Student Of The Year After Dark Review: Shanaya Kapoor’s Double Role Is Interesting, But The Mystery Is Not | Web-series News

Last Updated:November 14, 2026, 14:40 IST

Student Of The Year: After Dark brings murder, mystery and campus drama, but uneven writing and slow pacing hold it back. Shanaya Kapoor shows promise in a challenging double role.

Student Of The Year After Dark Review: Shanaya Kapoor brings intense emotions as Aditi.

Student Of The Year After Dark Review: Remember when Student Of The Year was all about fancy clothes, love triangles, dance competitions and students fighting over a shiny trophy? Well, things have changed quite a bit at St. Teresa Heritage School. This time, there is a dead student, a twin sister looking for answers and a campus where apparently nobody can be trusted.

Streaming on JioHotstar, the six-episode series, Student Of The Year: After Dark, stars Shanaya Kapoor in the lead role, alongside Divik Sharma, Manya Grover, Abhinav Singh and Deeya Damini. Directed by Reema Maya, the show takes the popular Dharma franchise into a much darker territory. But does adding murder and mystery to a familiar campus drama make it more interesting? Well, the answer is a little complicated.

What’s Student Of The Year: After Dark About?

The story revolves around twin sisters Aayesha and Aditi Malik, both played by Shanaya Kapoor. While Aayesha is the popular girl everyone seems to know, Aditi is quite different. Their lives take a tragic turn when Aayesha is found dead in a frozen lake under mysterious circumstances.

However, Aditi isn’t ready to accept what everyone tells her about her sister’s death. Determined to find out what really happened, she joins the same prestigious school and starts looking for answers. Things get even more complicated when she finds herself caught up in the school’s secret Student Of The Year competition.

And the suspects? Almost everyone! There is the jealous best friend, a boyfriend with his own baggage, a former lover who hasn’t moved on and classmates who seem to have something to hide. Even the adults have their share of secrets.

What Works?

The biggest attraction here is undoubtedly the change in the franchise’s storytelling. Instead of giving us another round of glamorous college romance, the series tries something different with a murder mystery. The idea of taking a popular campus competition and turning it into something much more dangerous is interesting. The show also touches upon friendship, family problems, grief, childhood trauma and the pressure young people face while trying to fit in.

The music also tries to maintain the youthful energy associated with the franchise while giving it a more mysterious feel. Achint Thakkar’s songs and Shalom Benjamin’s background score contribute to the show’s darker atmosphere.

Shanaya Kapoor Gets A Chance To Shine

A lot rests on Shanaya Kapoor’s shoulders in this series, especially since she plays both Aayesha and Aditi. The two sisters are quite different from each other, and Shanaya gets to explore two contrasting personalities. While Aayesha is the popular, confident girl who seems to have everything going for her, Aditi is more guarded and carries the pain of losing her sister. Shanaya tries to bring out these differences through her expressions and body language.

The role also gives her a chance to step away from the usual glamorous image and explore a more intense character. There are moments when she manages to bring out Aditi’s anger, vulnerability and determination, particularly as she gets closer to uncovering the truth. However, the writing doesn’t always give her enough emotional depth to make the character as gripping as it could have been.

It’s certainly a different outing for Shanaya, and playing twins in a suspense thriller is no easy task. She has an interesting opportunity here to show a side of herself that audiences haven’t seen much of before.

What Doesn’t Work?

Here’s where things get a little messy. The series has an interesting idea, but the storytelling doesn’t always make the best use of it. With so many characters, secrets and suspicious relationships, the plot has plenty happening at the same time. However, the constant twists and changes in timelines can make it difficult to keep track of everything. Just when viewers might want an answer to one question, another mystery appears.

The show also tries very hard to speak the language of Gen Z. From social media references to trendy expressions and complicated friendships, it wants to capture the world of today’s youngsters. But some of these elements can feel a little forced.

The Student Of The Year competition, which was such an important part of the earlier film, also gets a very different makeover. Instead of fun challenges and exciting contests, the tasks here involve students confronting one another and exposing their insecurities. The final rounds even bring hypnosis into the picture, making the competition considerably more disturbing than before.

The supporting characters also have interesting backstories, but not all of them get enough room to develop. There are several emotional threads involving troubled families, jealousy and unhealthy relationships, but the series sometimes seems more interested in adding another twist than exploring these issues properly.

And if you are someone who loved the original film for its larger-than-life sets, colourful costumes, catchy songs and romantic drama, this new version might come as quite a surprise. The familiar campus is still there, but the mood is almost the opposite of what fans remember.

Final Verdict

Student Of The Year: After Dark certainly deserves credit for trying something different with a familiar franchise. A murder mystery set inside an elite school, with a group of students who all have secrets, sounds like an interesting weekend watch.

However, a darker atmosphere and a bunch of unexpected revelations cannot do all the heavy lifting. The series has some interesting ideas, but its scattered storytelling and uneven character development stop it from becoming a completely satisfying thriller.

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What is the plot of Student Of The Year: After Dark?

The six-episode series follows twin sisters Aayesha and Aditi Malik, both played by Shanaya Kapoor. After Aayesha is found dead in a frozen lake under mysterious circumstances at St. Teresa Heritage School, Aditi enrolls undercover to find out what really happened and gets entangled in a dangerous school competition where almost everyone is a suspect.

Where can I watch Student Of The Year: After Dark?

Student Of The Year: After Dark is streaming on JioHotstar, having premiered on November 13, 2026.

Who directs and stars in Student Of The Year: After Dark?

The series is directed by Reema Maya and stars Shanaya Kapoor in a dual lead role as twin sisters Aayesha and Aditi Malik, alongside a supporting cast that includes Divik Sharma, Manya Grover, Abhinav Singh, and Deeya Damini.

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