Stree Review - This Stree May Just Make History

Sethumadhavan

Horror and comedy seem to be strange companions, but then time and again Indian cinema has seen horror-comedy to be a potent combination if made use of effectively. Amar Kaushik’s debut film “Stree” seemed to strike a chord with the target audience, ever since the promotions began. Today the smarter the promotional strategies adopted, the better are the chances of making people look forward to the film. But then that’s just half the job done, i.e. of getting the audience excited enough for the film. To complete the circle one needs to also ensure that the product on hand i.e. the film has also turned out well. Stree begins by making a loud proclamation, of being based on a ridiculous phenomenon. Now that makes for a great start, it’s nice to see the makers take a dig at themselves and sort of prepare you for what’s in store ahead.

Based in the small town of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh, Stree revolves around the legend of “Stree”, a ghost of a woman who had been wronged in the past. According to the myth Stree visits the town every year during a particular festive season and preys upon men when they are all alone, leading to their disappearance. Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) is a tailor popular for making women’s wear and he hangs around with his friends, Bittu (Aparshakti Khurrana) and Jana (Abhishek Banerjee). It’s the festive season once again and Vicky comes across a mysterious unknown girl (Shraddha Kapoor) and falls for her. But then Stree strikes again and people go missing, including Jana. This is when Bittu starts feeling that Vicky has fallen in love with none other than Stree herself, much to Vicky’s dismay. Who is the real Stree, what is the mystery behind the girl who only visits the town during the festival period, what happens to Jana and the others? The rest of the film reveals all these and more.

At the very outset this is a film that’s based on a premise (the urban legend of “Nale Ba” that was popular in Karnataka in the 90’s) which has been smarty adapted by Raj & DK & the writing ensures that there is a good balance between horror and comedy in the narrative. Despite there being a looming sense of urgency and building up interest in unravelling the mystery behind Stree, there is an undercurrent of humour all throughout. Also it helps majorly that the funny moments are not of the slapstick variety and are very organic, aided by some witty dialogues (Sumit Arora). It’s also a relief to see that there is no attempt on behalf of Amar Kaushik to weave in anything that’s even remotely erotic, something that a lot of filmmakers would have been tempted to do so in a film with this premise. As a result Stree ends up as a family friendly film in a way.

The spirit of a small town has been kept alive, the characters look believable and the choice of locations and the production design adds to the authenticity of the geography concerned. Amalendu Chaudhary’s cinematography brings alive a riot of colours and is of great asset, adding to the film’s strength. Sachin-Jigar’s compositions may not be out of the world but go well with the flow of the film. The film definitely benefits from the casting choices and the performances that are exhibited, lingering on our minds well past the show time. Atul Shrivastava as Vicky’s father is a delight, Abhishek Banerjee as the simpleton Jana who then gets possessed by Stree is fantastic, Aparshakti Khurrana as Bittu who is both jealous as well as worried about Vicky does very well. Shraddha Kapoor is apt in her role, playing the mysterious girl with some elan. Pankaj Tripathi as Rudra, the pustak bhandar owner who is the resident expert on Stree is a hoot as he chugs along on his cheap quarter bottles of booze and spews gyan.

This brings me to Rajkummar Rao who is once again the simple young man from a small town, but he plays Vicky with a lot of conviction and style. His innocence and charm works in favour of the film, making not just Stree but also the audience to appreciate him.

Bottomline:

Stree sees Amar Kaushik managing a confident debut that might just make history in Bollywood as a benchmark of sorts for horror-comedy, for the time being at least.

Rating: 3.5/5