Stree Review: Why didn’t I see this gem before?

First Published: July 20, 2019 (Facebook)

The 2018 Bollywood movie Stree is a very big small film. That’s just the only way to describe it in one sentence. Ostensibly about a ghostly menace in the small Indian town of Chanderi, the film has the seed of exploration if not outright celebration of female archetypes and the divine feminine. It starts with four days of observing religious rituals for the goddess, to which the lady ghost called ‘Stree’ (which, translates from Hindi into ‘Woman’) is completely immune. She stalks the streets at night for any men moving around on their own and on finding one, takes them to destinations unknown sans their clothes.

It’s during this time that the simple hearted and prodigious ladies’ tailor Vicky, played effortlessly by Rajkumar Rao, falls head over heels for a mysterious, nameless beauty, played by Shraddha Kapoor, who seems to convey (and conceal) through expressions and silences. Focus from this budding dynamic between the two leads is cut short when Vicky’s super supportive friend, Janna, gets abducted by Stree. The rest of the film revolves around finding him and finally putting an end to the ghostly menace.

That Stree arrives only during the days of the goddess is of course no co-incidence. As it turns out, her purpose is ultimately in service to the divine, which raises the consciousness of the collective for a more harmonious and evolved way of being. No such evolution takes place without some friction, however. But, even though Vicky is the designated saviour of the city from the ghost, the heavy lifting is done by his nameless love-interest who reveals her flair for the occult, all guns blazing, at just the right time and also pretty much carries the climax to its ultimate conclusion, making it an out and out female film. Think Eleven and Stranger Things, in a more everyday context.

It does so, without trying too hard to make the point, especially, of women-in-charge, which a lot of films these days are doing. The only exception is political referencing, which was really not required. We get it, the emergency was as undemocratic as it gets in a country that prides on being the largest such. But here, it’s an angle that does nothing and re-directs attention away from the main subject. It is a small part, though, thankfully, keeping entertainment the main goal. And it does that so well.

It’s witty and smart, with the wit most evident in the banter among characters, and it’s no small help that each of the supporting cast is very well etched and performed brilliantly. The challenge of limited safety for women when moving out of the house alone after dark, a common one for women even in big cities, is hilariously turned on its head. For once it’s the men who are scared to step out. The role reversal between men and women is wildly exaggerated, and for deliberate effect. Some men are even shown dressed up as women to avoid being identified as men. This is meant to be a fitting, if comical, revenge against the collective male population, which is really what Stree is baying for, given her deeply unfortunate backstory.

And the film has no intention of tying a neat bow to the loose ends, in this case, the unfinished love angle between the two leads. The lady in question as it turns out, seems to have some ambitions of her own that might not involve the male lead. The film basically screams for a sequel. And the curiosity is built well. A feminist-comic-horror film, if there was ever one, is this. It’s on Netflix