Mathu Vadalara 2

Mathu Vadalara 2 is a 2024 Telugu comedy thriller written and directed by Ritesh Rana, the sequel to his 2019 hit Mathu Vadalara. Sri Simha Koduri and Satya return as Babu and Yesu, now working, after a fashion, for a police task force, with Faria Abdullah, Sunil and Vennela Kishore joining them. It opened in cinemas on 13 September 2024 and became one of the year’s surprise successes for a small film.

What the story is about

Jobless friends Babu and Yesu have bribed their way into the H.E. (High Emergency) Team, a police unit that handles kidnapping cases, and quietly skim the ransom money they are meant to deliver. When a woman who says she is a wealthy magistrate hires them to recover her kidnapped daughter, they see an easy payday. Instead, the money vanishes, the girl is still missing, and the two find themselves at the centre of a case they cannot explain, with a long-wanted blackmailer somewhere in the background. The film keeps its murder mystery going to the end, so we will stop there.

Cast and crew

• Sri Simha Koduri as Babu
• Satya as Yesu Dasu “Yesu”
• Faria Abdullah as Nidhi
• Sunil as Michael
• Vennela Kishore as “Youth Star” Yuva
• Ajay as Akash
• Rohini as Deepa, head of the H.E. Team
• Raja Chembolu as Saxena, with Jhansi, Srinivasa Reddy and Satya Krishnan

Written and directed by Ritesh Rana. Music: Kaala Bhairava, who also scored the first film. Produced by Chiranjeevi (Cherry) Pedamallu and Hemalatha Pedamallu for Clap Entertainment with Mythri Movie Makers. Runtime: 139 minutes.

A small in-joke for longtime viewers: Ajay’s character is written into the same world as the blackmailer he briefly played in Kushi and Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, which Ritesh Rana discussed with Cinema Express while confirming that a third film is planned.

Reviews

Almost every review agreed on one thing: this is Satya’s film. The Hindu called it “Satya’s show all the way”. Idlebrain gave it three out of five and called it “a solid sequel” with a hilarious first half and strong background music, and OTTplay (also three out of five) found it “a decent comedy caper”.

The mystery half drew more criticism. The Times of India (three out of five) liked the brisk first half and interval twist but felt the second half lost energy as it turned into a crime thriller. Cinema Express called the murder mystery “the weakest aspect of the film”, and The News Minute (two and a half out of five) said better writing would have made it as memorable as its predecessor.

Box office

The film did very well for its size. The Hans India reported on 23 September 2024 that it had grossed over $1 million in the USA and ₹30 crore worldwide, and The Times of India reported the US milestone the same day. OTTplay described it as a smash hit made on a budget of about ₹10 crore.

Where to watch Mathu Vadalara 2

According to Wikipedia, the film premiered on Netflix on 11 October 2024. We have not checked a current Netflix listing, so availability in your region may differ.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Mathu Vadalara 2 and the reviews and reports it cites, linked above; our own cast and crew records.