Original's goodwill, natural bonhomie amongst the actors and wild card entries,Stree 2's spirited return sure has its high points, notes Sukanya Verma.
Back in 2018, Stree's allegorical activism figured a droll way to elevate the horror comedy space with its blend of meaning, mayhem and mirth.
There was undeniable pleasure in watching Chanderi's mortified men scurrying about in fear as a resentful lady ghost aka Stree paid an annual visit and wreaked havoc on its male population.
And so would be the norm until a ladies tailor Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) and his band of buddies Bittu (Aparshakti Khurana) and Janna (Abhishek Banerjee) along with supernatural specialist Rudra (Pankaj Tripathi) and a mysterious, anonymous know-it-all (Shraddha Kapoor) reluctantly combined forces and found ingenious ways to soothe Stree's ruffled feathers.
Based on the characters originally created by director duo Raj and DK six years ago, Amar Kaushik returns to helm its largely enjoyable sequel, Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank penned by Niren Bhatt, in hopes to cash in on its soaring popularity in wake of fans theorising the significance behind Shraddha's bewitching braid and the possibilities of Stree's unfinished business.
Once a source of distress, Stree is now part of a lore celebrating her presence and praying for her patronage across skits and songs.
Except Chanderi's troubles are far from over.
In a reversal of roles, a new devil is in town and hounds its women folk, the more modern her thoughts, the sooner she disappears from sight.
Evoking Sleepy Hollow's headless horseman in legend, this decapitated menace comes on foot and bears a nasty connection to Stree's history as conveyed over a flimsily concocted backstory.
Prompted by the vanishing of Bittu's girlfriend (Anya Singh) and Rudra's muse (a glamorous Tamannaah Bhatia), the goofy foursome and the girl with prehensile hair powers must work together to take down an evil that can multiply like Gremlins and turn the town's men into misogynist robots as easily as the Blanks from The World's End.
It's not just the Stranger Things-influenced art on Stree 2 poster but the teamwork on display too draws blatant inspiration from the adolescent heroes of Hawkins and freakish threats of Upside Down.
Right from Bittu humming a parody (Soft Chitty) of The Big Bang Theory lullaby (Soft Kitty) to Vicky channelling Arthurian legends in Excalibur-sized goals, Stree 2's Western inspirations are in complete contrast to Stree's homegrown fears and fantasy.
Despite its disappointing lack of originality, Stree 2 advances cheerfully on the strength of its free flowing wit and a cast only too happy to reprise one of the most adored roles of their career.
Initially, the scenes play out like one happy reunion, which underscore the Stree universe's enduring charm as well as the sequel's sure-shot success irrespective of whether it would deliver on the promise of bigger and better.
Does it then?
Truth be told, male ghosts are more ridiculous than eerie in their impact.
Sarkata, a mix of orc and Ramsay's Saamri in appearance and stature, cannot hold a candle before Stree's chilling corpse bride.
The battle of the sexes is more literal than figurative.
Shabby VFX only adds to the comicality of the B-grade visuals, which doesn't hurt given the buffoonery at play.
Though its politics is still on point and smashing the pitrisatta (patriarchy) remains its underlying purpose, the satire side of Stree takes a backseat to meet the franchise targets of Maddock Horror Universe.
Stree 2's ambitions are obvious in how it tries to merge the multiverse over a crowd-pleasing Bhediya crossover in addition to a Khiladi-shaped cameo that's so bizarre and unexpected, you cannot help but feel amused.
Chuckles are a constant over the course of Stree 2 as it doles out one-liners by the second.
Be it the wordplay in 'virgin tel healthy hota hai male nahi' quips of 'tum Bitoo ho Neha Kakkar nahi' in nature or hilarious-in-context rejoinders like 'Covid ho gaya tha'.
He's played quite a few doe-eyed characters since Vicky yet monotony doesn't touch any part of Rajkummar Rao's lovestruck fool and hesitant hero.
A charismatic Shraddha Kapoor intensifies in form and formidability even as Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee and Pankaj Tripathi continue to be indispensable in their humour supply.
Original's goodwill, natural bonhomie amongst the actors and wild card entries, Stree 2's spirited return sure has its high points.
Especially when a bunch of scared boys hide behind heaps of bangles while the girl whips the baddie with her all-powerful pigtail. Chanderi Puran is ready to add new chapters to the spectacle.
'Stree 3's kal aana' is as inevitable as the purush threatened by it.
