In a film that runs on and on, almost as fast as its agile leading man, for nearly two and a half hours, "Student of the Year 2" (SOTY 2) leaves us with nothing except repeated visuals of youngsters pouting, preening and posing for the camera.
But the absence of any tangible takeaways in this designer version of Mansoor Khan's "Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar", should be the least of our worries. Six years back when Karan Johar directed "Student of the Year", we all wondered what kind of educational opportunities awaits a nation where cinema propagates a classroom-free academy replete with colour, music, banter, flirtation, courtship... Everything except sex and education.
Yes, Karan Johar and his director Punit Malhotra want us to believe that these unrealistically groomed youngsters who look like they were born in the arms of Gucci, believe in immaculate conceptions and kindergarten deceptions. That they are constantly suspended in a state of blow-dried vacuousness. That even their emotions are customised.
There is not a single genuinely-felt emotion in the entire length and breadth of this expanded banquet of bacchanalia and boredom. The young cast tries... Oh, they try hard to infuse life into a comatose script. The older cast members don't even make an effort. Samir Soni filling in for Rishi Kapoor looks like he reported on the wrong set.
Here is how netizens reacted after watching the film.
https://twitter.com/AbhiAkkian/status/1126707358149693440
https://twitter.com/prakharshubham/status/1126782590264852480
https://twitter.com/SinghShivam80/status/1126740792695877632
https://twitter.com/prakharshubham/status/1126782463684952066
https://twitter.com/Unsakht/status/1126726928709242881
(With inputs from IANS)