‘Stree’ Movie Review: The movie will make you scream and laugh in equal measure

Directed By: Amar Kaushik
Produced By: Maddock Films and D2R Films
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Vijay Raaz
Duration: 2 hrs 10 mins
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

Certainly, one of the best things about the movie ‘Stree’ is its background score. Especially, in scenes where the director (Amar Kaushik) is trying to make the hair on the back of your neck crawl with fear. Yes, he uses shock tactics, eerie sounds and ghastly images (all of which aren’t something that horror film enthusiasts are not used to), but despite the clichés, the film stands out as one of a kind. It’s rare to find a movie with so many hilarious one liners (Pankaj Tripathi’s dialogues being the pick of the lot), and so many spine-tingling moments. You are catching your seat at one moment, and you are laughing out loud the next.

Plot

Initially, the movie starts on a slow note, but once you get a feel of the atmosphere, there’s no stopping it. Vicky (Rajkumar Rao) is a tailor who is so skilled, he can just see a woman, and take measurements required to stitch a salwar, lehenga or ghagra. His life is going well, until Shraddha Kapoor (her name isn’t revealed) comes into his life and asks for something to be stitched. She holds his hand, and says in a flattering tone, “Vicky pleaase.” Meanwhile, the place where the movie is based (Chanderi), is living in fear of a ghost (Stree) who comes once in a year (for four nights) and abducts men, leaving only their clothes behind. Once this premise is established, most of the movie is like an adventure trip where the entire cast is trying to figure out a way to tame this ghost. We won’t tell you much about Shraddha Kapoor’s role, for that will take away from your experience of the film.

Performances

All the actors bring their A-Game, in both comedy and horror scenes alike. Rajkummar Rao’s performance is as usual amazing. In the romantic scenes, he is dreamy-eyed and fawning over how lovely Shraddha Kapoor is. In the horror scenes, he screams his lungs out and makes us believe that he has actually seen something ghostly. As far as Shraddha Kapoor is concerned, one must give credit to her for picking up a role like this and acing it with flying colours.

Direction and Cinematography

A lot of credit should be given to Amar Kaushik, who has combined comic timing and eerie noises (the way ‘Stree’ calls out her victims is especially bone-chilling) with panache. The small town of Chanderi too is very well portrayed and you do feel like you are a resident of that city while watching the film.

Music

If there is one thing that is strictly average about the film, it is this. The songs fail to hit the right notes, and even though they are peppy, this writer can’t remember a single one. It’s probably because their impact wasn’t significant enough, and they were added just for promotional reasons.

What’s Good

Everything from the performances to the plot to the dialogues makes you clap in delight. Special mention should go to the supporting cast, with Pankaj Tripathi and Aparshakti Khurana delivering memorable performances.

What’s Bad

For people who have seen a lot of horror, this movie might fail to impress. There’s nothing unique about those scenes.

Final Verdict

You’ll not realise how quickly the two hours pass away, and you can attain catharsis by screaming during the horror scenes. We say you should definitely go for it!

Watch the trailer here: