Stree 2: Sarfire ka Aatang - A Ghost of a Good Time in Stree-verse

Sequels make me suspicious. They’re full of potential but equally capable of ruining all the good feelings from the first one. Thankfully, Stree 2: Sarfira ka Aatang didn’t leave me ghosted (pun intended). Directed by Amar Kaushik, who had directed Stree, it picks up where the first film left off, gives us more of what worked, and somehow doesn’t trip over itself trying to outdo the original.

Rajkummar Rao, our everyman hero with just the right amount of his fast-talking neurotic energy is back, navigating the chaos with a mix of vulnerability and street-smart bravado. Shraddha Kapoor keeps the intrigue alive, walking that tightrope between enigmatic and relatable without missing a beat. But it is the supporting cast that steals the show. Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee bring their A-game, nailing the kind of chemistry that makes even their silliest antics feel genuine. And then there’s Pankaj Tripathi, whose deadpan delivery could make a grocery list sound profound. Together, they form the comedic backbone of the film, which is more comedy than horror.

The script is a win. It’s snarky and clever without trying too hard, which is rare these days. There are enough jokes and funny elephant scenes to keep you entertained and just enough twists to keep you engaged. I won’t pretend it’s groundbreaking storytelling, but it doesn’t feel lazy either. And yes, they’re expanding the Stree universe, bringing in hints of Bhediya and other movies. I’m cautiously optimistic about that, universe-building is a slippery slope, so far there are no mis-steps.

The music surprised me.  Bollywood soundtracks have been stuck in a forgettable loop for a while, but Stree 2 breaks the curse. Every track is a banger. I have been listening to the Stree 2 playlist while typing this. 

But here’s the kicker, beneath the slapstick and spectral antics, Stree 2 has layers. On the surface, it’s a horror-comedy romp. Scratch a little deeper, and you find a sly commentary on patriarchy, freedom, and the headless monstrosities we’ve built to keep women in their “place.” It’s Barbie meets Tennessee Williams meets that one anthropology class you took because you thought it’d be easy. The titular “aatang” is more than just a ghost; it’s a metaphor for every institution that tells women what they can and cannot be. But don’t worry, you can still laugh your head off even if you miss all that.

I did notice some Stranger Things' influence. From the eerie “upside-down” world visuals to the atmospheric, neon-lit poster that looks like a discarded draft of the Stranger Things poster. It adds a pop-culture nod and playfulness to the film and I plan not to read much more into that.

So, should you watch it, if you have not already? Absolutely. Go in with your brain on low power mode, laugh at the absurdity, and let yourself get swept up in the chaos. And if you feel like diving into the metaphors later, that’s a bonus. Stree 2 isn’t trying to change the world, but it’s definitely here to make sure you’re having fun while the world keeps spinning. I ended up watching Bhediya (it is on Tubi, Stree 2 is on Prime) too not to be left out from this budding universe building happening in Bollywood.  Grab your popcorn, suspend your disbelief, and join the madness. The Stree-verse is just getting started.

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The White Tiger : A review

White Tiger, blue moon, albino alligator, purple carrot, double yolk egg - all these vagaries of nature catch our eye because they are rare. Aravind Adiga's novel The White Tiger bowled over the Booker prize judging panel in 2008. It was a rare page-turner, presenting a tight and perceptive portrayal of the emerging India of the early 2000s. Other than being mightily impressed just like the Booker panel I do not remember much about the story I had read 10+ years ago, that was till I watched Netflix's movie The White Tiger. 

I remembered that even while reading the book it had felt like it was gripping movie material for western audiences if it can be produced in English, the same language the book is written in. Just like Dickensian tales that never tire the audience even after repeat adaptations in different mediums, The White Tiger is like a modern day David Copperfield. It belongs to the same bildungsroman genre with the dark Victorian London substituted by the frenetic and murky 21st century New Delhi and northern India. A dog eat dog world where the poor has to overcome classism (and caste) to make something out of themselves.

And the most important reason why it has to be made in English and not in Hindi or any other regional Indian language is because poverty porn sells well to a western audience. [Parasite, has entered the chat.] It might even have a chance at being an Oscar contender in the regular category (and not in the best foreign film category.) If you think about other foreign films in the recent years that made it to the best picture category you shall see the light - Slumdog Millionaire, Roma, Parasite.

I can't say the poverty and the class/caste-divide The White Tiger depicts is not real. It it is not the India I am familiar with. I got lucky in the lottery of life. Salaam Bombay is real to people who live in the red light district of Mumbai, so is Netflix's recent home-brewed poverty porn classic - Hillbilly Elegy. But how many Americans I know and interact with everyday thinks that the U.S of A is as it is shown in Hillbilly Elegy? Zilch. Ordinary lives do not make interesting movies, we will leave it at that.

Adiga dedicated his book to his friend Ramin Bahrani whom he met during his student years at Columbia University. Bahrani has written the dialogs and directed The White Tiger as faithfully as he could, reproducing the narrative in his signature indie movie style. Bahrani, an Iranian-American director, born and brought up in the US somehow captures the simple and raw humanist docudrama vibes of Iranian cinema in all his films. He is well known for using raw natural talent, many with no previous acting experience as protagonists and placing them in a documentary-like story line (refer: Goodbye Solo) which is exactly what he does in The White Tiger too. It is helpful that Adiga's novel is indeed documentary-ish in its presentation - written as eight long emails from the protagonist, Balram Halwai to the Chinese premier at the time, Wen Jiabao. 

The cast is led by the newcomer Adarsh Gaurav as the protagonist and supported by the reliable and experienced Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. 

Priyanka and Ava DuVernay are also two of the executive producers of the movie. Appreciate your choice ladies, it is a movie that needs to made. While the characters and the background scenery are specific to India, it is a satirical take on neoliberalism, the invisible global economic epidemic, which is normalizing greed and narcissism all over the world.

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Bareilly Ki Barfi

Kriti Sanon is the leggy model who by some quirk of fate or by the malfunctioning magic wand of the casting director got deposited as a utility clerk, Bitti Mishra, in a musty sarkari (government) office in Bareilly, UP. Ayushmann Khurana is a writer so reclusive or ashamed of his writing skills or both  that he does not even want to be known as the author of his own novel. These are our two leads of Bareilly ki Barfi.

In real life, considering the rebellious, tomboyish nature of Bitti I would have expected her to have done a Kangana Ranaut and left her small town roots in the dust long ago and to reign over modeling world or Bollywood by now. Ayushmann Khurana as a writer is probably better than casting Varun Dhawan as one - that's surely a solid excuse for having Ayushmann as Chirag Dubey - printing press owner by the day and moonlighting novelist by night.

The perfect casting is Rajkummar Rao as Pritam Vidrohi - every bully's favorite person to pick on, the neighborhood punching bag - played to perfection by the national award winning actor.

Bareilly ki Barfi rides on the power of its script, direction and convincing portrayal of their roles by all the actors, not just the leads. It also plays safe by stringing together two of Bollywood's favorite subjects -1) love story ending in 2)wedding prep. It stays clear of moralizing and there are no villains in the story except for the hero.  A bubbly movie for a light-hearted hour or two.

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