Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; April 4, 2018)

Fresh out of the success of Baaghi 2, Tiger Shroff has proved that he is at his best in a true blue action film. With the youngster fast emerging as a saleable hero in the genre, filmmaker Karan Johar, who is producing Shroff’s next, is considering cashing in on this image. mid-day has learnt that Johar and director Punit Malhotra are tweaking the script of Student Of The Year 2 to include more fight sequences in the otherwise frothy college caper.

A source from the production house reveals, “Earlier, the story was structured in such a way that dance and romance were the two pivotal elements. But the failure of Tiger’s dance film Munna Michael (2017), and the subsequent success of Baaghi 2 proved that the audience loves him in his action avatar. So Karan has asked Punit to incorporate fight sequences in the script, without changing the narrative. The film will now have four major action scenes.”

The sequel to Student Of The Year (2012) is expected to roll mid-April in Dehradun, followed by stints in Kashmir and Mumbai. An overseas schedule is also on the itinerary. While the 2012 hit introduced Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, the second instalment is rumoured to launch Ananya Pandey and Tara Sutaria. “Since the female leads are newbies, it rests on Tiger’s shoulders to draw the audience into theatres. So, Karan was clear that the script should play to his strengths,” adds the source.

Malhotra refused to comment on the story.