Stree movie review: Shraddha Kapoor starrer film needs more comedy spirit

Mumbai : Movie: Stree

Director: Amar Kaushik

Cast: Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Aparshakti Khurrana, Pankaj Tripathi

Release date: 30 August 2018

Critics rating: 3/5

Stree story line revolves around an urban legend in Chanderi, where people are so innocent/naive that they believe that the moon, as referred to in nursery rhymes, as Chanda Mama is actually their uncle. The movie is set in a location where everyone is familiar with the fables of a strange woman who calls men by their name and abducts them, leaving their clothes behind. Well, the idea has its root in a village lore book, somewhat, half-torn kept inside a copy the Kamasutra in the local library. The book talks a lot about Chanderi, which is haunted by a malicious feminine spirit, abducts only the menfolk while leaving their clothes behind. It is therefore a tricky time for boys who walk home alone at night. The spirit can be seen only on the four nights of the annual puja.

Stree, the directoral venture of Amar Kaushik, is a comedy movie which tells incidents of a tailor who falls for a girl who may or may not be the ‘Stree’ the town fears. She visits the town annually on the days of the festival, keeps vanishing in mysterious ways, never enters the temple, and does not carry a mobile phone. 

Rajkummar Rao as Viki can measure the mysterious lady with his eyes and perhaps, found himself a potential girlfriend. Kaushik has cast Rajkummar Rao as Viki, flanked by Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee as his two buddies. Performers played great but at some point dialogues don’t do justice to the absurdity of the situations and lines, sometimes felt too basic. 

In short, the laughs are inconsistent, and despite a breezy-ish momentum, the plotting feels sloppy and rushed. The ideas are fine, but the writing could have been better. 

It’s worth to watch Stree, at least once. You may spend a laughter weekend, if you don’t mind!