'Stree' is worth your time because of Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi

The past weeks have seen a lot from the horror genre. First in Netflix's 'Ghoul', Radhika Apte was spooked by an evil Djin in a dystopian near-future and now in this week's Bollywood release, 'Stree', men are hunted by a femininespirit in a small town in India. Perhaps, the film is set in a utopian world, where the men are scared to walk out of their homes alone at night and the women turn protectors.

Directed by Amar Kaushik, 'Stree' attempts to be a satire based in Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh where Vicky( Rajkummar Rao) stays with his father and runs a tailoring shop. Every year, the town hosts a grand puja for 4 days - the same days when a spirit of a woman, simply called as Stree haunts the town, hunting for men. The ghost is pretty formal in her ways, she calls out her prey, and only if he consents, whisks him away and only leaves his clothes behind. To ward off the spirit, the town paints its walls asking the spirit to come on a later day. So the spirit even obeys and only preys on streets or on those houses where the message to her has been blurred.

The film opens with the town redying for its annual festival and a lovelorn Vicky finds himself falling in love with a mysterious woman (Shraddha Kapoor) who says she visits the town on only those 4 days of the festival. Naturally, Vicky's friends Bittoo (Aparshakti Khurrana) and Dana (Abhishek Bannerjee) are suspicious of his girlfriend. She is beautiful yet mysterious, she never enters the temple and doesn't even own a mobile phone. And as men slowly start disappearing, it is up to Vicky and his friends and Rudra(Pankaj Tripathi), the know-it-all man in the town, to save the menfolk and crack the mystery.

Written by Raj and DK (the makers of 'Go Goa Gone', 'Shor In The City'), the film is about the men and driven by the men. The four actors are top notch with perfect comic timing. With some hilarious gags, genuinely funny moments, the first half is breezy. It also helps that the dialogue writers use a sarcastic tone to provide a commentary on the society.

The actors, Rajkummar Rao and Pankaj Tripathi are as usual top notch. Rao plays the gullible, lovelorn, gifted tailor who has a good heart and doesn't believe in violence. Tripathi gets some of the best lines in the film as he plays the know-it-all bookseller with absolute ease- but it's a role that Tripathi has played in several films before where he (mis)guides young men about life and its rules. The other two actors, Khurrana and Bannerjee, hold their own in a film that already has two solid actors. The two perform their characters well, never fading in front of Tripathi or Rao.

The film's leading lady, Shraddha Kapoor, delivers a restraint performance. She doesn't have the best lines, and her character is the most complex of the lot but she manages to perform her part ably. Of course, in weaknesses as an actor shows only when she is pitted against Rao and Tripathi but that can be overlooked.

Based on an urban folklore that happened in Bangalore a few years back, the film takes a feminist approach in the second half. Men start dressing up like women to ward off the ghost, they ask their wives to come back home quickly as they are scared and women are seen instructing their men to not step out alone. It is indeed a utopian world. It also has an extremely quirky ghost. Like Rudra points out- 'Yeh Stree hai, purushon ke tarah zabardasti nahi karti, anumati leti hai (Unlike men who force, this ghost is a woman, she waits for consent)'. Where have you heard of a spirit who waits for consent?

While the premise holds a lot of potential, it is ultimately the ambiguity of the story that lets the second half down. I wish they have fleshed out the story a bit more. So many things are left unexplained or never delved deeper and that's what mars the film to quite an extent. It also doesn't help that the film has a very juvenile climax which ridden by cliches.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

'Stree' is a good attempt at changing the genre of horror-comedy. With a message on feminism and current society at large, 'Stree' gets its act right mostly, if you are willing to overlook the stretched, predictable second half.

Watch 'Stree' for its men. Yes, the irony is not lost on anyone.