Dinesh Vijan's horror-comedy universe

The plot is based on the Indian folk legend about a witch who abducts men at night when they are alone and only leaves their clothes behind. The residents of a town named Chanderi believe in the spirit of an angry woman, referred to as "Stree", who stalks men and whisks them away during the four days of a religious festival every year, causing many disappearances over the years. To protect the residents from her wrath, "O Stree, come tomorrow" is written in Hindi (ओ स्त्री, कल आना) with bat's blood on the entrances of all homes and men are advised to not roam alone after 10 pm during the festive season, and move in groups for safety - a parallel of instructions women are usually told to follow for their own safety.

Vicky, a ladies' tailor in Chanderi, mysteriously encounters Gayatri, a charming woman who only comes to the town during the annual Pooja season and falls in love with her at first sight. She asks him to stitch her a lahenga. Her frequent disappearances, her shopping list including peculiar items such as a lizard's tail, white cat's fur, flowers of Datura, meat, brandy and such like presumed to be ingredients for black magic and the fact that she is not seen by anybody except Vicky, makes his friend Bittu suspicious, and he starts believing that she could be Stree. After one of his friends, Janna, is kidnapped by Stree, Vicky grows suspicious of the woman as well. He confronts her on which she disappears yet again.

They decide to find a way to save their friend and ask the town's librarian Rudra Bhaiya for help, who is also a paranologist. In Rudra's book shop, they come across a partially torn book titled "Chanderi Puran" in his library which mentions Stree's story and an old fort which Vicky claims he has seen when he was on a date with Gayatri. Vicky, Bittu, and Rudra then visit the old fort, which Stree is supposedly inhabiting, to find Janna. Stree drives away Bittu and Rudra and is about to attack Vicky but does not, as she senses the feeling of love and respect in his eyes. She is then driven away by Gayatri's spell. Gayatri reveals later that she has been trying to defeat 'Stree' for the last three years after losing someone close to her and that is why she comes to the town only during the festive season. This clarifies that Gayatri & Stree are two different persons. Stree releases Janna as requested by Vicky the same night, however, he starts having sporadic violent episodes. More men go missing after a possessed Janna, under Stree's control, erases the word "Tomorrow" (कल) from the protective phrases outside everyone's homes, leaving it as "O Stree, come"; (ओ स्त्री, आना) an invitation.

Vicky, Bittu, Rudra and Gayatri decide to meet the book's author Shankar Shastri to find a permanent solution to save the town, who informs them that Stree had once been an extremely beautiful courtesan that every man in town desired. At last, she found a man who truly loved her and wanted to marry her, but on their wedding night, Stree and her husband were killed by the town's jealous men. Her spirit has ever since been searching for her true love and also seeks revenge on the town by aiming to abduct every last man in it. Shastri tells them of a prophecy pointing to a savior and Vicky surprisingly appears to have all the characteristics describing the savior. Initially, Vicky believes that too until he recalls the inclusive feature of the savior, son of a courtesan. His friends then reveal the secret of him being a courtesan's son which infuriates Vicky and he leaves in chaste. In a drunk state, he confronts his father to which he silently agrees to upset Vicky further but then feels grateful for his father's affection and efforts, and decides to save his town which accepted him and didn't denounce him. The friends and Gayatri make a trap to kill Stree but Vicky realizes that Stree only desires love and respect and hesitates with the plan. Gayatri then suggests Vicky simply cut her long braid - the source of her powers - so that she will be rendered powerless. He does so, and Stree vanishes. Gayatri leaves the city the next day and Vicky bids her farewell, forgetting to ask her name all this time. On the bus, Gayatri merges Stree's braid with her own hair and then vanishes from the bus, implying that she is the witch who wanted Stree's power through her braid.

Stree visits Chanderi again the following year and finds her own statue at the town entrance with a new phrase - "O Stree, protect us" (ओ स्त्री, रक्षा करना)- thus giving her respect, and she does not enter Chanderi.

Bhawra and Kattanni are from a village called Bagadpur, where it is customary for the girl to be kidnapped against her will by the guy who wishes to marry her. They are tasked by their boss and kidnapping-gang leader Guniya Bhai to kidnap Roohi as part of a contract by a guy who wishes to marry her. However, a death in the family of the groom forces them to keep her in hiding in an abandoned woodwork shop so that the marriage can take place after the funeral. During their stay, Bhawra realizes that Roohi is actually possessed by a demonic spirit, which is corroborated by her father. Roohi was actually supposed to be married a year ago, but the groom and his family fled after seeing she was possessed.

Bhawra falls for Roohi and tries to coax the spirit from her body; Kattanni, on the other hand, is smitten by the demonic spirit, who identifies herself as Afza, and tries to bring her to forward instead of Roohi so that he can talk to her. They learn that the demon is a 'Mudiyapairi' (a witch with backward-turned feet) and she will not leave unless she gets married along with the girl she is possessing. Guniya Bhai, fearing the police investigation behind Roohi's kidnapping, instructs them to abandon her, but they refuse, forcing him to send his henchmen to get the job done.

Bhawra finds out from an old woman that the 'Mudiyapairi' has to be tricked into marrying a man who is already married, which makes her the mistress and forces her to leave the body she is possessing. The old woman had been possessed before by the same witch, and had exorcised the spirit, but not before the enraged spirit killed her supposed husband. The henchmen are attacked by Afza (one is murdered and the other injured), so Bhawra, Roohi, and Kattanni leave for a village called Chimmattipur, where Bhawra marries a dog for him to trick the witch. However, the villagers chastise him for bringing a witch to their sacred village. Guniya Bhai arrives to take revenge but realizes that Afza has to get married in less than a day. Eager to rebuild his reputation, Guniya Bhai tells Afza she can marry the guy who had given the contract to marry Roohi.

Bhawra and Kattanni arrive at the wedding; Kattanni, decked in Bhawra's wedding attire, convinces Afza to marry him. They are interrupted by the old lady, who tells Afza the marriage is a fraud, showing her the video of the dog wedding. She gets confused seeing Bhawra in the groom's attire and mistaking him to be Kattanni. An enraged Afza commands Bhawra to marry him but is stopped by Roohi. Roohi then decides to marry Afza herself, thereby embracing the strength Afza had given her rather than treat her as an enemy.

Roohi and Afza accept each other and leave Bhawra and Kattanni behind. When the police arrive with Roohi's father, they are told by the old woman that Roohi has run away with herself, but the old woman disappears, indicating that she might have been helping Afza all along as she herself had married “Mudiyapairi” in the past.

The makers released a small video to announce the horror-comedy. In the clip,[2] Varun can be seen turning into a werewolf on a full moon night. Bhediya is a part of Maddock Film's horror-comedy universe, which also includes Janhvi Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao's Roohi.[3]

The first installment of the series, centers on the real-life incidents. The people of Chanderi live under constant fear of Stree, the spirit of a woman who attacks men at night during festivals. Vicky, along with his friends, decides to unravel the mystery. The film focused on the "Naale Baa" was an urban legend that went viral during the 1990s in Karnataka. The myth goes "a witch roams the streets in the night and knocks the door. "Naale Baa" has been found written on walls of small towns and villages (Rural Bangalore) for years now. Stree was released on 30 August 2018 in United Arab Emirates and 31 August 2018, in India to positive reviews. It earned ₹180 crore worldwide [5] against a budget of ₹20 crore,[6][7] becoming one of the most profitable horror films in Indian history.

A spin-off film, focusing on the origins of the Mudiyapairi. And also second installment in this series. The plot focused on Bhawra and Kattanni kidnap Roohi on the orders of Guniya Bhai, who wants to marry her off to his client. However, things take a turn when they realise Roohi is possessed by a demon (mudiyapairi). The film is directed by Hardik Mehta and produced by Dinesh Vijan, Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. Roohi was released on 11 March 2021,[8] gained positive response from audience and month later film released on JioCinema on 8 April and released on Netflix the next day.

Bhediya is another spin-off and also third installment in this series. The film starring Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon and Deepak Dobriyal. Film is set to release on 25 November 2022 Worldwide.[9].The shooting for Bhediya is done in the regions of Arunachal Pradesh - Ziro (Lower Subansiri), Sagalee (Papum Pare) and parts of Pakke-Kessang district- over a span of two months, from March to April 2021.[10] Over 70 percent of the artists in Bhediya are from Arunachal Pradesh.The shooting schedule in Arunachal Pradesh completed on 19 April 2021.[11] The film was wrapped up on 10 July 2021.[12][13]

The franchise has been notable for its profit, with Stree [15] and its follow-up having earned a combined profit of ₹210 crore, according to Hindustan Times.[16]