Goli Soda 2 director Vijay Milton on casting Gautham Menon: He looks classy but has a villainous side to him

Cinematographer-turned-director Vijay Milton’s Goli Soda (2014) was a huge hit at the time of its release. Made on a shoestring budget, the first part was a massive blockbuster and also won a lot of awards. Milton is back with Goli Soda 2 but says it is not a continuation of the original. [caption id=“attachment_4510013” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A promotional still of Goli Soda 2. Twitter[/caption] “I decided to name this film as Goli Soda 2 only because the core essence is similar to Goli Soda. In the first part, we told how four kids who work in Koyembedu vegetable market establishe an identity for themselves but in Goli Soda 2, we have handled the struggle of youngsters who just tasted success in life and how someone at the top tries to bring them down. I’ve also written a separate script for the sequel which is all about how the adolescent kids from Goli Soda start a new branch of their Koyembedu Aachi restaurant in the beach. The title of the film would be Goli Soda 1.5," says the director. For Goli Soda 2, eight directors have become actors and among them, the inclusion of Gautham Vasudev Menon and Samuthirakani has turned out to be a big attraction. “Gautham Menon has two contrasting shades. He looks classy outside and while he dubs for his antagonist, there is a villainy side to him. Even while writing the script, I thought Gautham would be the apt choice for the particular role. When I approached him to dub a few lines for the audio teaser, he gladly agreed and later, I also asked him to play an important role in the film. Gautham’s voice-over has become a huge hit in the trailer, he also added his own lines which worked big time for us. Samuthirakani plays an old guy who shares all his bitter experiences with the youngsters and guides them in their life," adds Vijay Milton. Both Samuthirakani and Gautham will be seen as cops in Goli Soda 2 but with a different perspective on life. Right from Goli Soda to his last release Kadugu, Milton’s films are known for intriguing realistic action sequences. Explaining the challenges in pulling off action sequences with newcomers, Milton says, “In Goli Soda 2, we have tried for 20 minute-long action sequence in the second half. Sketching action sequences with newcomers itself is a big challenge because audiences would easily get disconnected and to overcome this drawback, the film’s action choreographer and I had planned for different movements and formed a momentum for the twenty minutes. There is also a strong reason behind the fight in the second half so audiences would also be emotionally connected to the characters”. Milton’s Goli Soda and Kadugu had lesser known heroes and newcomers in lead roles but both the films earned him a lot of appreciation from critics and industry bigwigs but on the other hand, the director’s most anticipated big budget action flick 10 Enradhukulla, starring Vikram and Samantha Akkineni, bombed at the box office. “I seriously don’t know the reason behind the failure. The only area where I thought that the film could’ve been better is the VFX department. Otherwise, all my actors, the film’s producer AR Murugadoss, people at Fox Star India were impressed. As a director, I enjoyed working in that film. Even my friends couldn’t find an exact reason for the failure of 10 Enradhukkula," explains the director who had initially narrated the script of 10 Endradhukulla to actor Vijay. But after watching Goli Soda, Vikram expressed his interest to team up with Milton. As the Thuppakki actor was busy with some other film, Milton went ahead and made the film with Vikram. Goli Soda 2 is slated to release on 14 June.