The chief pleasure of the ‘Stree’ films is watching Rajkummar Rao, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, and the delightful Abhishek Banerjee. Whoever thought of throwing in these four together is a genius.
The Stree universe, directed by Amar Kaushik, truly has the most obedient ghost in the history of the movies. In the first part, she saw the words “O Stree, Kal Aana”, and obediently stayed away from wherever those words were written. In this second part, which has the deliciously pulpy title of Sarkate Ka Aatank (Terror of the Headless), she sees a new set of words. This time, it is “O Stree, Raksha Karna”, and again, she stays away. At least, earlier, she chose to terrorise the men who were found outside the vicinity of those words, or where one or more of those words were erased. Here, she stays away completely. That, I suppose, is a form of raksha, protection. She proves even more obedient at the film’s end, when she answers the call of… I won’t tell you, but it is a very satisfying answer to who the unnamed Shraddha Kapoor character from Part 1 is.
This unnamed Shraddha Kapoor character returns in Part 2, which plays safe and follows the same rules as Part 1. (Why mess with a winning formula, right?) Rule 1: Keep it more funny than scary. Rule 2: Keep the story more or less the same, and do riffs on what made audiences love Part 1. This is the universal formula for sequels, and Stree 2 is no different. But what’s new is the expansion of the Maddock Supernatural Universe, which allows for crossover cameos. These work better in these comic book-type movies than in films set in a more real world, and the suspension of disbelief is easier. But most of all, like in Part 1, what makes the whole thing click is the cast: Rajkummar Rao as Vicky, Aparshakti Khurana as Bittu, Pankaj Tripathi as Rudra, and the delightful Abhishek Banerjee as Jana. Whoever thought of throwing in these four together is a genius.
It may seem strange to praise a bread-and-butter “genre film” for the quality of acting, but that is the chief pleasure of the Stree films. Watch Pankaj Tripathi narrate a recap of Part 1, over the opening credits, in a bhajan / kirtan form during a religious festival. Watch Rajkummar Rao do the now-trademarked fast-talking thing, and follow it up with a one-legged mini-dance. Watch Aparshakti Khurana make an ass of himself over a woman. (Sample line: “Virgin tel achcha hota hai, male nahin.”) Watch Abhishek Banerjee… well, watch him do anything. The actor is the secret weapon of this series, and it’s no surprise that, of everyone, he is the one who gets some sort of a “hero reveal” shot. His manic expressions are to die for, almost on par with Vicky’s father’s shady statements about a young man’s virility. The walking-elephant gag is the silliest, funniest thing I have seen in a while.
These A-list actors elevate this B-movie, which – like Part 1 – is silly, funny, but makes you wish they had done more with this premise. In Part 1, the men were abducted. This time, it’s women – not just any woman but the ones who are “modern”. Rudra has a very amusing moment where he tells a group of traditional ladies (or ladeej, in this film’s dialect) why they are no less modern than the women who smoke or wear jeans. And this time, the monster is male. His lair has lava, a superbly cheesy touch. But I wished the visual effects had been cruder, with a Ramsay brothers flavour more befitting this universe. The one that has two people merging is breathtakingly beautiful, but also too sophisticated for the story being told. But it does have a nice naughty gag where “virgin” Vicky almost gets to cop a feel.
The rest of the film is more of the same, and the climax goes on and on. I wish they had found something better – something more magical – to do with the mystery about Shraddha Kapoor’s hair, which goes back to the ending of Part 1. I wish Rudra’s unexpected association with a dancer had been fleshed out some more, used for more funny situations. I wish the Big Star cameo had yielded a funnier scene, though the thought of a marble toilet left me smiling. I wish the climax face-off had been more thrilling. But why complain that Stree 2 isn’t a better movie? It gives us exactly what we go in for, and these days, that seems like achievement enough. Plus, the four actors at the centre: as long as they sign on, I am game for any number of Stree-quels.
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