to release in 2018; it would be directed by Punit Malhotra and star Tiger Shroff in one of the leading roles.[7] The film was announced four years after Malhotra's previous directorial Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2013).[8] It was to be produced in association by Johar's Dharma Productions and Fox Star Studios.[7] The film's announcement by the company initially conflicted with that of their another production, Dhadak (2018), which roused speculation that Ishaan Khatter would star in the film. Johar denied the news and stated that the reports were "baseless and untrue".[6]

The announcement did not reveal the rest of the cast; media reports speculated that either Disha Patani or Ananya Panday, daughter of Chunky Pandey, would play the leading lady opposite Shroff.[8][9] In April 2018, Johar announced that the film's female leads would be Panday and Tara Sutaria, both debutantes.[10] Television actor Abhishek Bajaj[11] and Harsh Beniwal, a YouTuber, also make their film debuts. Beniwal, in preparation for the role, put on weight and grew a beard.[12]

Malhotra stated that the two films have unrelated storylines: "The intention of the film is not to make this a Me Too of first part, so Tiger. It's a fresh take on the subject. It's more about sports and action". He was initially supposed to work on a different film with Shroff, but two-three months before filming, they scrapped the project and wrote a new script, a sequel to Student of the Year.[13] In response to accusations that the film raised unhealthy expectations for college life, Shroff said, "What you see here is a fun school. It's a school that you want everyone to be a part of. We wanted everyone to fall in love with it".[14] He plays an underdog in the film, expressing, "It's like Superman has been stripped of his powers".[15]

Samir Soni, who had previously appeared in Malhotra's I Hate Luv Storys in 2012 and since shifted to direction, returned to acting by playing a college principal, a supporting role similar to the one originally portrayed by Rishi Kapoor in Student of the Year.[16] However, the principal in the first film identified as gay, while the one played by Soni was heterosexual and more comical.[16] Media outlets speculated that Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan, who had starring debut roles in the previous film, would feature in a cameo appearance for a song.[17] In May 2019, it was revealed that Bhatt features in a special appearance for the "Hook-up" song, alongside Shroff.[18]

As a part of Will Smith's Bucket List, Will Smith appeared in a song in the film for satisfying his wish of appearing in a Bollywood production.[19]

Principal photography for Student of the Year 2 began on 9 April 2018 in Dehradun. Shortly afterwards, parts of the film were shot at Rishikesh and Mussoorie as part of the schedule. Major shots were also done at Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, adding an authentic touch to the film's backdrop.[20] Sets for the film were also erected in Film City, Mumbai.[5] After the film's production was delayed, Sutaria's filming schedule began to clash with that of her other project Kabir Singh; she quit that film to ensure that shooting took place smoothly.[21] In August 2018, a four-day sequence was filmed in Thailand. Filming ended in September 2018 with the shooting of the climax sequence.[22] Student of the Year 2 was produced on an estimated budget of ₹650 million, including promotion and advertising costs.[2]

On 30 July 2018, a press release by Dharma Productions stated that the film's release date was postponed to 10 May 2019 due to what was speculated to be expected competition from the science fiction action film 2.0 (2018) starring Rajinikanth, Akshay Kumar and Amy Jackson.[26][27]

The film was announced via a first look poster featuring Shroff that was released on 20 November 2017 by Johar on various social media platforms; the poster carried the release date of 23 November 2018.[8][9][7] In April 2018, first look posters featuring Sutaria and Panday announcing the new cast members were released; this was somewhat controversial owing to the cast being children of other actors, and this furthered the long-standing accusations of Johar promoting nepotism.[28]

Two new teaser posters were released on 10 April 2019 presenting Shroff's look as a student.[29][30] Another set of posters featuring Sutaria and Panday were released on 11 April 2019.[31] On 12 April 2019, a theatrical release poster of the film was shared by Johar on his Instagram account;[32]

Student of the Year 2's teaser trailer was released along with Kalank, which released on 17 April 2019. Kshamaya Daniel of Rediff.com wrote of the trailer, "While the cast and their acting looks promising enough, the storyline – not so much".[33]

The film was made available as VOD on Amazon Prime Video on 1 September 2019.[34]

In India, the film had an average opening for the first shows with an occupancy rate of 20–25%.[35] It went on to earn ₹11.75–12 crore on its first day in India, becoming the fifth highest opener of the year.[36] The film had fair growth on Saturday, earning ₹13.5–13.75 crore.[37] On Sunday, collections were affected by the IPL final and polling for the 2019 Indian general election, and the film's earning came down to ₹12.25–12.5 crore.[38] By next Friday, the film had a 60 percent drop as collections reached ₹1.5 crore.[39] Following a drop in collections in the second week, the film stopped screening at most theatres.[40] It has earned ₹98 crore worldwide, with ₹65 crore from India and ₹330 million (₹33 crore) overseas.[3]

Student of the Year 2 released to widely negative reviews from critics. It holds a rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Criticism was primarily directed to the script and unreal setting of the film.[41][42][43]

Writing for Firstpost, Anna M. M. Vetticad gave the film one and a half stars out of five: "Cliché is piled on cliché in this unoriginal screenplay".[44] Rajeev Masand of News18 gave it two stars out of five and said, "Student of the Year 2 is both predictable, and far from original... It isn't unwatchable, it's just unnecessary."[45]

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave it one and a half stars out of five and called the film "an egregiously escapist campus-rumpus musical in which nattily attired, unbelievably idle boys and skimpily clad girls... play games that make as much sense as a camel race on an airport tarmac", adding, "There isn't a single moment in the film that could be described as passable".[46] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave one and a half stars out of five and expressed, "This class of 2019 has predictable beats, which is to be expected in an underdog story, but that it is so stilted is disappointing: from KJo [Karan Johar] I expect much more swish and sparkle". She felt Shroff "executes his dances-and-fights efficiently, even though [he] struggles to appear student-like".[47]

Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama praised the screenplay for being "praiseworthy as its peppered with some entertaining, dramatic and even moving moments". He wrote, "On the whole, Student of the Year 2 is an entertaining and an enjoyable fare which will strike a chord in the audience's hearts".[48] Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India gave the film three stars out of five, writing that it "doesn't have that Ishq wala love, but there is ample dosti, high school drama and cool stuff to keep you going".[49]

Meena Iyer of Daily News and Analysis gave it three stars out of five, writing, "This is the kind of film, which draws inspiration from the Archie comics with Tiger being Archie, flanked by a Veronica (Ananya) and Betty (Tara)". She concludes, "Apart from Will Smith's miss-if-you-blink appearance, watch [the film] for Tiger. Even when things around him are caving in, his ballerina grace is intact".[50]