Mathu Vadalara 2 Review

Director Ritesh Rana has little need to justify a sequel to Mathu Vadhalara, his 2019 screwball comedy thriller that became a cult hit. No movie has come close to owning that niche. The people want to know what's become of the film's "Odd Couple" leads, Yesu and Babu. And perhaps more urgently, what happened in Ori Na Kodaka, the cheeky parody of a midday serial that ran through the film featuring a heroine, Ms Ratna, who died from being hit by a flying vada. Mathu Vadhalara 2 is proof its wacky leads have more than enough juice for a sequel and perhaps more.

Yesudas (Satya) and Babu Moham (Sri Simha) have levelled up from delivery boys to junior cops on the city's High Emergency (HE) team. Their specialty is hostage situations, if only so they can dip their hands into the ransom money. They aren't stealing, of course. They are "taskarinchi"-ing - a High-Telugu word they use to justify their petty thievery. Only Michael (Sunil), an imbecile senior cop who feigns seriousness, seems to suspect that something is off. Even their team leader (Rohini), or Nidhi (Faria Abdullah), a senior cop who serially lends them money, seem clueless.

Keeping it real is not exactly the recipe for mainstream success. And is particularly hard to pull off in a screwball comedy. But Rana's characters have a blend of cynicism and wit that is instantly recognisable as a desi trait. Yesu and Babu are exemplary characters of a society where cutting corners is business-as-usual and no one bats an eye at a bribe. "If no one is getting harmed by it, why not" is the kind of jugaad logic Yesu and Babu use to justify skimming off ransom money. As long as the victim is safe and the kidnapper has been nabbed - both of which they ensure to do before the HE team has caught up to them - they have no moral qualms about their crimes. They are not exactly anti-heroes - just regular Indian bachelors looking for easy ways to get rich. Rana understands that reflecting reality is comedic in itself. In one of the film's many finely-tuned montages, we see Yesu and Babu prepping for selection into the police force, but after getting rejected, they simply bribe their way into the academy and being cops.

Yet, call it the burden of a sequel, Mathu Vadhalara 2 is a heavier trod than the first. While the first was slick, the second is flabbier, and has more characters and bigger themes that ultimately weigh down the screenplay. A long chain of exposition sequences clog up the film's second half. Although self-referential humour and meta-commentary can be enjoyable, as seen when the posters on the walls of a creepy lakeside lodge (spelled "Lakee Lordge") match the characters' conversations, the script occasionally overdoes it. For instance, the character Yuva, a famous movie star played by Vennela Kishore, is explained as an actor who plays Ravi Teja in the movie adaptation of the events from the first film - a film titled Mathu Vadalara.

Rana also attempts to incorporate social commentary and truth-telling into the narrative. The result is a somewhat overstuffed plot, highlighted by scenes such as an extended fight sequence between Yuva's ardent fans and the trio of Yesu, Babu and Nidhi. Bands of young men leap over fences and attack the police after Yuva incites them by ironically telling them not to get so worked up. This scene represents Rana's commentary on fan worship and the violence it can provoke.

Another heavy-handed moment features a girl who lures an actor to bed and threatens to accuse him of assault if he does not cast her in his next film. We are now far away from the realm of two bachelors trying to wheedle their way into a bit of extra money. Mathu Vadhalara 2 is bigger and flashier, and asks to be viewed as an out-and-out social parody. There are movie stars, cops, chase-and-fight scenes, and a drug named Slave that makes it users become puppets. Even Ori Na Kodaka in getting more ambitious also gets less funny.

It is by sheer force of charisma though that Satya and Sri Simha bring the spotlight back to themselves. Satya eats up the screen with his quick-witted and silly physical comedy that we are all on the edge of our seats to see more of. Whether he is breaking into Chiru's trademark veena step after arresting the owner of a high-end bar - the owner turns out to be Tejaswi Thota (Ajay) from the first film under a different name - for trafficking drugs in his establishment, or he is rocking a shirt that spoofs the "Adidas" brand into "Yesudas", or he is landing a few punches, Satya seems to be having a blast, and in doing so makes the film entirely his own.

Simha is the ideal foil as a semi-serious cop who nods yes to Yesu's antics. And their buddy cop comedy floats the film's Rube-Goldberg machine of a plot. Faria is criminally underutilized - an observation you make as the end-credits promo song Drama Nakko Mama sung and written by her proves her goofball comedic potential.

Mathu Vadhalara 2 may not be as lean and mean of a comedy machine as the first was. But Suresh Sarangam's cinematography and Karthika Srinivas's editing, both of which are even slicker and stylish than ever before, make its many many montage sequences quite enjoyable. Kaala Bhairava's music lets the dialog themselves take the crown, and doesn't drown them out. Despite being a tad overwritten, Mathu Vadhalara 2 is still a jolly good time in a theatre. And Ritesh Rana remains a singularly maverick filmmaker who, in an industry full of copycats, is unafraid to sing to a different tune.