Will not make ‘Stree 2’ under pressure: Rajkummar Rao

Actor Rajkumar Rao says he will take the sequel to his critically acclaimed horror-comedy “Stree” with the same sincerity and affection that he had for the original.

Also starring Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, Aparshakti Khurana and Shraddha Kapoor, the film became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed films of 2018.

The makers confirmed the sequel last month with director Amar Kaushik returning the lead cast.

“Sri’ is very special to all of us. Amar and I discussed not to push it. We will make it with the same honesty and love as we made the first part. We will maintain the same integrity in both parts,” Rao told PTI at the IIFA Rocks Awards on Friday.

“Stree” is set in Chanderi, a small town in Madhya Pradesh, where an evil spirit named ‘Stree’ kidnaps humans at night during festivals. It is based on the urban legend “Nale Baa” that went viral in Karnataka in the 1990s.

Rao said the follow-up is currently in pre-production and will start shooting soon. Produced by Dinesh Vijan and Jio Studios, “Stree 2” will release in August 2024.

The actor co-hosted the IIFA Rocks event with filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan last night and was excited about the gig.

“I am hosting IFA Rocks for the first time, with Farah Ma’am, whom I love very much. She is amazing, amazing,” he added.

Khan, known for directing films like ‘Main Hoon Na’ and ‘Om Shanti Om’, praised Rao for his sense of humour.

“Raj has a great sense of humor and we get along well. Our tastes are very different but that’s the fun. I fight for commercial cinema and he waxes on about his kind of films. It’s good to have friends from different walks of life so you get different perspectives. It’s good to have young friends,” said the filmmaker.