'Mad Square' Movie Review: Vishnu Oi, Sangeeth Sobhan Work Their Charm in This Adequate Sequel

Director: Kalyan Kumar
Writer: Kalyan Kumar
Cast: Sangeeth Sobhan, Narne Nithiin, Ram Nithin, Vishnu Oi, Sunil, Priyanka Jawalkar, Muralidhar Goud, Satyam Rajesh, Subhalekha Sudhakar
Language: Telugu

Well-written comedic characters in cinema have a singular advantage over all other archetypes: they boast a strong recall value that could span multiple iterations and generations alike. When writer-director Kalyan Kumar introduced us to his motley crew of college boys — Manoj (Ram Nithin), Ashok (Narne Nithiin), Damodar (Sangeeth Shobhan) and Ganesh (Vishnu Oi) — in his debut outing MAD (2023), one knew that those characters had an enduring appeal about themselves. A sense of relatability, combined with the complete absence of self-importance in the way they operated (the Jathi Rathnalu formula for the new age, if you will), helped the film become somewhat of a cult success and also trigger future instalments, wherein the boys return for bigger and wilder escapades. Mad Square comes forth as the sequel to deliver on that tall promise, and it is safe to claim at this point that Kalyan Kumar and his gang manage to get the job done satisfactorily.

A still from 'Mad Square'

One of the defining strengths of a comedy of the MAD kind is that the setting or the situation is not as important as the characters inhabiting it. When the boys first convened on the campus of an engineering college a few years ago, one knew that they would thrive under any premise. They could have even been bumbling superheroes, MI6 agents or space-trotting astronauts for that matter, but the scenario would have remained funny because of what they collectively bring to the table. And Mad Square, smartly, leverages this aspect.

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The film opens inside a prison (a few years after the events of the first part) where the eternal stooge Ganesh is cooped up and has a story to share with us all. Turns out he was supposed to get married not very long ago and even though he made sure not to invite the rest of the ragtag team for obvious reasons (Ganesh’s anxiety shoots up big time whenever his buds are around), they all show up unashamedly nevertheless. The wedding becomes the new site for this farce, and mishaps pile up like always, causing the event to fall apart. Eventually, the boys land up in Goa to unwind and forget the snafu. However, a criminal racket and a pretty convoluted case of theft result in making their lives worse; although, to be fair, they do their fair share to invite trouble anyway.

Now, the idea of getting a band of misfits comically involved with a criminal racket is a done-to-death contrivance, and Mad Square is guilty of not offering anything new in this regard. The plotting feels hackneyed and for the most part of the story unfolding, one even suspects that the makers have taken their core audience for granted with this kind of lazy rehashing. The inventiveness is minimal and not very impressive: the boys’ former college principal has retired and has set up a resort in Goa, while Ganesh’s dad (played by Muralidhar Goud) joins them without any particular reason, and femme fatales, goofy gangsters, dimwitted cops and more obligatory features of this world join in to complete the picture. 

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A still from 'Mad Square'

Yet, Mad Square keeps us hooked and chuckling because of how well it executes the most fundamental facet of this genre: the humour. Every little moment is used as an opportunity for gags and one-liners. It helps that the entire cast, including non-principal actors, share great synergy to crack us up for the silliest of reasons. A gangster threatens the boys with graphic violence over a bad phone line, an ageing man complains that he cannot kneel down in front of the bad guy because of his orthopedic condition, a cop botches up an investigation even when the clues glare at him, and a set of boys announce to the entire world that their friend is cuckolded.

Such routines have been part of show business since The Three Stooges, but Kalyan Kumar and his actors pull it off, all because of the sincerity with which they approach them. The return of a couple of popular characters from the previous film is timed perfectly, and the value they add too is noteworthy. 

In the same vein, some of the scenes feel overwrought and the humour borders on being crass, and the employment of female characters is quite underwhelming: Priyanka Jawalkar joins the cast but she has very little to offer and is largely reduced to being eye candy. Thaman S’ background score, Bheems Ceciroleo’s songs and Shamdat Sainudeen’s cinematography are just about adequate because the writing never really challenges (or requires) them to do something beyond the ordinary.

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Ultimately, Kalyan Kumar isn't pursuing a sequel that breaks the mould, but one that serves as a solid follow-up and is pure fun as a no-brainer; the cast is still in great form and the execution uncomplicated, and that suffices for now. MAD 3, already on the cards, could afford a few more risks though.