Stree 2 Movie Review: Shraddha Kapoor dazzles in this ‘my-STREE-rious’ thriller along with Rajkummar Rao

There have been many films in the past whose sequels have outshined the first part and vice versa. This week sees the release of Stree 2, the much-awaited sequel of the 2018 sleeper hit Stree. While Stree had the tagline ‘Oh Stree, kal aana’, Stree 2 goes with the tagline ‘Oh Stree, raksha karna’. Will the Stree ‘protect’ the film’s sequel from biting the dust and eventually take it up to the skies, let's find out!

First things first. It's advisable that before watching Stree 2, one should be well-versed with the premise of the film. Hence, before you step into the territory of Stree 2, get yourself well versed with the characters and the premise of the film by watching its first part- Stree. Now that you are all set, let's explore Stree 2. 

To begun with, Stree 2 starts off from where Stree had ‘left’! The village of Chanderi wake up to the shocking fact that the young ladies were disappearing mysteriously from their village. And when one day, Bittu’s (Aparshakti Khurana) girlfriend Chitti (Anya Singh) disappears under mysterious circumstances, that’s when his best friend Vicky/ Bicky (Rajkummar Rao) and Rudra (Pankaj Tripathi) vow to unravel the mystery behind all this. 

When the trio set on a trail to search Chitti, Vicky comes across (once again) his selfless and seamless love interest (Shraddha Kapoor), who reveals that the real reason behind the mysterious disappearances of the young ladies was the demon called ‘Sarkata’. It is him, who simply whisks away the ladies, tonsures them and keeps them as his captive.

What could be the reason for the deadly Sarkata to whisk away the young ladies and tonsure them, do the trio of Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurana manage to solve the mystery, what happens to the love story between Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor and does the ‘Stree-mystery’ ultimately gets solved is what forms the rest of the gripping film!

Full marks to the film’s director Amar Kaushik for giving exemplary shape to the film. Right from the word go, every frame of the film seems to be a masterpiece in itself. He seems to have mastered the art of the seamless integration of comedy with horror, which shows in the film. By the time the film ends, he ensures that the audiences get more than their money’s worth!

A well deserving pat on the back for the film’s writer Niren Bhatt for having cracked the crackling idea for the sequel. Barring a few scenes, there is hardly any dull moment in the film. Besides the near-perfect performances, the film’s dialogues (esp. the ‘spoofy’ one liners) will surely have you in splits… almost every split second!

Also Read: Netizens upset as they spot Shraddha Kapoor's Stree 2 poster heavily inspired by Stranger Things 2

What works miraculously in the film’s favour is that, rather than venturing into uncharted territory, Amar Kaushik and Niren Bhatt have preserved the eternal charm of the ‘OG’ Stree. This will surely act as a key factor in the film's success. 

In a movie that’s filled (and not infested) with many good aspects, the flip side does not hold much water. The only drawback that the film suffers from is in its second half … just minutes before approaching the climax. Even though the film’s editing (Hemanti Sarkar) is crisp and watertight in totality, the film’s second half requires trimming by a good 5-8 minutes!

Besides that, the presence of two songs as the end credits simply ends up dragging the film. This could have been avoided. Cinematography by Jishnu Bhattacharjee is spot-on. Full marks to the VFX (Digital Domain) used in the film. It has simply upped the level of graphics in Bollywood.

As for the performances, Stree 2 totally belongs to the inimitable pair of Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Even though the screen space of Shraddha Kapoor is comparatively limited to that of Rajkummar Rao, thanks to her splendidly superlative performance, she makes the film come alive in front of your eyes! While Shraddha Kapoor sticks to her character (as per the demand of the role), it’s the super versatile Rajkummar Rao, whose innocence will simply make you go weak on the knees.

Also Read: Stree 2 - 5 reasons to watch Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao's horror comedy...

The veteran actor Pankaj Tripathi comes up with a stellar act yet again! The poker face with which he evokes laughter is surely commendable. Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee, despite being their usual self, land up surprising you at many places.

While the presence of Tamannaah Bhatia brings in the oomph factor in abundance, Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan are just too good in their respective characters! Did we mention that the trio of Tamannaah Bhatia, Akshay Kumar and Varun Dhawan appear in the film as cameos!

Overall, Stree 2 will prove to be a silver screen’s perfect golden gift for the entire family. This film has all the potential to effortlessly sleepwalk its way to the 200-crore club… to begin with. Post that, sky's the limit!

All in all, we can rightfully say, ‘Stree came, Stree saw, Stree conquered’! Take a bow… Stree 2!

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