REJCTX 2 Review: Goldie Behl's whodunit twist to Student of the Year with a dash of Gossip Girl falls flat

Series Name: REJCTX 2

REJCTX 2 Director: Goldie Behl

REJCTX 2 Cast: Sumeet Vyas, Esha Gupta, Ahmed Masi Wali, Anisha Victor and Ayush Khurana. 

There hasn't been a dull day since the lockdown began. Every week, we are served with a new series to binge. This week, we've been bestowed with REJCTX 2 and honestly, I wanted to reject this show so hard! Having watched the first season of the Zee5 show just last week, the memories of this wannabe High School Musical stood fresh in my mind when I decided to binge the second season. Honestly, I couldn't watch the series in one go because of how predictable, cringy, and downright unentertaining it is.

We have had our share of teen dramas intertwined with themes of romance, suspense, musicals, thrillers and even horror. A few of the best examples being High School Musical, Gossip Girl, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Pretty Little Liars, Elite and Riverdale. Well, Goldie Behl seems to have picked out the best elements from these international dramas movies and series to a hard to digest REJCTX 2. The second season starts off with the mysterious death of Anushka Rao, played by Kubbra Sait. Given Anushka's recent history, it was obvious that Aarav Sharma (Ahmed Masi Wali) was the prime suspect. 

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As the second season unfolds, a faceless "X" sets a trap for every member of REJCTX which leads to an attack on a fresher, a porn clip in making and a supposed death of a REJCTX member. The plots and subplots are planted over eight episodes. This blend of love, sex and dhokha with a sprinkle of music is exhausting, especially since the actual point of the story comes to the spotlight only in the fifth episode. Although the focus should have remained on "Who killed Anushka Rao?" -- the motive behind introducing Esha Gupta's Officer Rene -- but the purpose gets lost in the attempt to layer the show. 

There is also an Aarav 2.0 aka a janitor named Jackie who is a doppelganger of the student. The idea behind his character is interesting but the execution fails the thought. There is also a concept of Gossip Girl, a platform that is run by Parnomitra and Harry that tries hard to add the juice to the stale salad but it doesn't last long. 

There are numerous continuity errors and plot holes. For example, the first season featured a supposed South Korean student named Steve who left no opportunity to bring the REJCTX members down. Where did he disappear? How did Yesha become Maddy's girlfriend when he was loud and clear that he wanted to take things slow? Why are there so many questions with no answers arising following every episode?

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The actors playing students are bad. They cannot lip-sync properly, they don't look enthusiastic about their musical routines and the female students of the series were unfortunately reduced to sexual objects. It felt like Goldie was making up for the lack of acting by showing some unnecessary flesh. Kiara (Anisha Victor) wears a prom outfit that God knows why kept reminding me of the famous Playboy bunny outfit. It was difficult to focus on the scene when she was in the frame wearing something like that. 

It was a pain to watch Sumeet Vyas do whatever he was doing in that show. The talented actor putting his best foot forward with his act in shows like Trippling, Permanent Roommates and even Veere Di Wedding (where his role was limited). However, playing the anxiety-ridden Vice Principal who was answerable to his students about his every move was disappointing.  The intention behind REJCTX 2 was interesting. However, the execution made the show just another series on an OTT platform that can be skipped.