For her first OTT series, Shanaya Kapoor agreed to a transformation that pointed away from polish. Director Reema Maya says the actor cut her hair, stopped using conditioner and shot without makeup for Student of the Year: After Dark.
A deliberate de-glamourisation
The series takes the familiar Student of the Year campus setting into a darker, suspense-driven direction. Kapoor plays twin sisters Aditi and Ayesha Shroff, and Maya wanted the look to carry the characters rather than the actor’s established image.
Maya said she would discuss each idea with Kapoor and found “never any pushback.” The actor cut her hair, and the director told her to stop conditioning it so it could be roughened for the part.
The styling was deliberately reductive. “We did not give her any makeup,” Maya said. Instead, the team added “dark circles, freckles and imperfections” to de-glamourise her, and Kapoor accepted the treatment.
Maya described the actor’s approach as “complete commitment to the character,” with no concern about whether she looked glamorous on screen.
What the series demands
- Double role: Aditi and Ayesha Shroff, twin sisters at the centre of a mystery.
- Transformation: hair cut, no conditioner, no makeup, added dark circles and freckles.
- Director’s note: Reema Maya says there was no pushback and complete commitment.
- Release: JioHotstar, November 13.
Why it matters
For an actor making an OTT debut, a visible de-glam is a small declaration. It asks the audience to meet Kapoor as a performer, not as a poster. The project follows her work in Aankhon Ki Gustaakhiyan and Tu Yaa Main, but the twin roles and darker campus mystery give the series a different register.
The Student of the Year label has long carried a glossier association, so stripping that away is a narrative signal as much as a styling choice. By agreeing to a look that suppresses vanity, Kapoor signals that the part, not the presentation, is the point.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com
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