Stree 2, Bhediya, Munjya Writer Defends Eccentric Characters In Horror-Comedy Films

Stree 2: Ever since its release on Independence Day this year, the Shraddha Kapoor-Rajkummar Rao starrer has been creating ripples at the box office. The movie has become the highest-grossing Hindi movie of the year as yet. It continues to bring audiences to houseful theatres. Amid the fan frenzy, the writer of the film Niren Bhatt has spoken about the filmmaking process.

Niren Bhatt talks about the symbolism in horror-comedy movies

What ties all movies in the Maddock Films horror comedy universe together is the representation of social fallacies and Sarkata, the newest villain in Stree 2, is the symbol of all that is wrong about patriarchy, says writer Niren Bhatt. Bhatt, who also wrote other successful films in the horror-comedy franchise Bhediya and Munjya, said all these fantastical characters represent something about society. “Some people complain that there is a lot of humour but less horror or vice versa but these are not horror films where actual ghosts are haunting people. All our ghosts are fallacies of our society. Sarkata is the most warped form of patriarchy." the writer shared. 
 

"Stree is the symbol of matriarchy, she is not a witch. Bhediya is the protector of the forests. We have designed these characters in a certain way. We are not talking about hocus pocus or spirits out of the blue," the writer told PTI in an interview. While Stree revolved around a female ghost, who was wronged in her mortal life, its follow-up focuses on a headless villain called Sarkata with a connection to the eponymous character. Stree 2, which follows Sarkata abducting women with an independent voice, hits harder in the backdrop of the Kolkata alleged rape-murder and the Justice Hema Committee report on women's exploitation in Malayalam cinema.
 

Stree 2 writer highlights political influences behind the movie 

 In one of the key scenes in Stree 2, Sarkata demolishes the statue of Stree, the guardian of Chanderi, to declare the beginning of his reign. The writer, said he wanted to recreate the 2003 incident in Baghdad where civilians and US forces destroyed a large statue of Saddam Hussein to mark the end of his rule in Iraq. "It's a famous metaphor... Whenever there is a change of regime, the first thing they do is demolish the very symbols of the establishment. It was a similar situation in Bangladesh recently," he said referring to how protesters in Bangladesh destroyed a statue of founder Sheikh Mujibur after his daughter Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country amid political unrest.
 

Not just politics, Bhatt's writing is filled with pop culture nostalgia too. Be it a hat-tip to Marvel supervillain Thanos in Bala or a reference to Bryan Cranston's I am the danger one-liner from Breaking Bad and Rasode Mein Kaun Tha meme from Saath Nibhana Saathiya in Bhediya. Stree 2 is no different. There are hat-tips to Harry Potter, Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, Avengers, King Arthur, and even Sufi philosopher Rumi.
(With inputs from PTI)