Student Of The Year 2 director Punit Malhotra on how he took tips from Farah Khan, who previously helmed campus caper Main Hoon Na
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; May 8, 2019)

Days away from the release of Student Of The Year 2 (SOTY 2), director Punit Malhotra admits to feeling "scared as well as fearless." While the first instalment was helmed by Karan Johar, it is easy to see the producer's stamp on the Tiger Shroff, Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria starrer as well - be it in the uber stylish outfits flaunted by the leads, or the glossy world of high school. But Malhotra throws a curveball when he reveals that choreographer-director Farah Khan has a significant role in shaping the SOTY 2 universe.

"For me, the Bible was Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar [1992] and Main Hoon Na [2004]. I am close to Farah [Main Hoon Na director]; she had also worked on Jo Jeeta... So, I would extensively brainstorm with her on the material."

"The genre has its clichéd plot points - good boy underdog from poor college, a high school jerk, father-son equation, Betty-Veronica and sports competition. Main Hoon Na stepped it up by introducing a hot teacher, a tomboy and the India-Pakistan dynamics [in the story]. Farah and I would sit and discuss [the script] for hours," says Malhotra, who has previously dabbled in the rom-com genre with I Hate Luv Storys (2010) and Gori Tere Pyaar Mein (2014).

The director also points out that Bollywood has been starved of the good old high-school films until the SOTY franchise was developed. "When was the last time we saw a student film outside of Netflix? We have put everything that happens in a normal college, [in the film]. I am aware that many feel, 'Yeh kaun se college mein hota hai?' But when they watch the film, they'll see a far more real narrative, set in a glossy world. The idea is to make it aspirational."