Stree 2

Stree 2: Sarkate Ka Aatank (transl. Woman 2: Terror of the Headless) is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by Amar Kaushik, written by Niren Bhatt and produced jointly by Maddock Films and Jio Studios. A sequel to Stree (2018), which spawned the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, it serves as the fourth instalment in the franchise. The film stars Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee and Aparshakti Khurana as a group of friends who must defeat Sarkata, a headless malevolent entity abducting the women of Chanderi.

Kaushik expressed interest in developing a sequel to Stree in October 2018. By February 2022, Rao confirmed that the project was in development, but original writers and producers Raj & DK were no longer involved, having parted ways with producer Dinesh Vijan over disputes regarding the rights to the franchise. Bhatt eventually took over as writer, having written the other two instalments Bhediya (2022) and Munjya (2024). The sequel was officially announced by Vijan and Jyoti Deshpande in April 2023. Principal photography began in July of the same year, primarily taking place in Chanderi and Bihar, and concluded by mid-2024. The soundtrack album was composed by Sachin–Jigar, while the background score was composed by Justin Varghese, who replaced Ketan Sodha from the original. The cinematography and editing were handled by Jishnu Bhattacharjee, who replaced Amalendu Chaudhary from the original, and Hemanti Sarkar, respectively.

Stree 2 was theatrically released worldwide on 15 August 2024, coinciding with Independence Day, and received positive reviews from critics. The film grossed over ₹875 crore (US$100 million) worldwide, emerging as the third highest-grossing Indian film and the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024, as well as the seventh highest-grossing Hindi film and the twelfth highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

Stree 2 received 14 nominations at the 70th Filmfare Awards including Best Film, Best Director (Kaushik), Best Actor (Rao) and Best Actress (Kapoor), winning Best Female Playback Singer (Bagchi for "Aaj Ki Raat).

Plot

After Stree abstains from haunting Chanderi, a headless demon called Sarkata emerges and abducts an unaccompanied woman. A few years later, the townsfolk of Chanderi worship Stree and believe that the women Sarkata abducted in the past few years left their homes to seek better opportunities. Meanwhile, Rudra receives an anonymous envelope containing a few missing pages of the "Chanderi Puran" and a message saying, "Vo Aayega" (transl. He will come). He promptly confides in Vicky, who brushes him off.

The townsfolk discern the existence of Sarkata after he abducts Bittu's girlfriend Chitti. The enigmatic woman, who vanished from the bus, briefly reappears to Vicky and cautions him about Sarkata. Vicky, Rudra and Bittu examine the missing pages of 'Chanderi Puran' and discover that Sarkata is the malevolent ghost of Chandrabhan, a former chieftain of Chanderi, who murdered Stree and her partner while their young daughter spectated helplessly. He was murdered by Stree but was destined to emerge from the dead after her supposed exit from the town; he despises progressive women and targets them. Realizing that they need Stree's assistance in defeating him, Vicky and Bittu meet with Jana, who was once a medium for Stree, at his werewolf cousin Bhaskar's residence and convince him to return home.

They search for Stree at her lair, where Sarkata attacks Jana and the latter briefly has an out-of-body experience; his soul visits Sarkata's lair, where he finds the missing women including Chitti. His soul returns to his body and the group leaves the fort with Sarkata in pursuit. The woman shows up again and fights Sarkata, having acquired Stree's powers through her braid but he destroys Stree's statue to indicate his authority. Women of the town fear getting abducted and urge Vicky to find a solution. The woman motivates Vicky and reminds him that he is the saviour of the town. She gives him a mystical dagger that is capable of killing Sarkata. To lure Sarkata, they arrange for a dance performance by Rudra's beautiful lover Shama, who runs a dance troop outside of Chanderi. Sarkata appears to abduct her after her performance but Vicky fails to muster the courage to kill him; he subsequently enchants the men of the town and abducts Shama, devastating Rudra. Elsewhere, the bewitched men turn chauvinistic and begin to dominate women in their homes.

Desperate to rescue the town, the group traces the writer of the letter to a mental asylum, where they realize that he is the descendant of Sarkata. He reveals that Sarkata could only be defeated by a person, who is neither a man nor a woman but both. The woman merges her soul with Vicky for the time being and they enter Sarkata's lair. They confront Sarkata and sever his head but each dismembered part forms a new Sarkata and creates terror. Bhaskar comes to their rescue but they are still overwhelmed by Sarkata. Having no choice, the woman calls for Stree, who is revealed to be her mother. Stree arrives and presumably kills him by dragging Sarkata into lava, releasing the abducted women and disenchanting the men of Chanderi. While the townsfolk celebrate, the woman reveals herself to be a ghost to Vicky and that her true purpose is to help her mother attain salvation. She finally whispers her name in Vicky's ears and promises to meet again.

In a post-credits scene, after his fight with Sarkata, Bhaskar finds himself stranded naked in a jungle. Jana brings him clothes and learns from Bhaskar that a creature, apparently a vampire, has been wreaking havoc in Delhi. Elsewhere, the remains of Sarkata reach his descendant at the mental asylum and his ghost possesses him, implying his return.

Cast

Production

Development

In October 2018, following the success of Stree, Amar Kaushik announced plans for a sequel. The project, produced by Raj and DK alongside Dinesh Vijan, was initially set to begin filming in 2019. According to producer Vijan, the sequel would delve into Shraddha Kapoor’s character's backstory and answer several unanswered questions from the first film. The original cast would return, with new additions, and the narrative would primarily focus on the characters played by Rajkummar Rao and Kapoor.

However, script development continued throughout 2019, with filming postponed to 2020; in the meantime, Raj & DK distanced themselves from the sequel after a fallout with Vijan over the rights to Stree. In February 2022, Rao confirmed the sequel's development. By October 2022, Kapoor also confirmed that shooting would commence soon. That same month, it was reported that Kaushik and his team had finalised the storyline for the sequel, which would continue from where the first film left off.

In March 2023, the film entered pre-production, with filming scheduled to start in July 2023. In April 2023, Jio Studios joined as co-producers. The filmmakers announced that the sequel is set for release on 30 August 2024.

Casting

Rao, Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, and Aparshakti Khurana reprise their respective roles, with Tripathi returning as Rudra, Banerjee as Jana, Khurana as Bittu, and Sunita Rajwar as Jana's mother. Tamannaah Bhatia makes a special appearance in a song, while Varun Dhawan features in a cameo, reprising his role from Bhediya. According to a report from Hindustan Times, Akshay Kumar would be appearing in a cameo.

Filming

Principal photography began on 10 July 2023, with the initial shoot taking place in Chanderi. Filming schedules were adjusted to accommodate Pankaj Tripathi's commitments to his role in Main Atal Hoon (2024). The first schedule concluded within the same month. The second schedule commenced in November 2023, with the crew relocating to Madhya Pradesh for additional filming. In December 2023, scenes were shot in Indore, and a dance number featuring Tamannaah Bhatia was filmed in Bihar, choreographed by Vijay Ganguly. In January 2024, the production moved to an old fort in Bhopal. Varun Dhawan joined the set in February 2024 to film a guest appearance at a Mumbai studio, reprising his role from Bhediya (2022).

Post-production

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) did not mandate any visual cuts for Stree 2. However, the board requested two audio modifications: the removal of a celebrity's name and the muting of a national monument's name. After these changes, the film was granted a U/A rating and has a runtime of 149 minutes. One improvised scene involved Rajkummar Rao singing "Calm Down" by Rema and Selena Gomez, which led to the producers paying ₹25 lakh in residuals.

Music

The film's music was composed by Sachin–Jigar, with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, replacing Vayu from the original, and the background score by Justin Varghese in his second Hindi film, replacing Ketan Sodha from the original. The soundtrack, distributed by Saregama, consisted of four original tracks, namely "Aaj Ki Raat", "Khoobsurat", "Aayi Nai" and "Tumhare Hi Rahenge Hum"—all of which were released as singles.