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 including Shama played by Tamannaah. 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 sixth highest-grossing Hindi film and the eleventh highest-grossing Indian film of all time. The movie’s success has been greatly boosted by the song Aayi Nai, sung by the renowned Powerstar Pawan Singh.A sequel is in development. 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).