Dinesh Vijan surprised fans of the Stree universe by sharing an update on Stree 3. The filmmaker confirmed that the film, starring Rajkummar Rao and directed by Amar Kaushik, will release in 2028, hinting it could arrive either on Independence Day or Christmas.

Rajkummar Rao and Dinesh Vijan attended FICCI Frames, where they spoke about their horror-comedy universe, Stree, during a panel discussion with author-journalist Anupama Chopra. With both Stree and Stree 2 receiving immense love from audiences and performing well at the box office, an update on the third installment was highly anticipated. The filmmaker also shared details about the shooting schedule for Vicky Kaushal-starrer Mahavatar.

“Stree 3 arrives in 2028. If I say anything more, he’ll (Amar Kaushik) get upset with me because he just finished writing it. He thinks that I give out too many spoilers but everything that you have loved about it, you’ll get it but where it starts and where it ends, will be a complete revelation. So, I think it might be a nice Independence Day or a Christmas Day present in 2028,” said Maddock Films’ Dinesh Vijan.

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Dinesh Vijan also revealed that Amar Kaushik is set to direct what he described as his most ambitious film yet, Mahavatar, starring Vicky Kaushal as Bhagwan Parshuram. He also shared the film’s shooting timeline.

“Amar Kaushik is the most integral part of Stree and the entire horror comedy franchise. He directs our most ambitious film in January end, which is Bhagwan Parshuram’s story, called Mahavatar. He finishes that in June and at the end of next year, we go on floor,” said Dinesh Vijan.

Recalling how the Stree universe began, Rajkummar Rao said the team started with an independent, small-budget film but had immense faith in its story and director Amar Kaushik. He also spoke about the camaraderie on set and how it translated onto the screen. “It was amazing. We started as an independent small-budget film but we all had great faith in the story, and the way Amar was on set. He is like us, so we all were like ‘laundas’ (young boys) on set, we were just cracking jokes, and trying to make this wonderful film with each other, and I think that energy is very much visible on the screen, and that’s exactly what happened with Stree 2.”

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Rajkummar also recalled how Amar Kaushik reacted when Stree, his first theatrical release, began performing well at the box office. The actor said that despite the film earning around Rs 70-75 crore, Amar was nervous about its unexpected success. “I remember when Stree released Amar bhai’s first theatrical release, when it started making that kind of number, I remember, it made around Rs 70-75 crore, and Amar was actually nervous, ‘Bhai, ye kuch zyada nahi kama liye,’ (Brother, isn’t the film earning more?) and I said, ‘Arre, acchi baat hai na, tu kyun itna zyada soch raha hai’ (It’s a good thing, right? Why are you overthinking?) It’s great na, which means people are loving it, and the kind of love we got for Stree is insane.”

When asked how Amar reacted to the box office success of Stree 2, Rajkummar said the filmmaker was much more confident the second time around, having delivered films such as Bala and Bhediya. “Then he was prepared, and he was like ‘Aur kamayenge, aur kamayenge’ (We’ll earn more and more) because of course, he delivered Bala, Bhediya and other films, so by that time, he became a producer’s friend (smiles),” shared Rajkummar Rao.