Stree 2 REVIEW: Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao sequel is a blockbuster combo of horror and comedy from first frame to last

MUMBAI: It's extremely rare for a sequel to surpass the impact of a much-loved original film, let alone go miles beyond it. Stree 2 is that rarest of rare sequels that manages to do so in every way possible, carving its name in the upper echelon of the greatest sequels in the history of cinema, including the likes of Terminator 2, The Empire Stikes Back, Aliens, The Dark Knight, LOTR 3, and our very own Tiger Zinda Hai, Don 2, and Housefull 2. And the Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Aparshakti Khurana starrer merits every ounce of this praise, and then some.

To start of, Stree was loved more for its comedy than horror as most great horror-comedies are, and the followup thrusts those laughs into side-splitting, belly-aching territory. Next, Street did have some good chills and thrills for all its humor; only this time, the horror, and especially jump scared are personified to levels that genuinely make levae you startled, tense, and shaken in your seat. In an era when jump scares, even in the slickest Hollywood productions, have begun to look stale, this is no small feat. What makes it better is how seamlessly Director Amar Kaushik and writer Niren Bhatt intertwine the laughs with the scares one after the next, neither looking out of place or shoved in just for the heck of it.

In fact, Kaushik is in sublime form here, offering us a front-row seat to him turning into a true auteur of the horror-comedy zone, no doubt backed by brilliant VFX — producer Dinesh Vijan keeps surprising us time and again with how Maddock ups its CGI game with each new entry in this universe. It also pays dividends that Bhatt arms Kaushik with a script that turns the premise of the first film on its head while beautifully connecting the dots — can't reveal anything more sans risking spoilers.

The other technicalities, too, are top notch form Jishnu Bhattacharjee's atmospheric camerawork and Hemanti Sarkar's taut editing to Sachin Jigar's peppy tracks, Justin Varghese's moody background score, and the overall production design keeping your eyes riveted to the screen.

Finally, Rajkummar Rao delivers his best comic performance to date, nailing the small-town guy out of his element while Shraddha Kapoor looks like a million bucks, plays a warrior like a zillion bucks, and leaves a lasting impression on a role that she now owns. Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee all plays comic foils to the T, plus two brilliant cameos and a big twist are the icing on this delicious cake that goes beyond the first Stree, taking our desi horror comedy univer to horizons you can't even dream of. Don't miss Stree 2 in a packed theater for the world.

4.5/5 stars