Just as one finished watching Akshay Kumar’s indifferent act as a roving-eyed householder in Khel Khel Mein, along came the Spry Darr. Akshay is a scream in a ‘Killer’ cameo in Stree 2.
Come to think of it, this one cameo is worth more than everything that the beleaguered actor has done in recent years.
It is a sporting homo-erotic cameo. Interestingly Akshay’s other release this week also touches on a gay theme. But that’s a different story.
The Stree franchise offers mainstream cinema a chance to have uninhibited fun without filters. The characters are unapologetic of their rusticity and not inhibited about bodily functions. When Rajkummar Rao refuses to marry, his screen father advices his son to be “self-sufficient”.
Bicky is all gooey-eyed over the mysterious woman.
Yes, still! Shraddha Kapoor refuses to let us know her name. Hopefully, we will be rewarded with that piece of information in the next chapter of the ongoing Stree-mart franchise with enough juice to keep us interested for more than a dozen segments.
So bring it on!
In the meanwhile, let us state without much ado that Stree 2 is more of a wild ride through the comedy-horror genre than the first Stree film that came six years ago. This time the scares are for quips.
Niren Bhatt has written insanely funny lines for all the four protagonists. But it is Rajkummar Rao who chews into his lines as though they were chunks of juicy chicken.
AKSHAY KUMAR IN STREE 2#AkshayKumar #Stree2 pic.twitter.com/LEZdV8AW8m
— Bhavesh Pagi🇮🇳 (@pagi_bhavesh) August 16, 2024
Rao has crazy fun with his ‘plijing’ accent and a screenplay that screams for attention without toppling over with its hysterical antics. There is a moment where he stops a woman’s hysterical outburst with a tantrum of his own. It is simply priceless.
The other leads are fine as long as they don’t exude the scent of complacency. Some of the actors you feel are too much at home when they need to keep their levels of incredulity at the weird goings-on at a high octane.
The tonal inflexions in the storytelling accommodate immeasurable amounts of absurdity. Stree is all about political incorrectness. Even for those who don’t believe in all this mumbo jumbo, the quotient of merrymaking is astounding, the song-and-dance breaks included.
Better, more adventurous and risky (the main plot about a headless ghoul is too frightening to be family entertainment) than the first film, Stree 2 is more an occult drama than a comedy. Director Amar Kaushik sustains the energy level with enervating obstinacy, piling one unputdownable episode on another until we are left gasping for breath.
There is one particular rush on a deserted road in the night where our four protagonists flee on mobikes from a hurling head. It is, I thought, an apt metaphor for the other two releases this week. What state of lunacy would prompt any film to face THIS?
Stree 2 is not competition, it is a juggernaut. For those of you out there who dig Chanda Mama stories laced with plenty of jumpscares, Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank is just what granny prescribed.
But be warned: Street 2 is a lot scarier, with girls disappearing from the village of Chanderi as some creature who doesn’t like ‘parivartan’ when it comes to women. Reminded me of the Taliban, what with the heads rolling.
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