Twinkle Khanna lauded Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor starrer Stree 2.
Twinkle Khanna applauded Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor’s ‘Stree 2’ for its brilliant blend of entertainment and social commentary.
In her latest column, actor-turned-author Twinkle Khanna lauded the film ‘Stree 2’ starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor for its clever role reversal, where “women are free and men are scared.” She praised the film for delivering an important message while keeping the audience entertained. Writing for ‘The Times of India’ in her column titled “Why Ghosts Don’t Scare the Indian Stree,” Twinkle noted that “horror films have fewer unsettling components than the scary things we see every day around us.”
She drew attention to incidents like “the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata” and “the sexual abuse of two four-year-olds in a school in Badlapur” to underscore how Amar Kaushik’s film, which features a supernatural Stree preying on men who roam after dark, is a “subversion of the fear that women experience on a daily basis.”
Twinkle also shared insights into how she is passing down the same lessons of caution that her mother and grandmother taught her—advising her daughter never to go alone to the park, school, or work, and to be wary of all men, whether they are uncles, cousins, or friends. She emphasized the importance of enforcing laws to ensure the safety of women in public spaces, rather than confining them to their homes.
Twinkle concluded her column with a powerful reflection on the harsh realities women face in India, suggesting that women might often feel safer encountering a ghost than a man in a dark alley. She wrote, “Till then, I suppose it is safer for the strees of this country to encounter a ghost in a dark alley than a man.”
Horror comedy Stree 2, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, has surpassed Rs 500 crore in worldwide gross box office collections, the makers announced on Sunday. Directed by Amar Kaushik and produced by Dinesh Vijan of Maddock Films, the film is the sequel to 2018’s Stree.
The production banner shared the latest box office figures of Stree 2 on its X (formerly Twitter) page. Stree 2 has set a record with the highest-ever second Saturday earnings. Thanking fans for their support, the post urged viewers to book tickets now. According to Maddock Films, the film has earned Rs 426 crore gross in India and Rs 78.5 crore gross overseas, totaling approximately Rs 505 crore. The domestic net box office collections stand at Rs 361 crore.
Released on August 15, Stree 2 competed with Nikkhil Advani’s Vedaa, starring Sharvari and John Abraham, and Mudassar Aziz’s Khel Khel Mein, starring Akshay Kumar, but emerged as the top earner among them. The movie, written by Niren Bhatt, also stars Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, and Abhishek Banerjee. Stree 2 is part of Maddock Films’ horror comedy universe, which includes films like Bhediya and Munjya.
The film continues the eerie story of Chanderi, with Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor reprising their iconic roles. This time, the town faces a new threat, Sarkata, and turns to Stree for help. The film also features exciting cameos, including Varun Dhawan as Bhediya.
Critically, Stree 2 has been well-received. News18 Showsha gave it a 3.5/5 rating, praising the performances of Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. Although some fans wanted more screen time for Shraddha, her action scenes and Rajkummar’s versatile acting were highlights of the much-loved franchise.
Earlier, in an interview with indianexpress.com, Amar Kaushik reacted to the film setting the box office on fire. He had said, “I am very happy actually. I am very happy that the film is performing so well at the box office. I always had this one thing in my mind: numbers should not come by fluke whenever I make a film. For Stree 2, I wanted to make sure that people were not going to watch it only because they loved part one. It was important to me that people liked the film. I have always craved love from the reviewers as well as the audience.”
