‘MAD Square’, ‘Robinhood’ to kickstart summer at the movies

‘MAD Square’ promises a laugh riot
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

It’s going to be a busy weekend at the movies, leading up to Ugadi on March 30. The first to arrive, on March 27, will be the Telugu dubbed version of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Malayalam film L2: Empuraan starring Mohanlal, with the story taking off where Lucifer ended. Friday, March 28, will witness a stiff contest between MAD Square and Robinhood. 

Produced by Sithara Entertainments, director Kalyan Shankar’s MAD Square will follow the journey of the characters played by Sangeeth Shobhan, Nithin Narne, Ram Nithin and Vishnu Oi, after the campus laugh riot MAD. This is the second franchise series in the comedy drama space for the production house following DJ Tillu and Tillu Square and the makers hope to score another blockbuster. 

Director Venky Kudumula’s Robinhood, produced by Mythri Movie Makers and starring Nithiin, Sreeleela and cricketer David Warner, is billed as a modern-day Robin Hood-style entertainer. During the trailer launch event, Warner performed Allu Arjun’s signature dance step from the ‘Srivalli’ song in Pushpa: The Rise.

The third Telugu film to throw its hat in the Ugadi box office ring is Dr Anil Vishwanath’s 28 Degree Celsius, starring Naveen Chandra and Shalini Vadnikatti. Anil was the writer and director of the hit films Maa Oori Polimera 1 and 2. 

The Ugadi weekend marks the beginning of a slew of film releases this summer, in contrast to summer 2024 that witnessed a box office lull owing to the election season. In mid May, several single screen theatres in Telangana downed their shutters for a fortnight citing lack of footfalls.

The line up of films indicates better tidings this year. Some of the notable films include Pawan Kalyan-starrer Hari Hara Veera Mallu directed by Krish Jagarlamudi, Sailesh Kolanu’s HIT: The Third Case featuring Nani, Gowtam Tinnanuri’s Kingdom starring Vijay Deverakonda, director Bommarillu Baskar’s Jack starring Siddhu Jonnalagadda, Mohanakrishna Indraganti’s comedy Sarangapani Jathakam featuring Priyadarshi, Vishnu Manchu’s magnum opus Kannappa, among others. 

Director Praveen Kandregula’s Paradhafeaturing Anupama Parameswaran, Darshana Rajendran and Sangeetha is also in the fray. Praveen has also recently directed Samantha Ruth Prabhu’s first production, Subham. Odela 2 led by Tamannaah Bhatia is expected to arrive in theatres mid April.

These Telugu films will compete with dubbed versions of Tamil films Good, Bad, Ugly and Retro before Mani Ratnam and Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life arrives early June. The month will also witness the release of director Sekhar Kammula’s Kubera that brings together Akkineni Nagarjuna, Dhanush and Rashmika Mandanna.