Stree Review:Shraddha is misfit, Rajkummar shines in this spooky comed

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha
Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti
Khurrana, Abhishek Banerjee and Vijay
Raaz
Director: Amar Kaushik
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Rating: 3 Moons
Stree is a weak story told with ample
humour and wit. It's a rather bold
attempt to mix two contrasting genres
horror with comedy. But in this case,
humour dilutes the eerie quotient of the
film and strips it of the gravity and
seriousness it demands.
Hence, Stree resorts to the usual horror
tricks; over-the-shoulder shots, handheld
camera, blaring background score and
distorted faces and figures sneaking up
on you only at night. It gets so repetitive
that it exhausts you beyond a point.
The idea of horror is to make you feel
uncomfortable. Stree fails in that
department. There isn't much grave
crisis here. I don't mean to be unfair and
compare, but for instance, the
protagonists in this year's A Quiet
Place couldn't even talk as the predator
hunted on identifying sounds. As a
viewer, I felt claustrophobic and held on
to my breathing lest I be attacked by the
scrawny creatures in the
film. Stree keeps it simple if you don't
look back, you will be safe. Yeah, the
ghost is that simple and silly here!
However, the strength of the film lies
that it calls this absurdity out.
O Stree, kal aana ok I will
come tomorrow then, mocks Vicky
played by Rajkummar Rao and you laugh
at the director as he indulges in some
self-deprecating humour. And it's this
signature humour of DK and Raj that
gives some grace to this otherwise
yawn-worthy spooky saga. The
dialogues by Sumit Arora are clever and
laugh out loud funny. "Tumhe kya
Bhagwaan ka Bhoot chad gaya hain,
Vicky's friend innocently asks him and
this oxymoron had me smiling. The
usage of the Pacific Ocean and Chanakya
are done smartly too. Even the situations
are funny. A mother crying with a
missing son's underwear is hilarious and
the makers infuse a rather strange sense
of mirth in the most tragic situations.
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ft. is a light weight comedy livened up
by solid supporting cast
The actors lend hilarity to the script with
their poker-faced humor. Pankaj Tripathi
as the know-all owner of a bookstore is
straight-faced funny. At one point, he
addresses Stree' as sister and says, Bata
kaha hain teri Didi. There are a couple of
moments that ridicule the relentless
growling of spooky characters in Hindi
horror films. An exasperated Vicky
screams, "Kya chilla rahi ho? Shehar ke
rakshak hain hum, kuch toh izzat karo.
Rajkummar is earnest as always.
However, it is Aparshakti Khurana (Bittu)
and Abhishek Banerjee (Jana) who steal
the show. Aparshakti not only rocks the
small town accent but also looks
convincingly scared. His comic timing
and his dialogue delivery shows he is at
par with Rajkummar or even better.
Abhishek as a nerdy friend looks like he
belongs to Chander, the town where the
film is set in.
Shraddha Kapoor is a misfit. We have no
clue where she comes from and what
she does. Hence she doesn't speak the
same language or share similar
sensibilities and looks the odd one out.
Overall, Stree is boring, slow and
stretched. But a few funny jokes and the
overall light-hearted treatment makes it a
bearable watch.

https://www.peepingmoon.com/bollywood/reviews/stree-film-review-shraddha-is-a-misfit-rajkummar-shines-in-this-spooky-comedy-124442/.