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Student life is not a cakewalk no matter how much our parents say “Beta bas do saal padhai, fir maze hai”. We all know how big a sham it really is! Navigating school and college campuses is a separate struggle we’ve all struggled with at some point in our lives. While some of us are still at it, we also won’t deny that it’s not all bad either. The campus brings challenges and hardships but it also brings us one of the most carefree times of our lives. Be it barely making it to the assignment submission deadline or making it through a lecture without dozing off, the nail-biting stress just before the results, or pranking our classmates, every little thing comes with its own share of adrenaline rush and leaves us with immense life lessons for our future ahead. We end up making friends that may or may not last a lifetime and we learn skills we couldn’t have learnt anywhere else. And we all have a go-to show or a movie that hits this student nostalgia right at the correct spot.
Here are some of the recent buzz-worthy movies and series that brought us back the glimpses of those days on screen:
- Chhichhore (2019)
A beautiful ensemble cast portrayed as college buddies coming of age who end up having an unprecedented reunion to help the kid of the lead pair Anni and Maya (played by Sushant Singh Rajput & Shraddha Kapoor) navigate a tough phase in his student life and make him realise that just an exam or a college isn’t the end of life and that there is so much more to a college and education than just bookish knowledge. Consequently, the group of friends revisit their college memories, cherish them and repair the damage the time and distance after college being over had done to their friendships. This movie subsequently stresses students’ mental health and does a fair job of delivering a strong message about suicide prevention.
Streaming on: Disney+ Hotstar
- Kota Factory (2019)
If you’re one of those who underwent the usual drill of P-C-M (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics) in the last two years of school, then you must know the hype about getting into an IIT and the roller coaster of coaching centers to crack the entrance for the same. And TVF’s Kota Factory brings that phase to the screen bare and naked! A very precise cast, script, and direction. It seems like the entire crew knew what it was doing. An absolute sappy delight with a great background score. It’s very relatable for those who underwent this drill, and even for those who didn’t but had peers who did. It’s also very inspiring for those undergoing the phase this show portrays. A new, much-awaited second season of Kota Factory is due for release later this year.
Streaming on: TVF Play
- College Romance (2018)
College Romance is a dual seasoned bittersweet ride back to the campus. The show recently got its second season released earlier this year after a three-year wait for the viewers. It shows how a sweet college romance accelerates very quickly and is as quick to crash brutally and lead to heartbreak. The way the cast brings out the authenticity of the characters as college students is the prime reason for the popularity of the show. This show’s portrayal of a college and its inhabitants is as real as it gets. The show is extraordinarily funny with excellent punch lines and of course very relatable. It’s going to be a guaranteed laughter riot if you end up binging this at the next reunion with your college buddies.
Streaming on: Sony LIV
- Girls Hostel (2018)
This show recently got its second season after a three-year-long wait by its viewers and it doesn’t disappoint. A female-centric series with the majority of its cast played by women is surely a USP of this show. This show is about the lives of four girls in the hostel of a medical college and how they compete against each other to get ahead of one another but at the same time find a bond of sisterhood to bind them together and protest against the poor hostel management by the hostel authorities. The show offers drama, suspense, and humor where the first season revolves mostly around rivalries and ‘why can’t girls have all the fun’ and is full of laughter evoking punches. The second season, however, takes up several issues like hostel management by authorities, eve-teasing, etc. but seems to lose out on its humor quotient somehow. But, with a lot of sleepovers, lifelong friendships, long gossip sessions, and group studies, you’re sure to revisit your hostel days and mischievous memories of the same with this show.
Streaming on: Sony LIV
- Mismatched (2020)
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmwNNkix-k
The coming-of-age- romantic drama is based on Bestselling Author Sandhya Menon’s When Dimple Met Rishi. Two teens who are set up by their families strike up a tentative friendship at a summer program. Starring Prajakta Koli as Dimple Ahuja, Rohit Saraf as Rishi Singh Shekhawat, Rannvijay Singha as Professor Siddharth Sinha. In Season one of the series Dimple wants to develop apps, an ambitious hard-working woman who wants to attend computer class away from her home. While Rishi, an avid believer of 60s love, wants to have an arranged marriage. He signs up for the same computer class to know Dimple more. The first season ends up where Rishi loses the championship to Dimple. These two diverse characters bring up comedy in the drama with their contrasting personalities. Fans are eagerly waiting for season 2 which is due in late 2021 or early 2022.
Streaming on: Netflix
School and college seem to be too much when we’re living it, but then it feels like it’s gone too soon once we’re done with it. In this classic dilemma between what to hold on to between the hardships and the fun, we had on campus, usually the latter wins the battle. Since nostalgia for the campus is never-ending, we have seen a rise in campus-based content and it seems like this trend is here to stay.
Wish we could go back to campus, but till that happens we can binge one from the list and take a virtual trip down memory lane.
