Stree (2018) [Movie Review]


Dir: Amar Kaushik
Starring: Rajkumar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor
Dur: 2 hrs 7 mins
Genre: Comedy-Thriller
Rating: 8.5/10

In a first of its kind (atleast for me) Bollywood has done a fantastic job with making something great out of something dumb. The film is loosely based on the urban legend of Nale Ba, a female specter who terrorizes men, apparently leaving no trace except for their clothing, during a particular festival. The legend of Nale Ba (literally, ‘don’t come’) is quite prominent in the South of India and in many villages you would find the words written on walls in an attempt to deter the spirit from wreaking her havoc.


The legend is very well brought out in this thoroughly entertaining film. Besides, the strange choice of theme, the film amazed me for its bold attempt to merge two genres that hardly go well together: comedy and horror. Usually, when the two are combined comedy reigns supreme at the expense of horror but here, the director and his team have to applauded for sustaining the eeriness in the midst of all the light-headed and light-heartedness. Rajkumar Rao is an absolute treat. As a matter of fact, the film runs almost entirely on his performance. Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee who play his goofy friends, bring good comedic relief. Shraddha is surprisingly bland. Probably, the nature of her character led her to be so but I was not too impressed with her performance. She appeared to be just a pretty face in this not-so-pretty tale. The make-up and depiction of ‘Stree’ is worth a mention. The major Achilles heel for most horror films is the presentation of the villain. Stree made no mistake about it. They evidently spared no expense to turn the legend into something foreboding, morbid and spooky.

The storyline was simple enough however the ending appeared to be a little confusing. Still, the film is brilliant. I’m happy that it did well at the box office. It deserves all the praise it receives. I think the film has great educational potential. Its novel way of mixing superstition with entertainment and throwing in educative messages is ingenious. Bollywood would do our country a great favour by debunking myths in this popular fashion. The film could help people challenge and rationalize their superstitious beliefs and traditions; if there is someone to lead and guide the discussion, the effect is bound to be stronger.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzeaGcLLl_A

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