Review of Movie "Stree 2" : Terror of the Headless

By Nysa Warlekar

From where we left off from the first movie , we begin the second movie with a play performed by children of the village to celebrate the protection of woman “Stree”  We’re introduced to our major characters played by the film stars Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana. 

After sending Stree away from Chanderi , a new conflict is introduced to us about the sudden disappearance of women/young ladies from the village which are perceived as “ahead of time” for trying to start a life for themselves outside the village however there are no questions raised as women of the village are allowed to do whatever they wish and desire however little did they know that the group of friends will have to defeat a new threat in Chanderi , a headless ghost named “Sarkata”, who abducts women at night and drags them into a nightmarish alternate dimension. Vicky, still in love with the Girl with No Name, frequently appearing before him. Meanwhile, Rudra receives an anonymous letter containing missing pages from the Chanderi Puran and a cryptic message: “vo aayega” (he will come). Thus beginning the search for the clues for summoning Stree again to defeat the Headless ghost. 

Besides being a horror movie, the comedic scenes and dialogue of the characters had me and my friends laughing, to the point where some of us might have fallen off our seats. The narration of Pankaj Thripati was funny, quirky to favour the teen audience but the sound effects and tension building was terrifying given how it quickly shifts to the next scene that’s the reason why the movie felt quick at the beginning because the progression of plot from conflict to solution began with realising the truth of girls disappearing when Bittu’s girlfriend, Chitti, is taken by Headless Ghost , reappearing of No Name Girl, summoning Stree and setting the captured women free. The reason why Stree has to be called back is because of the history between Stree and Headless Ghost as he was a former village head who murdered Stree, by beheading her husband and burning her alive as her child witnessed the entire tragedy, now the child plays an important role as  its questioned by Vicky as to who the child might be but brushed off when the group are searching for Jana who has a connection with Stree after being possessed once, had suddenly disappeared for a brief moment when they visit Stree’s statue at an Old Fort which is where they encounter the Headless Ghost for the first time and while they’re on the run, the Ghost reaches the village and distroys Stree’s statue when Shraddha Kapoor’s character , a girl who practises witchcraft enters to save the group from the Ghost and to warn them that stopping Headless Ghost is a must before the whole village is swarmed in danger in his powers however there’s a call for emergence when all village men are possessed by Headless Ghost and start oppressing the women. Only the Nameless girl, Vicky, Jana and Rudra start planning to find Headless Ghost’s Lair and it’s at this point where the length of the movie starts dawning at me because the group go to a mental asylum for Akshay Kumar’s cameo to explain to them that Headless ghost can be defeated when Men and Women come together but with Vicky’s constant hesitation and inability to realise his full potential the movie becomes a strain. 

Now remember when I said the child is important? The Backstory of Stree was very intriguing and interesting because when it’s revealed to us from the first movie, when her hair is entangled with Stree’s hair, as she’s able to gain Stree’s powers and disappears is because the Nameless girl is Stree’s daughter. Therefore she’s able to call Stree as “Ma” and summon her to defeat the Headless Ghost. 

After its defeat, the women are freed, and the men are released from the ghost’s control. Vicky and his friends are celebrated as heroes. Nameless Girl reveals that she is a ghost and must leave, but not before whispering her name to Vicky which hints that there might be return of her once again. 

Now this movie touches upon some good qualities of a Free Women and their acceptance in the society because they play a bigger and more significant role as a being, when they come together to break free from their oppression at the same time when Headless Ghost is defeated by Stree so these are the points where I’ll give the movie the credit for portraying decent female main and side characters but also this movie could be classified as a good “Time Pass Movie” given the genre as well as story telling which can be watched together with a group of friends to enjoy the funniness and absurdity of it all to the last bit.

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