Stree : A dead man’s dream conjured up by men alive

‘Truth is stranger than fiction’, said Mark Twain because he believed that fiction, unlike the truth is obliged to stick to possibilities. Possibilities of playing itself out. Whereas truth is not. It stands for itself whether you believe it or not. Well, even though Mr. Twain made an excellent point, he never considered the possibilities of what kind of fiction people over the generations are capable of. Well, times have changed and we do live in a world where women turn into snakes and some dead ones look for men to mate. Seriously, horny witches? Dear god.

It is apparently a new era of feminism that goes beyond the mortal world. Or a skewed notion that a woman can roam the dark nights without having to fear but to be feared instead. Because that’s the only way now I guess. If I had to choose, I’d definitely prefer the latter.

Stree has its inspiration taken from an urban legend ‘Nala Ba’ that was widely spread in Karnataka in the 1990’s where a witch was considered to haunt and hunt for prey at night. Apparently knocking on doors and calling men by their names. Naturally the first question that pops up is, ‘How does she know everyone’s name?’ And if you want the answer to that question, it’s been beautifully explained in the film. Sassy and logical.

Starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao in the lead, Stree claims to be a horror comedy and which is why, if there is any scope for it to work, it is this. As horror films dangle by a very precarious thread that carefully sets them apart from becoming a comedy, this one claims to be a comedy before you make it one.

The supporting cast that comprise of Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee,  who all shine brighter than the two leads. Shraddha and Rajkummar are established actors and so is Pankaj Tripathi however, Aparshakti Khurana who is Ayushmann Khurana’s brother, is the character that you would most resonate with and appreciate as well. With the role of Bittu, Aparshakti Khurana has displayed his skill and art announcing his presence in Bollywood.

Director Amar Kaushik has restricted the horror in the story to loud jumpy sounds and occasional screams. To be honest, startling the audience with the background score does not count as a horror feature presentation. Coming to comedy, yes, you could call it a comedy film. Dialogues by Sumit Arora are clever and appropriate and somehow manage to save the badly written story and screenplay. They are pretty much the only reason the film manages to pull through.

Using sexually inclined context as a crutch for most scenes and playing on the same pattern throughout the film adds to the lack of creativity or rather the astonishment as to how you could convert a horror story into a thought provoking film that ultimately ends with a moral message for the society!

With a running time of nearly 130 minutes the movie is lo-oong. The first half of the feature presentation is an absolute drag and you find yourself dosing off in a horror film with occasional laughs. The second part picks up pace but the story gets so awkwardly preposterous that you really question yourself wondering what was this exactly to begin with. The background score is unimpressive and songs are average with none that you could hum or listen too.

Someone close to me once said that people who don’t have the blue ticks feature turned on, on their WhatsApp, it could be a sign of a psycho streak. And WhatsApp in this one has an indispensable and ridiculous role and I’m not even kidding. This one didn’t have a mobile phone to begin with being your first clue to next level creepiness in today’s digitally connected world.

Final verdict, it’s a story that requires you to leave your brains at home with a high dose of crass comedy that does have its genuinely funny moments as well but are few and sporadic. A genre that requires a lot of skill in my opinion and somehow is still restricted to “Churail” stories is a letdown. So, go for the supporting cast and the dialogues as the lesser known artists have given an honest, impeccable performance and go anyway if you have already booked your tickets.