Karan Johar reimagines Student Of The Year with thriller series After Dark, Shanaya Kapoor to debut on OTT

For more than a decade, Student Of The Year has been associated with campus rivalries, romance, friendship and high-gloss college life. The franchise is now entering a new phase, with its familiar world being reworked for a streaming audience through a story that promises a more intense and suspense-driven approach. The upcoming series titled Student Of The Year: After Dark brings a fresh creative vision to the property, with Shanaya Kapoor taking on a new milestone in her career.

Shanaya Kapoor to make her debut in OTT

The series marks another step in Shanaya Kapoor’s acting career as she moves into the streaming space. Her casting places her at the centre of a new chapter for the franchise, which is attempting to revisit a familiar property through a different storytelling style.

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At the centre of this reinvention is Shanaya Kapoor, making a digital debut that defies all expectations. Gone is the sparkle of the classic campus queen. In her place stands a fierce, enigmatic figure, stained with blood, eyes burning with secrets, and a storm brewing behind the gates of St Theresa. This isn’t just a launch; it’s an explosion.

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The first look at Student Of The Year: After Dark Web Series is finally here, marking a daring reinvention of one of Bollywood’s most beloved franchises, the very one that gave India its most iconic love triangles. What once shimmered with sequins and sunshine now crackles with mystery and danger. The franchise is now reborn, not as a film but as a cutting-edge web series, boldly stepping into unexplored, darker territory.

Directed by Reema Maya and produced by Dharmatic Entertainment, Student of The Year: After Dark web series will be streaming on JioHotstar exclusively from November 13.

A darker direction for the franchise

Karan Johar, the mastermind who launched the original SOTY in 2012, 14 years ago, returns not only as a producer but also as the heart of the project, entrusting Reema to steer the franchise into uncharted waters.

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The filmmaker said, "“When I look at this new chapter, I see a phoenix rising. We began this franchise with big dreams in 2012, and now we’re breaking every rule we set. With Reema’s genre-defying direction and Shanaya’s powerful double-role performance, we’re setting the stage for something spectacular. Shanaya isn’t just stepping into the spotlight; she’s shattering it, and the first look is just the tip of the iceberg."

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Alok Jain, Head – Hindi & English Entertainment Business (Streaming, TV & Studios), JioStar stated, “Student of the Year is a generational favourite, and reimagining an iconic franchise for a new format and a new generation comes with both responsibility and creative risk. Karan Johar created a world that became a defining part of youth culture, and with Student of the Year: After Dark, we have consciously chosen to take that legacy in a completely new direction, moving beyond what audiences may expect from the franchise and exploring a world that reflects how young India experiences stories today. It is an exciting creative leap bringing back a familiar and much-loved IP in a completely new avatar, while retaining the spirit of what made it connect with audiences in the first place."

All about the Student of the Year

Dharma Productions marked 14 years of Student Of The Year on October 19, 2026, with a nostalgic video celebrating the film’s cast, music and love-triangle storyline. Directed by Karan Johar, the 2012 release introduced Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra to Hindi cinema. The studio also directed viewers to Netflix to revisit the film. The anniversary coincides with the announcement of Student Of The Year: After Dark, a darker web series reimagining starring Shanaya Kapoor, scheduled to premiere on JioHotstar next month.

The film featured an ensemble cast that included Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt, Rishi Kapoor, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor, Farida Jalal, Sana Saeed and Kayoze Irani.