Six years after the Stree wreaked havoc in Chanderi, Stree 2 is here with a new villain. Directed by Amar Kaushik, this horror-comedy sees Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Aparshakti Khurana reprise their roles from the original movie. The movie picks up right from where Stree ended, but does it also continue the streak of balancing horror and comedy? Read this review of Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank to find out. 

The multiverse of madness

Years after the events of the first movie, Stree has left the citizens of Chanderi alone. She finally found the love and respect she yearned for, and now the people of Chanderi worship her instead of fearing her. While the first movie saw people writing “Oh stree kal aana“, Stree 2 had people asking her for protection by writing “Oh stree humari raksha karo.” But now that Stree has left them alone, there’s a new entity in town terrorising the people of Chanderi. 

A headless monster, Sarkata, is kidnapping women from the streets of Chanderi. He targets all the women who are modern and independent and what he considers to be behaviour unbecoming of a woman. The women are now living in terror, with their families not letting them go out at night and even locking them up inside their homes. This is likely to hit hard, especially considering our world and the events that have shaken up our country in the past week. 

Great comedy and even better performances

Stree 2 brings the gang together when Bittu’s (Aparshakti Khurana) girlfriend is taken by Sarkata. Soon, people realise that the women they thought left the village for the city have actually been kidnapped. Vicky (Rajkummar Rao), Bittu, Jana (Abhishek Banerjee), Rudra (Pankaj Tripathi), and the unnamed woman (Shraddha Kapoor) are joined by Bhaskar aka Bhediya (Varun Dhawan) in a cameo. 

Stree 2 gives a nod to the patriarchy, with Sarkata being the personification of it. But it is also filled with jump scares that will actually scare you, interwoven perfectly with a healthy dose of comedy. While in one scene, you might scream out of fear, in the very next scene, you’ll be holding on to your stomach while laughing. There are a lot of pop culture references, from Sheldon Cooper in Big Bang Theory to Disha Patani in Bollywood. But what makes the jokes land perfectly are the actors who deliver them. 

Rajkummar Rao is undoubtedly great as Vicky, a good-hearted, slightly cowardly guy. But Abhishek Banerjee’s Jana is a major highlight of this movie. He absolutely rules the screen every time he is there. Pankaj Tripathi gets some of the most clever dialogues and delivers them with aplomb. Shraddha Kapoor puts her best foot forward, but her screentime is limited. Akshay Kumar, in a surprising cameo, also delivers a good performance.

The one drawback of this movie is the credit scenes. While by the end of Stree 2, Bhediya 2 and Stree 3 have been established, the credit scenes were rushed and incoherent. They seemed disjointed and were all over the place. Thankfully, it’s a small thing you can forgive because the rest of the movie is entertaining, fun and hilarious. 

That’s all for our review of Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank. The movie is now in theatres, so skip work tomorrow and go watch it. It’s the perfect film to unwind from a busy week. 

Can you watch Stree 2 with your family?: Hell, yeah! In fact, I urge you to watch this hilarious film with the fam. Unless someone could get a heart attack from the jumpscares. Leave them at home in that case.

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