Stree 2 (2024)
Amar Kaushik, Niren Bhatt, and Jio Studios collaborated
to make the 2024 Hindi comedic horror film Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank, which
translates to "Woman 2: Terror of the Headless." This fifth
instalment in the Maddock Supernatural Universe is a follow-up to Stree (2018)
and is based on the folk legend of Naale Baa from the southern Indian state of
Karnataka. Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor play the main characters in the
movie, with Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Aparshakti Khurana playing
important supporting parts. A group of friends are followed as they try to stop
a wicked force that is kidnapping Chanderi's ladies.
In October 2018, Kaushik first indicated that he would like to work on a Stree sequel. Rao stated that the movie was under development by February 2022, but the original writers and producers Raj & DK were no longer involved because they had a falling out with producer Dinesh Vijan over the franchise's rights. Bhatt thus assumed the role of writer. In April 2023, Vijan and Jyoti Deshpande made a formal announcement about the sequel. The main photography started that July and ended in the middle of 2024, mostly in Chanderi and Bihar.
Justin Varghese contributed additional music to
Sachin-Jigar's musical score for the movie. Jishnu Bhattacharjee handled the
cinematography, and Hemanti Sarkar handled the editing.
On August 15, 2024, Stree 2 was released in theatres all over the world to
favourable reviews from critics. At the box office, the movie has made over
₹644 crore, making it the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024, the
highest-grossing Indian film of 2024, and the ninth-highest-grossing Hindi film
of all time.
Cast:
Unnamed Witch
Shamma
Vicky
Cameo Appearance
Bittu
Rudra
Plot:
The film commences with the final scene from the previous instalment, in which Stree is on her way back to Chanderi. Upon seeing a statue of herself at the town entry bearing the words "o stree raksha karna" (oh woman guard us), she makes the decision to depart. A headless ghost known as "Sarkata" is a new threat that Chanderi must contend with after years of absence. She kidnaps victims at night and takes them to a terrifying parallel reality.
The villagers wrongly think the missing women have moved on to better opportunities because they are unaware of the ghost's presence. Vicky, who is still in love with the Girl Without a Name, sometimes known as "She," often imagines her walking in front of him. Rudra, meantime, gets an anonymous letter that says, "vo aayega" (he will arrive), along with several pages that are missing from the Chanderi Puran.
One evening, Sarkata abducts Bittu's girlfriend, Chitti.
The ghost is real, according to a beggar who saw the kidnapping. Vicky, Bittu,
and Rudra look through the ripped pages of the Chanderi Puran to find out where
Sarkata came from. It is revealed to them that Sarkata is the vengeful ghost of
Chandrabhan, the former chief of the village who killed the courtesan Stree by
burning her alive and murdering her spouse. Sarkata has returned to target
progressive women following Stree's departure from Chanderi. When the
companions realise they need Stree's assistance to beat Sarkata, they go to
Delhi to find Jana, who was previously Stree's possession.
Living with his cousin Bhaskar, Jana is enticed back to
Chanderi by them under the guise of a theatrical production (scene from
Bhediya), but he grudgingly consents to help when he learns the true purpose.
Jana witnesses visions of the parallel realm where the kidnapped women are held
hostage when Sarkata assaults and almost kills her while hunting for Stree at
the old fort. Sarkata is after them as they barely escape the fort they,
thinking Jana is dead, are astonished to see him come back to life. She resurfaces
while Sarkata terrorises the community, and this time she uses the powers of
Stree's braid to defeat Sarkata and save the group. The terrified women of the
community assume that Sarkata's appearance is the result of Vicky's defeating
Stree.
Vicky is persuaded that his clean soul qualifies him for the duty, and they put pressure on him to accept responsibility for the new threat. Vicky receives a magic dagger from her, and she gives him the order to chop off half of Sarkata's head with it. The group arranges for Shama, Rudra's lover, to do a dance to trap Sarkata. Sarkata makes an appearance during the performance, but Vicky is unable to cut his head off. After that, every man in the room—aside from Vicky, Rudra, and Jana—is under Sarkata's control. Subsequently, Bittu and the other possessed men take control of the ladies in the town after Sarkata kidnaps Shama.
In their desperation to find a solution, the trio pursues
the anonymous letter's tip to a mental hospital, where they encounter a Sarkata
descendent. The man discloses that a creature that is "half of
both"—that is, neither wholly human nor fully animal—is the only one
capable of defeating Sarkata. Equipped with this information, She unites her
body with Vicky's, forming a creature fit to enter Sarkata's lair. Vicky and
She face Sarkata within the lair. With the magical knife, Vicky splits Sarkata's
head in half, but each severed head grows back into several new heads. Bhaskar
shows up in his werewolf form and assaults Sarkata as they are overpowered.
But when Sarkata overcomes Bhaskar and reattaches his
head, the fight turns deadly. She makes one more attempt and calls out to her
mother, who turns out to be Stree. Upon Stree's arrival, she beheads Sarkata
once more and drags his corpse into the lava, thus destroying him with Vicky's
assistance. The men are freed from the ghost's grip and the women are set free
following Sarkata's defeat. Vicky and his companions are hailed as heroes. She
whispers Vicky her name before admitting she is a ghost and had to depart.
After becoming human, Bhaskar begs Jana in the woods to
fix him up with She (a scene from Munjya). Jana declines, but Bhaskar persists
in his request. A mystery pot containing Sarkata's ashes makes its way to the
mental facility in a scene that plays throughout the credits. There, his
descendant breathes in the burning smoke from the remains and becomes possessed
by the monster, suggesting that the terror may return.
Box Office:
The day before its release, Stree 2 broke the record set by Chennai Express with a successful paid preview that brought in ₹9.40 crore. On Independence Day, the movie was released alongside Vedaa and Khel Khel Mein. It earned ₹64.80 crore at the box office, making it the second-highest opening day for a Hindi movie, only surpassed by Jawan (2023). Rao's career opening day reached a record high, and Kapoor's only other high opening day was Saaho (2019).
The highest-opening Hindi film of the year is Stree 2, surpassing even Sidharth Anand's Fighter. In addition, Stree 2 was able to outperform the Telugu epic sci-fi Kalki 2898 AD's first-day collections in Hindi. Atlee's Jawan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, opened with the highest opening weekend in Bollywood history, with the movie earning $8.9 million. Additionally, for both of the main actors, this is their biggest-ever opening picture.
With a $2.57 million opening weekend gross, the movie made its debut outside of India in the US top 10.
With a total worldwide gross of ₹644 crore as of August 28, 2024, the movie had earned ₹524.79 crore in India and ₹107.95 crore abroad. In the process, it surpassed Fighter to become the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024. It also surpassed Rao and Kapoor's combined earnings to rank ninth, tenth, and fifteenth in terms of domestic box office receipts, respectively.
Release Date:
Originally slated for a 30 August 2024 global theatre
release, Stree 2 was postponed to debut on Independence Day of that same year.
There were close to 3,000 paid preview night performances the day before it was
released.
.jpg)
0 Comments