Stree is one of the most priceless films this year. Not only does it have spooky horror, general comedy with better and more jokes and pot loads of romantic comedy masala, but it also has a strong cast- Rajkumar Rao as a tailor, Pankaj Tripathi as a fake scholar who also owns a bookstore, Shraddha Kapoor as a naive, too-good-to-be-true love interest. But this film also makes equally strong points on feminism and women empowerment- it teaches without getting preachy in any sort of way. Amar Kaushik's direction is hilarious and fresh in parts. It is a solid drama with no melodramatic and overtly manipulative musings of the usual outings in this genre. It is an immensely enjoyable ans upbeat film which has crackling conversations and surprising love story. Maybe the only thing which really lets it down is the stilted item song sequence and some misogynistic bits which are rare, only. If you forget and forgive those bits, 'Stree' is an astounding little film which is a satisfying experience. I am going with a 3.5/5 for 'Stree'. It's fun and entertaining.

Amar Kaushik's brilliant retelling of a folklore written by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK about a spirit that haunts a village for four days every year and hunts on virile men is one of the most awe-inspiring horror comedies you will see in Bollywood this year, and perhaps this decade, for it also boldly captures the timely essence of the world we live in where predatory men hunt on women. TN.

Before I pen the review, I have to confess that I am not particularly a huge fan of the horror genre. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I don't watch it at all, as I have seen quite a few excellent ones such as "Omen", "Exorcist" etc. in the past. Even in our film industry, despite numerous mediocre (unintentionally hilarious) flicks there are quite a few which were pretty damn good such as "Raat" , "13B", "Bhoot" etc. When I saw the trailer of "Stree", I was interested to check it out as the star cast included the talented Rajkummar Rao & it belonged to the horror comedy category. So was it able to justice to its genre or is it pathetic that like most of the rest???



The film unfolds in the village of Chanderi in MP which is believed to be haunted by a female ghost who abducts men during their annual festival & leaves behind their clothes. So this continued for many years & none of the people were able to stop the ghost. The latest victim was Jaana (Abhishek Bhattacharya) whose close buddies were Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) & Bittu (Aparshakti Khurrana). Incidentally around the same time, Vicky had befriended a female (Shraddha Kapoor) who had approached him for certain unusual supplies. This naturally arouses the suspicion of Vicky & Bittu as to whether she was indeed the ghost as she wasn't seen by anyone else apart from the former. But how were they going to confirm it & if true, can she be stopped?



This is the debut venture of Amar Kaushik, though he has assisted in a couple of projects one of which was "Go Goa Gone"; the first zombie comedy in the country. It was helmed by Raj Nidimoru & Krishna D K, who happens to have prepared the script & screenplay for the present venture. The uniqueness of this flick was that it was both hilarious & scary at the same time, with the men being the ones scared to walk in the dark unlike the normal status quo where women were the petrified group. Kudos to the script writers & Amar for being able to keep the audience engaged & they were also amply assisted by the hilarious dialogues by Sumit Arora. There is no doubt that it is a tad long & could have easily benefited if the meaningless songs were edited out. As for other technical aspects, it was executed well.



Rajkummar Rao is undoubtedly one of the finest actors in the country, who excels irrespective of whatever role is give to him. He has done just that as the talented tailor Vicky who goes bonkers for the beautiful lass but musters up courage when he is face to face with the ghost.It's not so often that we get to see Shraddha Kapoor in a meaningful part & she has done utmost justice to her role. Another person who gives tough competition for Rajkummar is Pankaj Tripathi, who had the audience in splits as the scholar Rudra who had answer to everything related to the ghost. Equally impressive were Abhishek & Aparshakti and the rest of the cast who deserves a pat on their backs.



Verdict: As expected, the public loved the movie & it has reflected in the box office collections, with the gross amount predicted to breach even the 100 C mark. It's surely a horror flick that will have you entertained with its conversational humour. In short, you will enjoy it!!!



Rating: 3/5



Regards...Ben

very excited to see every clip