Stree 2 movie review: It is funny, has some good scares, and is a step forward for the franchise.
The film, released on the opportune Independence Day holiday, on August 15, collected ₹46 crore approximately on its first day and ₹8 crore from select screenings on the previous night, reports stated.
In 2018, debutant director Amar Kaushik made a film that redefined the horror-comedy genre. Stree, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, worked at the box office and resonated with audiences across the country because it was the perfect blend of folklore and real-life issues. It also championed the cause of women without being preachy. In 2024, Kaushik is back with a follow-up sequel, Stree 2. But a lot has transpired in the last seven years. The genre has expanded, and the VFX and CGI game in Indian cinema has reached new heights. So does Stree 2 manage to take the franchise to new levels, or does it play it safe? Let’s find out.
This takes its total opening collection to ₹54 crore. The film has thus surpassed the openings of Fighter and the Hindi versionof Kalki 2898 AD, both action spectacles featuring superstars. Additionally, the two major hits of the previous year, Pathaan and Jawan, both starring Shah Rukh Khan, have been done one better by Stree 2.
Stree 2 sees the formidable pack of Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, and Abhishek Banerjee back in action. Chanderi is again under attack, but this time the menace has changed gender in the form of a headless demon called ‘Sarkata’. The demon is on a mission to hunt women and imprison them in his dungeon, which resembles scenes straight out of the Stranger Things finale.
Now, Chanderi’s champions, led by Vicky (Rajkummar), have to decipher ways to end Sarkata’s reign. Of course, to help them in this mission is Stree (Shraddha Kapoor), who finds some crossover support from a Bhediya (Varun Dhawan). Stree 2 has a lot going for it—the writing is sharper, the references to other films and pop-culture moments are smartly woven into the script, and the VFX has definitely improved.In Stree 2, Vicky, Bittu and gang are faced with a new adversary: a headless monster called ‘Sartaka’, who young abducts young women from Chanderi. The story ties in with the last film as well as Bhediya (2022), Kaushik’s previous feature, a creature comedy starring Varun Dhawan as a werewolf.