A spooky comedy in need of more spirit
make her a lehenga — the kind of bhoot who likes her clothes bespoke?
Based on an urban legend from Bengaluru, the setup is hilarious. Rajkummar Rao is Viki, flanked by Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee as his two buddies, but despite their gusto, Stree doesn’t bring down the house. The underwritten dialogue can’t keep pace with the absurdity. The laughs are inconsistent, and the plotting feels sloppy and rushed.
Rao is likeable, especially when rattling off types of blouses, though this is too eager a performance to be convincing. Shraddha Kapoor actually brings charm to an initially inscrutable character, but when given more to do, she struggles alongside fine actors. Khurana is a blast, and Banerjee, a gangly actor with a zany, unpredictable energy, is a highlight. Tripathi plays a horror cliché — the wise man who guides the heroes — and while he’s reliably excellent, it is disappointing to have him spell out popular local legends to young men brought up in town who should know better
Stree, in fact, is all about men who should know better. The town is both sexually repressed and sexually keen: old men have birds-and-bees conversations with their sons, grown men aren’t allowed to watch lovemaking scenes in movies, and yet the word ‘friendship’ implies a relationship between young men and local prostitutes. The ideas are there, but the writing needed work. I wish the first half was funnier, and the (outrageous) second half more cleverly plotted.
In a superb gag, Vijay Raaz plays a writer who lives “inside The Emergency”. He’s in hiding, wondering if The Emergency has been lifted. People reassure him that we are in better times now, but he (wisely) does not believe. At one point, someone says blind faith is dangerous, and that one should “be anything but not a bhakt” or follower.
These are fine touches to a madcap comedy, but they jar against the film and feel like lip service. Still, it is heartening that the ghost does not assault her prey without consent. She is the feminine after all, and she wants respect. #Streetoo.