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It’s a man’s world, it’s a woman’s world. It’s a man’s world, it’s a woman’s world. Between this war of sexes, politicians managed to polarize the world and Maddock Films crafted a crackling comic-horror franchise. Stree 2 is Amar Kaushik’s sequel to the charming 2018 film Stree which won us over with its disarming humor, original horror, and the rustic vibrance of a sleepy little town called Chanderi. Headlined once again by Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) besotted by a mysterious nameless woman (Shraddha Kapoor), Stree 2 emanates the same scent of the soil with an effective commentary on gender in the background.
Kaushik’s technique reminds you of cinema from the ‘70s – amusingly both the Prakash Mehra magnum opuses and the Basu Chatterjee charmers. I know it’s too much to ask in 2024 but his films come with concrete stories. In Stree 2, Chanderi generates the right kind of déjà vu. It’s not the slice-of-life genre but a familiar village lane, a roof, a road, and so many other things give us a unique fly-on-the-wall view.
The atmospherics in the writing (Niren Bhatt) also help to set up a believable premise for its scary events. Mind you, Stree 2 does not have a charismatic, chest-beating villain. He is a headless VFX creature who is out on a woman hunt. While the reason for his prowl makes me believe he is an unpaid IT cell worker, it does help in sending across a noble message. Women must do anything that they would want to.
At the outset of a horrible event that recently unfolded in a Kolkata hospital, Kaushik’s film raises the right questions on a woman’s right to live, let alone her right to safety. Throughout Stree 2, I asked myself who is a demon in our society. A demon created by VFX experts is intimidating but is never as scary in a world where beasts run the show.
Coming back from a mild diversion, Stree 2’s honest activism is pretty much the need of the hour. The writer neither over-complicates it with sermons on gender nor does he deviate from the film’s intimate surroundings. It is a rare film that knows when to be cute, raunchy, and serious.
ALSO READ: ‘Stree’ review – When women call the shots
This time, the screenplay attempts to capture a wider cross-section of audiences. If the vintage Bollywood music lover in me blushed at the ‘Pyaar Diwana Hota Hai’ plug, the film’s take on ‘Soft Kitty’ had the Big Bang Theory buff in me make cartwheels. The jokes continuously click (except once or twice) and even when they veer into the risqué zones, their delivery refuses to sound cringe. It helps that the original cast members are so good at becoming solid cogs in the wheel of this eccentric universe.
Stree 2 is also a manna from heaven for Hindi language aficionados. Pankaj Tripathi’s rendition of the language – at the cost of making a bold statement – beats every actor in the industry including Amitabh Bachchan. He makes us fall in love with words such as nartaki, anand, abhyas, and more. We know the language is his prime forte but what he gets in Kaushik and Bhatt’s film is a canvas to be a man of sumptuous words. Rajkummar Rao is no less – be it with the language or the flawless comic timing. It’s not the most manliest of roles but, boy, what a terrific shot to superstardom he has with the film. Shraddha Kapoor knows what she is up to. The actor’s innate poise and quiet demeanor add volumes to the character’s mystery and the camera is in eternal love with her.
Aparshakti Khurrana gets his share of lines although I wish he had a bit more to do around the finale. Abhishek Banerjee is a rare talent who has cracked the formula of physical comedy. The lines are fantastic but you will still chuckle if the man is made to stand in the corner of a frame. When was the last time Bollywood had such a performer? Rajpal Yadav? Arshad Warsi? I can’t remember. I don’t mean to slot him as a comedian, but what an actor!
The most liberating aspect of the film is how it dismantles the ideal of masculinity. The hero of the film is Vicky (Rao). He is no Simbba or Pathaan. He is not even an underdog to rise from the ashes. Vicky is an average ladies’ tailor. The last and only time I saw a hero take up the profession was Rao himself in the prequel. A man with no known sex life, he is fearless in love (you will have to watch his final exchange with Kapoor’s character). Vicky shivers at the drop of a hat but does not hesitate to take responsibility for his village and the woman he loves. Vicky’s courage proves how no man is ordinary and all you need to be a hero is confidence and a ghagra – not throat-tearing roars and superhero capes.
Stree 2 does falter occasionally when it attempts intense franchise baiting. The detour to meet Akshay Kumar (who makes no sense in a cameo) extends the film’s run-time besides looking way different from the rest of the film. The mental health institution is one that you would find in a Priyadarshan comedy, not in an Amar Kaushik scarefare. The area of cameos is also where the Bhediya integration scores. Jana (Banerjee) is a link between the two, and the Plan “B” he proposes lends consistency to the writing. However, the extended end credits with two songs do not add anything to the film besides complicating what they consider the Maddock Supernatural Universe. Instead of setting up complex plans for the future, can we not focus on telling good stories?
I must agree the anomalies in Stree 2 get eclipsed upon weighing against its merits. Much like the prequel, Kaushik adds a fun item number to his plot but the woman isn’t here for titillation. There’s oomph and dignity in Shama (Tamannah) who sizzles in the groovy ‘Aaj Ki Raat’ (Sachin-Jigar). With excess night sequences, the DOP (Jishnu Bhattacharjee) adds excitement even to the most elementary jump scares. The run-time is adequate and some risky intercuts (edited by Hemanti Sarkar) during the climactic duel are safe at the hands of brilliant actors like Tripathi and Banerjee.
In short, I had a ball watching Stree 2. Amar Kaushik is a filmmaker whose directorial efforts have unfailingly impressed me. The man comes with a solid sensibility which he says with conviction and simplicity. His ambition, output, and quality make me become a desi uncle to quietly murmur ‘jeete raho’ as I walk out of a cinema with a wide grin and a song on my lips.
Rating: ★★★★
