Student of the Year: After Dark Review
Director: Reema Maya
Date Created: 2026-11-13 23:23
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Student of the Year: After Dark Review: Directed by Reema Maya, JioHotstar’s series takes the familiar world of the Student of the Year franchise and gives it a rather unsettling makeover. The six-episode series features Shanaya Kapoor in a double role as Aayesha and Aditi Malik, alongside Divik Sharma, Abhinav Singh, Manya Grover and Deeya Damini. The supporting cast includes Vivek Gomber, Gaurav Sharma, Sheeba Chaddha, Khalid Siddiqui and others.
Student of the Year: After Dark Review
JioHotstar’s Student of the Year: After Dark centres on Aayesha Malik, a much-liked student at the elite St. Teresa’s boarding school, whose life is mysteriously ended following an event that is connected to a competition in the underground world. Aditi, the twin of the deceased, who has always had a difficult time with her family and memories of her sister, is convinced that her sister’s death cannot just be an accident.
To uncover the truth behind her sister’s death, Aditi manages to join St. Teresa’s, where she starts unravelling the people associated with her sister. But the school has more mysteries up its sleeve. Following the death of its former dean by suicide and a Student of the Year competition held in secrecy by the school’s administration, Aditi finds herself surrounded by suspicious individuals. I actually thought JioHotstar series Student of the Year: After Dark would work since the idea of turning a well-known franchise formula into something dark seemed exciting.
The concept does have its merits since instead of a story revolving around privileged kids trying to outdo each other in popularity, love and a yearlong award, here is a mystery story where the whole competition becomes a game of life and death. However, the viewing experience was akin to watching multiple series being blended together into one without any clear vision of what the resulting outcome would be. Squid Game was the most prominent of influences on the show; however, there were also glimpses of Wednesday, Elite, and other teen mysteries. Being influenced by several other shows was fine, yet it was never done properly and could not create anything original or entertaining.
The one issue with which I struggle the most is the fact that the mystery associated with the death of Aayesha is not quite engaging enough. Aditi comes to St. Teresa’s School with a certain purpose, and there are many suspicious individuals who could be investigated. For example, Tara, who acts like a very friendly best friend of Aayesha; Sid, Aayesha’s boyfriend, who has some personal problems; Rehaan, who has some personal complications with Aayesha; and finally Babydoll, who is not at all kind towards Aditi. Instead of letting these characters grow and create some tension in their relationships, we are bombarded with secrets and backstories.
In particular, I was interested in understanding the dynamics between Aayesha and Aditi. The childhood and the family of the two sisters play an important role in the explanation of why they have such different personalities and why Aditi is so eager to get the truth revealed. There is something truly terrifying in the very concept of a child being raised in circumstances that provide no place for his/her personality. However, it does not receive the necessary attention. Trauma is introduced in the series, but its effects on characters are not always explained properly.
After that comes the Student of the Year competition, which might very well be the most disappointing aspect of the whole show. The concept of converting the prestigious annual competition held in an academic institution into a secret survival game is intriguing enough. Participants are offered a life-changing reward, which makes their desperation understandable. Some tests require participants to be mentally manipulated, while other tests compel them to face their insecurities and fears. However, the execution of these concepts fails to impress. From the red tracksuits to the masked organisers and the elimination tests, the Squid Game inspiration is clear. The only problem is that the tests fail to engage the audience emotionally.
The sad thing is that the competition should have presented the ideal chance to look into the darker side of privilege, ambition, and the need to succeed. But the social criticism is all surface-level. While we see students from varying backgrounds with their own issues, these issues seem to serve merely as plot devices to make the characters seem suspicious. And even the trials that are meant to strip away these students’ insecurities are ineffective.
The characterisation fails as well. The characters of the 2026 Student of the Year: After Dark are typical representations of the stereotype of teenagers, and their dialogues sometimes sound as if someone tried really hard to fit all kinds of expressions used by Generation Z into them. Instead of resembling authentic teenagers’ dialogues, their dialogue is often reminiscent of those that were specifically written in order to be considered cool on social media. In addition, the constant shifts in the atmosphere were quite annoying. Sometimes it is a crime drama, and at another moment – a fashionable teen series, and right after that a psychological thriller about survival.
On the part of performances, yet another letdown on my side was Shanaya Kapoor. Having to enact both Aayesha and Aditi means that she had an opportunity to show two sisters with totally different characters, but unfortunately, I did not find her performance impressive. Aditi is meant to be a character who is full of grief and, at the same time, smart and strong enough to investigate a death. However, I cannot say that I managed to feel this emotional story of hers. Instead, she comes across as just a person who is doing a set of things to investigate the death of her twin.
JioHotstar Student of the Year: After Dark Review: Summing Up
Overall, Student of the Year 3 is a show with a promising premise that is lost amid the show’s aspirations. While it’s good that they tried to reboot a franchise, darkness, fashion and shocking twists can never be a substitute for good writing. The murder mystery was badly written because there could have been much better character development. The contest could have been designed in a much more creative way than what we saw in the movie. And finally, the drama surrounding the two sisters could have been developed further. But unfortunately, nothing came together.
