Tillu Square

Tillu Square
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mallik Ram
Written by	Siddhu Jonnalagadda Ravi Anthony
Produced by	Suryadevara Naga Vamsi Sai Soujanya
Starring	Siddhu Jonnalagadda Anupama Parameswaran
Cinematography	Sai Prakash Ummadisingu
Edited by	Naveen Nooli
Music by	Songs: Ram Miriyala Achu Rajamani Score: Bheems Ceciroleo
Production companies	Sithara Entertainments Fortune Four Cinemas
Distributed by	Srikara Studios
Release date	29 March 2024 (2024-03-29)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	India
Language	Telugu
Box office	₹101.4 crores

Tillu Square (stylised as (Tillu)²) is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language romantic crime comedy film directed by Mallik Ram and produced by Suryadevara Naga Vamsi under the banner of Sithara Entertainments and Fortune Four Cinemas. A sequel to the 2022 film DJ Tillu, Siddhu Jonnalagadda reprises his role in the previous film, while Anupama Parameswaran plays the female lead.

The film was officially announced in June 2022 by Naga Vamsi and principal photography began in August 2022. Ram Miriyala, Achu Rajamani and Bheems Ceciroleo serve as the music directors.

Tillu Square has seen multiple postponements in its release due to post-production issues. It was scheduled for a worldwide release on 9 February 2024, but was postponed to accommodate Eagle from a five-way Sankranti clash.

It released on 29 March 2024 to generally positive reviews from the critics and became a huge blockbuster at the box office. A third part in the franchise was announced, entitled Tillu Cube, in the credit scenes of the film.

Plot

After escaping with Shannon's money, Tillu sets up Tillu Events, an event management company, which organizes DJs for weddings and parties. At one such party, Tillu meets Lilly Joseph and falls for her. They have a one-night stand, but Lilly disappears in the morning, leaving a note, which disappoints Tillu.

After a month of searching for Lilly, Tillu finds her at a hospital following his father's colonoscopy. Lilly reveals that she is pregnant with Tillu's child and they decide to get married. On Tillu's birthday, Lilly brings Tillu to an apartment, which Tillu recognizes it as the same apartment Radhika had brought him previously. Lilly reveals that she is looking for her missing brother Rohit, who was killed by Radhika a year prior. While looking for clues about Rohit with Lilly and Purushotham, Tillu, while trying to escape, gets kidnapped by Shannon. However, Tillu is rescued by Lilly, who kills Shannon's men.

Lilly reveals that she is not really pregnant or Rohit's sister, but is instead a secret Indian Special Forces (IFS) agent assigned to kill Sheikh Mehboob. Lilly has been tricking Tillu, who was invited to DJ at Mehboob's party in Hyderabad. She and her team have been attempting to kill Mehboob for several years, but Mehboob always avoided them with the help of an anonymous informant on Lilly’s team. She blackmails Tillu with a video of him and Radhika burying Rohit in order to get him to kill Mehboob at his party using poisoned sweets. Later, Lilly tells Tillu that she did genuinely have feelings for him even though she tricked him.

On the day of Mehboob's party, Tillu attempts to leave Hyderabad with his family to escape Lilly, but she stops him and shows them a captive Radhika, who is now engaged with someone else. Lilly threatens to imprison Radhika and Tillu for 14 years if Tillu does not cooperate with her. Radhika convinces Tillu to cooperate with Lilly for the sake of her marriage. At the party, Tillu gives the sweets to Mehboob, but Mehboob already knows that they are poisoned after being told by his informant. Mehboob detains Tillu, which forces Lilly’s team to abandon the mission. Mehboob tortures Tillu and seemingly kills him.

A week later, Lilly is surprised to see Tillu alive and well. Tillu reveals that he escaped from Mehboob by negotiating with Shannon to poison the milk that Mehboob drank and then forcing Mehboob to leave Tillu in exchange for the antidote. The ISF agents arrested Mehboob once he received his antidote. Lilly is surprised as the mission was to kill Mehboob, but Tillu reveals that killing Mehboob was only Lilly’s personal agenda and that Lilly is actually Mehboob’s informant. She had been trying to kill Mehboob so that he would not be taken alive and reveal her deceit. Lilly gets arrested and she asks Tillu why he bailed out Radhika, but allowed her to get arrested, to which Tillu responds that Radhika had deceived him after falling in love with him, while Lilly had only fallen in love with him to deceive him. It is later shown that the story would continue in Tillu Cube.

Cast

• Siddhu Jonnalagadda as Bala Gangadhar Tilak alias "DJ Tillu"
• Anupama Parameswaran as Lilly Joseph, Tillu's love interest, and IB Spy
• Muralidhar Goud as Tillu's father
• Murali Sharma as Sheikh Mehboob Underworld kingpin
• Anish Kuruvilla IB chief
• Udbhav Raghu as Purushotham
• Prince Cecil as Shannon Gonzales
• Praneeth Reddy Kallem as Marcus, Tillu's friend
• Raj Tirandasu as Jonathan
• C. V. L. Narasimha Rao as Lilly's father
• Neha Shetty as M. Radhika, Tillu’s ex-love interest (cameo appearance)
• Brahmaji as Inspector Rao (cameo appearance)
• Kireeti Damaraju as Photographer Rohit (cameo appearance)
• Priyanka Jawalkar (cameo appearance)
• Narra Srinivas as Chandrakant (cameo appearance)

Production

Development

In February 2022, before DJ Tillu's release, Siddhu Jonnalagadda stated that they were planning a sequel for the film and said "There are no limits to Tillu's character and I think, this can be explored and stretched to any length". The sequel was officially announced in June 2022. Mallik Ram, who previously directed Naruda Donoruda and Adbhutham, was announced as the director, thus replacing Vimal Krishna from the original film. Suryadevara Naga Vamsi returned as the producer.

Casting

In December 2022, Anupama Parameswaran was announced as the female lead by Naga Vamsi and Parameswaran was finalised .

Filming

Principal photography began in August 2022.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of the film is composed by Ram Miriyala and Achu Rajamani and the score was composed by Bheems Ceciroleo. Aditya Music serves as the music banner. The first single "Ticket Eh Konakunda" released on 26 July 2023. The second single "Radhika" released on 27 November 2023.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Ticket Eh Konakunda"	Kasarla Shyam	Ram Miriyala	Ram Miriyala	4:05
2.	"Radhika"	Kasarla Shyam	Ram Miriyala	Ram Miriyala	3:08
3.	"Oh My Lily"	Siddhu Jonnalagadda	Achu Rajamani	Sreerama Chandra	3:21

Release

Theatrical

Tillu Square was initially planned for a theatrical release in March 2023, but was postponed due to production reasons to 15 September 2023. The movie was once again, postponed again due to delays in the post-production to 9 February 2024 before finally being postponed to 29 March 2024, to accommodate Eagle from a five-way Sankranti clash.

Home Media

The digital distribution rights of the film were acquired by Netflix.

Reception

As of April 6, 2024, the worldwide box office collection of Tillu Square stands at Rs 94 crore.

Tillu Square received positive reviews from critics with praise for Siddu Jonnalagadda’s performance, humour, soundtrack, but criticised its story and predictability.

Critical response

Paul Nicodemus of The Times of India gave 3+1⁄2 / 5 stars and wrote "Tillu Square is a captivating entertainer that guarantees smiles and leaves the audience feeling elated and satisfied. It’s a must-watch for anyone seeking two hours of fun-filled entertainment". Avad Mohammed of OTTplay gave 3+1⁄2 / 5 stars and wrote "Tillu Square lives up to the hype and has the right dose of comedy, twists, and romance. The one-liners, Siddhu Jonnalagadda's stand-out act, and Anuapam Parameswaran's shocking new avatar are the icing on the cake."

Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost gave three out of five stars and wrote "The one thing that was unfortunate in Tillu Square is the makers attempt to include bits and pieces that was a call back to the original". Raghu Bandi of The Indian Express gave three out of five stars and wrote "Tillu Square is filled with punchy one-liners. Most of them refer generously to DJ Tillu. If you have seen the first part, your enjoyment of this film might be multifold. Even otherwise, the comedy here is excellent".

Janani K of India Today gave three out of five stars and wrote "All in all, Siddhu Jonnalagadda's Tillu Square is an entertaining film that works for the most part. The film's comedy and Siddhu's performance are its major strengths helping it match to the hype of its prequel DJ Tillu". BVS Prakash of Deccan Chronicle gave two out of five and wrote "Siddhu Jonnalagadda is back in his elements and evokes enough fun with his comic-punchlines and unique mannerisms, but it is not enough to pull off a 2 and half hour film that rides on an impossible mission".

Ram Venkat Srikar of Film Companion wrote "Siddhu Jonnalagadda's sequel rights the wrongs of the original to deliver a frequently funny outing". Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu wrote "A terrific Siddhu Jonnalagadda and smart writing make Tillu Square a fun ride as the sequel builds on the familiarity of the first film".

Sequel

A sequel titled Tillu Cube was announced at the end of the film.

External links

• Tillu Square at IMDb