Title: Stree 2
Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Director: Amar Kaushik
Where to watch: In theatres near you
Rating: 3 stars
First, the positives! ‘Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank’ is a hilarious blend of all things silly, strange and sleek from what can be termed as the Stree multiverse in the truest sense of the word. It is packed with punches and characters that belong to its own uniquely-crafted world. So, you have Shraddha Kapoor’s character with her killer ‘choti’, you get a freshly-minted headless demon called ‘Sarkata’ and you also have the ‘Bhediya’, stepping in tactfully to save our protagonist from a rather sticky situation. (Wolf whistles please!)
Director of the sequel to the successful original first, Amar Kaushik gives us a tale that has bharpoor entertainment, thanks majorly to the primary cast comprising Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Shraddha Kapoor, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee. Whenever the otherwise entertaining narrative dips if not entirely nose dives, these solid actors keep the mojo intact with their incredible comic timing and solid acting chops.
This installment offers a new menace as Chanderi is under attack once again thanks to ‘Sarkata’. The devil who carries his own head in his hand is such a dark force with precision. He targets only progressive women, ensuring that patriarchy rules in the town as indeed in the collective consciousness of those who inhabit it. He captures women only to keep them bound to his dark hellish world. Obviously, the task at hand is to free these women from the shackles of Sarkata only to reinstate female power.
Rajkummar Rao, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana must lead from the front with the able support of Pankaj Tripathi’s character to eliminate the aforementioned evil. Helping the cause in a huge way is Shraddha Kapoor. The female force must use her ‘choti’ power to ensure that Sarkata, who uses his head as a rolling dice (read: football) as the rest his body follows to capture his pray with the tentacles, must be contained.
The makers offer a world that is distinctly two-tiered both in terms of the landscape offered as indeed in terms of their ‘mindscape’. The punches are hilarious and the references to the previous installments are plenty on offer. The lines employed to evoke laughs are a fine blend of the observations that come from pop culture and what we as a society view things around us. Pankaj Tripathi gets the best lines and he delivers them to sensational effects.
The film begins on a rather promising note and you stay invested right till the interval, the second half though gets stretched out as the multiverse and its force unfold in humungous structuring and scale. Sure, the special effects are top- notch, but in an attempt to showcase more, the mojo somehow gets diluted. Many sequences seem haphazardly placed and even unnecessarily planted. They have been crafted to place, position and elevate the other characters (enough room for the bhediya to make his starry entry to howl!)
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The sequel relies heavily on the performances of the distinguished actors. Rajkummar is his usual dependable self. Shraddha Kapoor looks gorgeous thanks to the power she commands on the screen and Aparshakti Khurrana looks at ease with what he is expected to deliver. Pankaj Tripathi is his usual effortless and charming self, but the real star of the show is Abhishek Banerjee who most certainly brings his A game to the table.
All in all, ‘Stree 2’ is quirky, funny and entertaining at places, it lacks a concrete plot and precision. We wish the editing could have been as sharp and sleek as the flourish with which Sarkata decapitates!
