Stree 2 Review – The Multiverse of Horror, Comedy and Fantasy!

“Chanderi Puran mein likha hai, Chitti Ganji hai par Zinda Hai”

Warning – this review will be full of spoilers. Avoid reading if you haven’t watched it yet. Dekh aao fir padhna, zyada maza ayega. Aur agar sirf verdict chahiye toh you can skip directly to the last paragraph. Yaad rakhna, ‘Sarkata influencer hai, aur Dilli mein khatra hai.’

Opening and Setup

Stree 2 starts exactly from where the first film ended, Stree is looking at her statue where it reads, O Stree Rakhsha Karna. As soon as she leaves we, get to see the Sarkata coming out and taking away a girl. Chanderi now celebrates and honours Stree, and Vicky is regarded as official Chanderi Ka Rakshak.

Vicky is still dreaming about her dream girl. His father is still concerned for him and Bittu has a girlfriend (not really). Jana is missing but the friendship of Vicky and Bittu is just the same. Rudra bhaiya comes to Vicky telling him about the new threat. We are directly thrown into the story and characters along with superb comedy. A very apt opening, where they make the audience interested from the start. And this continues till the very end.

Sarkata – Khatarnaak Villain

A good villain is what makes the hero great. They made Sarkata too powerful. Till the very end, there was not one moment where anybody came remotely close to defeating him. Bas chillata rehta tha. Ek-do jump scares mein toh main bhi darr gaya tha.

Shraddha’s entry brought a loud cheer in the theatre. We thought she would beat him, but aram se utha ke fek diya. Hume laga tha hum jeetenge, lekin ulta hi ho gaya. Stree ki murti tod di. Uski body se sar alag kar diya. Aur uske sar pe pair rakh ke pose mara. Dominance! Epic interval block and this moment. Bata diya di Sarkata mazak nahi hai.

Actors and Characters

I loved Abhishek Banerjee in Bhediya. I felt his comic timing had become impeccable and he was clearly the best in Bhediya. But here, I can’t decide between Rajkummar Rao and him. Kaun zyada funny hai? Even Rajkummar Rao’s comic timing is gone too up. When Jana dies (for 3 minutes), he switches from comedy to emotional with so much ease, even I got emotional.

Pankaj Tripathi great as always. Aparshakti Khurana too. But I felt his role was written a bit less in this film. Whenever 3 or 4 boys were together, all the scenes brought big laughs.

Shraddha Kapoor ka screen time thoda kam laga overall, but action sequence ne sab vassol kar diya. They have maintained her mystery even now. Thoda bataya (Stree ki Beti), Thoda chhupaya (Naam).

Tamannaah as Shama was too beautiful. She felt part of the story and not just a cameo. Even Akshay Kumar and Anya Singh were integrated very well in the story. Akshay’s cameo was too funny. That’s the Akshay we miss. Aur fir end mein to… uffff! I say make him the Thanos of this Universe!

Pata nahi tumne notice kiya ya nahi, par Fu-Fu ad wale Nandu ka bhi cameo tha. He was the postman.

Director Amar Kaushik too played a cameo as the begger, and again appeared in Aaj Ki Raat song.

Comedy

Dekho aisa hai, comedy bahaut zyada acchi hai, mujhe bolne ki zarurat nahi. Jab wapas aya aur dosto se, ya insta DM mein audience se bat karni start ki.. itne sare jokes discuss karne ko the ki impossible ho gaya tha sab mention karna. Reh reh ke yaad aa rahe the jokes aur scenes. So comedy section mein kuch khas kehne ko nahi hai. Haan, aap apne favourite dialogues zarur likhna comments mein.

Writing and Direction

Amar Kaushik and Niren Bhatt, take a bow! You have delivered the best Indian fantasy fiction and the audience’s response is a testament to that. At a time when movies are not impressive, plots are template based and predictable, you have taken such great care in delivering an individual film and a universe together, while maintaining the core essence of the characters and theme.

Other Universes

All other franchises are struggling to build a universe. They are either only resorted to cameos or taking too much time in setup. Not giving any clear direction as of where it is all heading. Spy Universe started setting up very well in Pathaan but went nowhere in.Tiger 3. Bas mediocre sa Srk cameo repeat kar diya aur last week mein Hrithik ka War 2 intro shoot kar liya. Half baked efforts.

Cop Universe ke naam pe Simmba ke end mein cameo tha and Sooryavanshi ke end mein bhi. Both were great, loved them, but wo repeated actors ka use karna is a big flaw in the Universe. Then Indian Police Force mein kuch nahi kiya unhone. So bada dheela build up hai.

Loki Universe I love, but the problem with Loki is that he is a single director doing it and different production houses. Leo had good integration in the writing but apart from that, kam hi raha hai. You need a producer and multiple directors to make a good universe, warna bahaut zyada time bhi lagega and mushkil bhi hai. Plus Thalapathy Vijay is gonna retire so.. kya hi bolein.

MHCU – The Best Universe Out There

I know, some people have other favourites but let me give you my reasons.
Remember the post-credit of Bhediya and Munjya? We thought they were just shot randomly like cameos are usually shot. But no, they were part of the story. They integrated with the storylines of Bediya and Munjya, while being part of Stree 2 storyline as well. Aap thought dekh rahe ho? They are properly planning.

Jana/JD/Janardhan is cousin of Bhaskar (Bhediya). So proper integration there. Munjya was bound to the tree, then he could connect to Bittu (Abhay Verma) and travel. But now when his wood is chopped, he can go more places.

Bhediya’s cameo was well written. The reason for him to join was established well, aise nahi ki random Pathaan aa jata hai Tiger ko bachane registan ke beech mein. Pehle jab kaha tha na Insaan na Janwar, tab main trigger hua tha. Fir Jana bar bar bol raha tha mere plan Plan B hai. Tab tak shayad sabko feel ho gaya tha. I was like, Yes, yes. Plan B. Plan Bhediya!

Sirf utna hi nahi, sabse acchi baat hai ki kuch sawal chhode hue hain, jinki wajah se universe ki curiosity bani hu hai. Shraddha ka naam abhi tak nahi pata. Chanderi puran kaafi purana hai jaisa Vicky ne kaha, matlab Shraddha may be a hundred years old. Naam nahi bataya lekin motive bhi clear nahi hai, pata nahi kya atma atma bol rahi thi.

Vicky ki bhi koi destiny hai, koi future hai aisa indicate kiya hai. Wo last mein flower petal golden glitter ban jata hai aur absord ho jata hai Vicky ki body mein. Dilli mein khatra hai, they set up Aayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna’s vampire film. Akshay Kumar kaun hai exactly? Chanderi puran ke panne faade, fir bheje. Sarkate ki asthiya absorb karli. Lota kaise aya uske pass? Kaun hai aur plan kya hai? Bhediya kaha gaya? Bhediya 2 kaha setup hogi? Shraddha and Bhediya ka kuch hoga ya nahi hoga?

All these tell you how well they are planning the Universe.

The Final Battle

The final battle was the most epic part of the movie. People used to think only big superstars and mass films with huge budget can have the hero entry, fight sequences and other cliches. Stree 2 changes all that with their creative writing and direction.

Sarkata was too powerful. Shraddha and Vicky could not do much. Plus the only plan they had, for Vicky to stab him, failed. They were at their lowest point when we hear the big howl. Varun’s entry received the highest cheer, making us realize that Bhrediya is very loved despite it did not earn much. Which I always say, collection is not a benchmark of quality.

Bhediya is also very powerful, he along defeated 2-3 heads of Sarkata easily and other heads fled. Lekin Sarkata ab bhi strong tha. He went after Shraddha, Bhediya jumped to save her, got injured again, Sarkata attacked Shraddha again and then the unexpected happened. Maaaaaaaaaaaa! A mother always answers and what and entry Stree had. Stree vs Sarkata battle was so good. A CGI battle we were not expecting.

Then at one point all 4 of them stand as a team.. Sarkata vs Stree + Bhediya + Vicky + Shraddha, all in one line. That was our Avengers Assemble for this universe. Vicky throws the big dagger to Stree and she kills Sarkata. What a sequence. We had comedy, we had action, we had powers being used, we had cameos and we had emotion. I feel like re-watching it while I write this.

Music/BGM

One of the best things about MHCU is they have good individual BGM for each. And it is not the same digitally produced mass BGM where most of them are in the similar zone. They are very theme based and organic to thet storyline. Bhediya’s is my most favourite one. Even Stree (the witch) has her own theme. Mujhya has it. And I’m sure Vampires will have their own too.

All songs of Stree, Stree2, Munjya and Bhediya worked for me. Aayi Nai has a very cheerful vibe. Khoobsoorat and Aaj Ki Raat are soothing to the ears. Tumhare Hi Rahenge Hum is decent but the video makes it better. The best part is, they make efforts to not bore us with the generic stuff.

Fantasy And The Kid In Me – Personal Note

I’ve grown up watching Shaktimaan, Hatim, Sshhhh Koi Hai: Vikraal, Son Pari, Shakalaka Boom Boom, etc in Indian fiction. Mom says I cried when Chandrkanta stopped airing but I don’t remember. I was just 2 then. In foreign, I watched Aladdin, Harry Potter, Batman, Superman and Spiderman were the only superheroes I knew for a very long time. Hollywood se toh kaafi cheezein fir bhi aa jati thi jaise Narnia, Percy Jackson, aur bahaut kuch. But iss tarah ka Indian fantasy fiction ek point ke baad band hi hoga gaya tha.

(I know ye thoda Bhool Bhulaiyaa ki Avni jaisa sound karta hai lekin nahi mujhe koi split personality nahi hone wali)

Years ago, my craving was satisfied to some extent in Tumbbad, and a little bit when Stree, Roohi, Bhediya and Munjya came out. Still they were individual films. Stree 2 feels like our Avengers 1. The sotries based on folklores, the backstory of characters, coming together of heroes, new threats, new motives, all that is more than just horror-comedy. MHCU is giving us the fantasy genre as well.

So for me, this film was much more in a lot of ways. Maybe it was for you too, that’s why the people are liking it so much. I was just able to put them in words.

Verdict

Main stars nahi deta tha. Actually mujhe samajh nahi ata hai kis hisab se du. Kisi ke 3 aur 3.5 mein bahaut difference of reasons ho sakte hain. Fir ab team members hain toh bola ki dena chahiye. So I would like to give Stree 2 – a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating.

I know, I know, tum sochoge 5 zyada hai. Lekin mere pass koi reason nahi hai kahi kuch cut karne ka. Agar India mein koi film 5 star deserve karti hai toh wo Stree 2 hai. Aur mere reasons apko upar bata diye hain. Hope you could relate.

Chalo ab review kahatam! TAKHLEYA!

Author: Ishan Jain

Also check out: Khel Khel Mein Review

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TAKHLEYA!

ABEY JAAO!