Stree 2 works big-time despite some avoidable flaws

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A sequel again! This one is bigger, not really better, but one can say it is strictly faithful to the canon and almost as good. Besides, a strong brand works on its own strength. The new film has to be a true-blue cataclysm to fail, and thankfully, Stree 2 is emphatically not a downer.

Stree 2 follows all the rules of the first. The original story was written by Raj & DK (Go Goa Gone being their zombie comedy) based on a folk belief from Karnataka, just as the recent Munjya from the same production banner was inspired by a Konkani legend. But Stree 2, penned by Niren Bhatt, broadens the scope of the original with familiar tropes as well as small touches of newness.

Also, being a part of producer Dinesh Vijan’s horror comedy ‘vision’(!), it must inculcate other members from that series, and thus we have a smooth segue with Bhediya in the climax. A key character here, Janaa (Abhishek Banerjee), was already interspersed in that film as well as Munjya.

But what could have kept under strict check is the overall length of this film. For example, Bhediya (or Bhaskar, to give this character’s name, essayed by Varun Dhawan) is retained after his job here is done, even for a song that is a part of an inordinately long post-climax. The only major issue I have had with every member of the Horror Comedy Universe is the stretched climax after a great beginning and middle. Horror comedies with succinct climaxes, a la Go Goa Gone or Golmaal Again, are rare but ideal.

Munjya had the novelty of a CGI-constructed ghost, and here we again have CGI utilized in the making of the ghost. Director Amar Kaushik goes all out to bring in the right mix of chills and chuckles, but this time, the aim seems to be more of chills than chuckles. The relation with the original film is that the new malevolent spirit (also with a back-story) targets women, not men, and has surfaced in the village after (and because) Stree has been vanquished. In the last film, the residents of Chanderi inscribed “Stree, come another day” on their walls, but now, it is “Stree, protect us” that is the new blurb.

The new ghoul abducts women who are modern in thought and behavior. Bittu (Aparshakti Khurana) now has a girlfriend, Chitti (Anya Singh) who is abducted early on. And yes, before I forget, Mr. Ghost is someone who can take out his head and move around, spreading terror. He is thus named Sarkata (the headless one). Not just that: a mysterious warning letter has been delivered to the self-important librarian, Rudra (Pankaj Tripathi). The library, of course, has the book, Chanderi Puran, that also predicts the coming of the evil spirit and tells something about the solution for it.

Vicky (Rajkummar Rao), search for Chitti, happens to come across the girl who he had once thought was Stree (Shraddha Kapoor), and she soon tells him details about the new ghost and how he can destroy him. Vicky has always loved this girl, and from his side is now revived. She warns him that she cannot deal with the ghost herself. With Rudra and Bittu, Vicky now takes it upon himself to tackle the new intruder.

As Sarkata is known to be a lecher, Rudra invites dancer Shama, his own flame, to perform in the village and thus attract Sarkata so that he can be destroyed in the way it is instructed. But Shama too is abducted. What happens next?

We have a hilarious cameo from Akshay Kumar as a (literal) lunatic in an asylum who thinks he is Emperor Shah Jehan, but he is interestingly made a part of the main plot. Delightful turns come in from Abhishek Banerjee and Pankaj Tripathi. Both are amazing in their respective earlier roles, and better than in they were in Stree. Rajkummar Rao fares well. Shraddha Kapoor has little to do, but she is good in her fight sequences with Sarkata and her eyes express so much. Sunita Rajwar as Jana’s mother is excellent.

Sachin-Jigar’s music is far above today’s times, with great lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya. “Aaj ki raat” looms tall in the soundtrack, with “Aayi nai” and “Tumhare hi rahenge hum” also working very well. Justin Verghese’s background score scores too.

The technical side is extremely upbeat, and high marks are in order for Jishnu Bharttacharjee’s camerawork and the VFX and DI. The production design by Mayur Sharma and sets by Sabyasachi Misra also score high.

And so will the film at the box-office.

Rating: ***1/2

Maddock Films’ & Jio Studios’ Stree 2 Produced by: Dinesh Vijan & Jyoti Deshpande  Directed by: Amar Kaushik  Written by: Niren Bhatt  Music: Sachin-Jigar  Starring: Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, Aparshakti Khurana, Anya Singh, Atul Shrivastava, Sunita Rajwar Sp. App.: Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan & Tamannaah Bhatia & others