Kichcha Sudeep is back with his latest mass cop thriller, 'Mark', a spiritual sequel to 'Max'. But could the film actually leave a mark? Find out.
Kannada cinema is celebrating Christmas with a mass entertainer. On December 25, 2025, Kichcha Sudeep’s latest action outing, Mark, hit theatres, reuniting the star once again with director Vijay Karthikeyaa after the blockbuster success of Max. The film, a spiritual sequel to Max, is designed as a crowd-pleaser for the festive season and leans heavily on Sudeep’s commanding screen presence and stylised action in this high-stakes cop narrative. While it does deliver familiar thrills tailored for mass appeal, Mark also has some unmissable flaws that don’t quite live up to its ambitious premise.
Mark follows a typical cop-thriller premise: a relentless cop who doesn’t think twice before bending the rules, and a sprawling crime nexus surrounding a notorious villain. ‘SP Ajay Markandeya’, aka ‘Mark’ (Kichcha Sudeep), is a suspended cop whose main focus lies on delivering results. Although he expects his suspension to be just a brief pause from duty, his plans go awry when he stumbles upon a multi-layered nexus involving kidnapped children, political ambition, and unorganised crime.
At the centre of the chaos stand ‘Bhadra’ (Naveen Chandra), a barbaric drug lord whose empire is threatened by internal betrayal, and ‘Adikeshava’ (Shine Tom Chacko), the chief minister’s son, desperate for political power. Their worlds collide through a missing mobile phone, a murky conspiracy, and a chilling series of child abductions. With barely 24 hours at hand, Mark must connect the dots, uncover possible moles within his own team, rescue the kidnapped children, and take on powerful forces determined to silence him in a high-stakes race against time.
If you are going to the theatre expecting a high-stakes showdown like Max, you will find a familiar template, but on a much larger canvas. Besides the corrupt politicians, violent gangsters, and helpless civilians, Mark weaves multiple plot threads involving Bhadra, his volatile brother Rudra, and the power-hungry Adikeshava.
However, while the premise hints at a layered cat-and-mouse thriller on paper, the film struggles to stay on track. Despite a strong start, the storyline soon becomes marked by multiple twists and subplots to the point that it can feel overwhelming. Just as the tension begins to build, the narrative veers off course, ending up with a story that feels more busy than gripping.
Kichcha Sudeep undeniably remains the film’s backbone. Despite the cluttered writing, the actor almost single-handedly keeps the film from faltering. His character is stripped of unnecessary frills and relies purely on authority and presence, which Sudeep’s body language elevates. The rest of the cast has also done a decent job in playing their respective roles.
As is expected in mass action thrillers, there’s an intro song, a special dance number featuring Nishvika Naidu, and punchy dialogues. Despite these, the film never quite reaches the whistle-worthy highs that fans generally expect from a Sudeep mass entertainer. With a standard runtime of 144 minutes, the main narrative keeps getting derailed by unfinished subplots. The Rudra angle, in particular, remains unexplored and feels disproportionate to the chaos.
Despite punchlines and a stellar cast, Mark somehow misses the mark, remaining somewhere between realism and over-stylised mass cinema. This ambiguity dulls the impact of comedic and heavy moments that should have landed harder, especially in the second half. Actors like Naveen Chandra, Shine Tom Chacko, Gopalkrishna Deshpande, Yogi Babu, and others remain underutilised, as the writing gives their talent little to work with.
All flaws aside, Mark can be quite an entertaining festive watch for Kichcha Sudeep’s fans. However, for those looking for a well-spun-out storyline and punching action, they might leave disappointed with the missed opportunities. Regardless, Sudeep’s magnetic screen presence makes it a good watch in theatres.
Have you watched Mark? Let us know your thoughts on it.
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