Stree Movie Review

Guffaw, Chortle or Scream in terror! Funny or frightened, almost pee your pants either way.

No one told Rajkummar Rao, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee that it’s a horror movie. The trio are clever, witty and the accent of their attempt at Hinglish keeps you in splits. The friends are in awe of not just girls, they know their designers and music too. They try to be ‘Madrone’ and debunk the myth of bhoot, pret and chudails only to be dragged into it feet first, no pun!

The witch hunt is lifted from multiple plots yet keeps you hooked. Pankaj Tripathi cracks you up as the keeper of the town secrets and books. Glamorous Shraddha Kapoor looks out of place in the small town, but you can’t decide if she is the hunted or hunter and all you want at the end of the movie is to know her name. Which you will surely watch the sequel to learn.

It’s bold to make a movie on the age old beliefs of ghosts and making you laugh is just acing it. The four songs barely interrupt the story-line but after showing a sleazy item number, the burst of feminism in the second half doesn’t gel. The man hungry spirit takes away men but doesn’t harm them. You almost want to tell the ghost to go ahead and seek her revenge or guide her how to. The story weakens though and you want to know if the spirit wants love, respect, revenge or sex.

It’s so clichéd to show the spirit looking haggard, skeletons and scary..a pretty flying ghost with sparkles would have done the trick like in another movie where she rises from the past in Urban India.

The temple, historical town, cobbled streets and the ruins of Chanderi makes you want to mark it for your next holiday. Chanderi is mesmerizing!  Stree..a movie not to be missed, especially if you like to lol and be spooked too!

Reviewed by: Shyamala Nawab