The acclaimed actor talks mixing horror and comedy with his latest film, ‘Stree’

No one can accuse Indian National Award-winning actor Rajkummar Rao of not mixing things up in his career. After playing a militant in director Hansal Mehta’s Omerta, the actor will be seen as a simpleton tailor who gets nervous in the company of women in the horror comedy Stree.

Directed by Amar Kaushik and written by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK of

Go Goa Gone fame, the black comedy borrows generously from Indian folklore about an unhappy bridal ghost who sets out to seek revenge. Stree is set in Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh and explores a genre that’s rarely be seen in Hindi cinema.

But horror comedies being a virgin territory in Bollywood was a major gravitation pull for both actor Rao and director Amar Kaushik, who makes his debut with Stree. “I didn’t want this film to be a slapstick comedy or a spoof and I told the actors not to go over-the-top when it comes to comedy or be too subtle,” said Kaushik.

He believes his battle was half done when he managed to find haunted mansions during his location scouting.

“There was this fort which is believed to be haunted... And I remember when I went there at night, it was so scary. One of our technicians during the shoot fell from a height, he believed he was pushed by someone and that was spooky. But we continued to shoot there because I wanted everything to be real,” said Kaushik.

There’s very little reference point for this horror comedy genre in Bollywood, unlike Hollywood which has a string of such genre-bending films. But the team of Stree, starring Shraddha Kapoor as the ghost bride, isn’t worried.

Dinesh Vijan, who has backed films such as the hit Varun Dhawan-starrer

Badlapur, was confident about its appeal.

“This genre has tremendous scope if the horror is genuinely scary and the humour works. Stree is a recipe for a wholistic cinematic experience. We are so proud of this film,” said Vijan. tabloid! caught up with Rao to know more about the film and his acting process

Horror comedy is a tricky terrain. Why did you choose to be a part of Stree and play Vicky? The moment I read the whole script,