“Rona band karo, tum Sneha Kakkar nahi ho,” says an irritated Vicky (sorry Bicky, played by Rajkumar Rao) to his friend Bittu (played by Aparshakti Khurana) who is crying about his lost girlfriend.
Rudra, played by Pankaj Tripathi, tells a daydreaming Bicky, “Aise swapn dekhoge toh swapn dosh bhi nahi hoga.”
These lines appear funny on paper, no doubt, but take a life of their own when in the hands of this talented bunch. Right off the bat, yes Stree 2 lives up to the hype. If that’s all you wanted to know, you can stop reading further
The film picks up from right where the original 2018 horror comedy ended. People of Chanderi now look to Stree for protection. But there’s a new terror in town, Sarkata (which Jana, played to absolute brilliance by Abhishek Banerjee, enlightens us is someone ‘whose head is cut’) who is now abducting women. Correction, women ‘who don’t stick to the stereotypical house chores’ assigned to them. So, you use social media? ‘Aap kataar mein hain’, says Rudra in one scene to a terrified woman.
The town needs Stree, the only one who can stop Sarkata. What happens next is the rest of the story.
Some starry cameos are sprinkled and bring the house down. Tamannaah Bhatia steals the show the moment she enters the proceedings. What has worked in the favour of Stree 2 is that the music, specially Aaj Ki Raat. Where the sequel lacks is the unimaginative cameo by Bhediya (played by Varun Dhawan) in Stree’s universe. I wish the connection was more elaborate.
But credit where it’s due: Stree 2 is a rare sequel that delivers bang for the buck. And this gem of a line which Jana tells Bhedia, who wants to impress Bicky’s love interest, “Bhediya hai tu bhediya, Animal mat ban.” Vanga is logging into his Twitter account as we speak.
