Stree 2 Review: Rajkummar-Shraddha Kapoor Starrer Delivers An Important Message Behind The Laughs

Stree 2 Movie Review: Rarely a movie generates so much excitement among viewers as Shrdha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao starrer horror comedy, which hit screens on August 15. Rewind 6 years back, Stree turned out to be a sleeper hit, eliciting chuckles with its tongue-in-cheek humour and well-crafted horror elements. Fast forward to 2024, not much has changed in template of film and quaint town of Chanderi. Except, this time around, residents are more skeptical than ever, waiting for evil to feed off ir fears.

But re's a lot more to it than appears on surface. narrative strides forth riding on current of feminism and blends with perennial mirth ingrained in its goofy characters. What audiences get is a worthy successor to a franchise that not only entertains but provokes an after-thought about agency of women in a patriarchal world. Stree 2 becomes a contemporary, issue-based film when seen in context of atrocities against women. However, its light-hearted humour and hilarious one-liners don't let plot get too serious.

Sarkata, or heless demon, is loose in town of Chanderi and feeds off "independent" women. He n becomes a metaphor for society at large that wants to lock up women, fearing ir independence will topple existing and obsolete social structures. This is beautifully captured in a scene in Stree 2 when Sarkata hypnotizes men in Chanderi who, in turn, lock up women behind doors. For those expecting subtlety, such scenes commenting on gender disparity are aplenty, for those who prefer an on--nose approach, specific scenes play out so that you can't miss message behind laughs.

Anor such instance is when out of fear of Sarkata's aatank (terror), women in Chanderi get ir blouses altered to hide ir skin. Its anor sharp critique of mindset of men and goes on to emphasise how small village is just a microcosm of modern but archaic India.

Coming to film's highlights, Stree 2 is driven by spectacular performances from Rajkummar Rao as Vicky, Pankaj Tripathi as Rudra, Abhishek Banerjee as Jana and Aparshakti as Bittoo. y take viewers on a laughter ride with no stops. film tries to infuse or elements like jump-scares and drama in-between ir relentless goofball moments. Shrdha Kapoor's presence is noticeable to a point and she has a clap-worthy entry scene, but beyond that, not much. In climax, we can see her do some action and she shoulders a small but decently-written role that suits her well.

Mdock Films' horror-verse is in safe hands. Director Amar Kaushik has not erred in sewing toger franchise films in past and teases what will follow. horror elements scare you, funny moments tickle you and seriousness of plot, although not apparent, is dramatic enough to engage you. Stree 2 raises bar for Bollywood and proves that not all content needs to be mounted on a big scale. Thoughtful storytelling and entertainment matter, and Stree 2 brings m back in focus.

Rating: 4/5 Stars