Streeverse smith!

Rs 500 cr and counting… Stree 2 has blockbuster writ all over it! From sleeper- hit Stree to its sequel breaking record after record, finding a place in top five grossers, the spooky and quirky Stree has indeed established itself as a money-spinning franchise. Amar Kaushik, the director of the super-hit ‘horror.coms’, can’t possibly pinpoint at the formula of success or if there are any rules to making a sequel.

But yes, the astute storyteller in him recounts the tale of two salesmen who land in a village to sell shoes. “One is disheartened for everyone in the village goes around barefoot. The other jumps at the idea of doing something never done before,” he says. And that explains how he went about making horror comedies a genre so far dismissed as C-grade. Indeed, he, who has not one but three hits that fall in the same genre, can take a bow for achieving yet another impossible — goad cinema lovers to watch films in theatres in times when movies are flopping left, right and centre.

Why as Stree 2 clashed with Akshay Kumar-starrer Khel Khel Mein, there was greater buzz around Akshay’s cameo in Stree 2. Of course, for those who think Stree 3, indeed a given, will see the superstar in a much more meatier part, something on the lines of Thanos of Avengers Infinity War, Kaushik reveals, “I don’t know why people believe so. Indeed, the Stree universe will get bigger with more and more additions. But my five central characters and actors will always be Shraddha Kapoor, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee. What is the ‘Streeverse’ without them?” If that is a promise, yet another covenant he swears by is, “My films will always remain rooted, original and made with utmost honesty.” As the lead character from his other film Bhediya jumped verses and Varun Dhawan joined the Stree gang, the idea of marriage of different verses, he insists, “Was not copied from Hollywood.”

In fact, he doesn’t watch too many films. And even when he did during his formative years, he can’t list a single film, the likes of which he would have cared to make. That’s why he does not find any comparisons with Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) flattering. Rather, he quips, “First we called Hindi film industry Bollywood, more an ode to Hollywood than our originality and now we are talking of Indian Cinematic Universe fashioned after Marvel Cinematic Universe. Let us be just what we are.”

Though fairly young in years and in the industry, with four hit films to his credit, he would certainly not like to be associated with ‘horror.coms’ alone. He laughs, “After all I can’t keep selling shoes, need to market socks and may be a neck-tie too.” Precisely why he produced and not directed Munjya, and does not see his directorial Bala, a social drama about how ‘bald is beautiful’, as an aberration in his filmography. The mantra of this break-out director always is and will remain entertainment. Indeed, packaging messages around laughter is tough, “If you get carried away by talking down to viewers.” Both Stree and Stree 2, and even Bhediya, have many subtle inflections.

Only he is not unduly perturbed by it nor intends to drum it in. Thus, he is okay with it if audiences don’t get all the cues and clues. Or even critics fail to see it. “Full house might be the best critic,” but he certainly values critics’ opinion. Viewers’ feedback is critical too. And if you care to value his advice, well, aspiring directors, in particular, better pay heed, “Don’t count the negatives or dwell in pessimism. Ro mat. Look at what you have and can do. I made my first short film Abba without any resources or stars. For Stree, I didn’t have enough money for VFX yet it is today rated as one of the best.” If with Stree 2 he upped the game, a threequel can only chart newer frontiers. Remember his salesman story… if you believe in something, don’t fret or fume, just go ahead and sell it.

No baggage of success

Director producer Amar Kaushik can’t quite claim to know what will click with the audiences. But he is more than happy that brilliant actor Rajkummar Rao, now has a super-duper hit up his sleeve. He says, “We all vouch for his talent and I am happy that I have something to do with this megahit in which he plays the lead role.” Kaushik, however, doesn’t feel the baggage of success on his shoulders. Even as he goes about creating more universes and bigger scales, audiences’ love is what he seeks and is ready for censure too, in case there is any misstep. With his producer partner Dinesh Vijan, however, he is always in sync. He says, “We are like brothers, friends. There is no ego between us.”