What Is the Story About?
The boys behind Aachi Mess are all grown up, running their restaurant in Koyambedu market and are in the good books of the local leader Naidu. The area continues to be embroiled in gang wars and petty fights. Meanwhile, Thillai is back from jail, attempting to lead a normal life again. Urundai is after a mysterious bag, even confronting Ravi about it. Ravi is surprised to bump into Thillai out of the blue.
Performances?
Cheran is aptly cast as Thillai, who is on a reformation path after a jail stint. The philosophical tone in his dialogues and his street-smart ways perfectly complement his image. Continuing to embrace roles with grey shades, Sham fits the bill as the gangster Ravi, who’s awaiting the right opportunity for redemption. A fiery Ramya Nambeesan is convincing as Ravi’s better half.
Pandi, Murugesh, Udhaya Deep and Kishore Shanthi Dinakaran share a warm camaraderie as the Goli Soda boys, entertaining viewers with their quirky, silly antics. Avanthika Mishra, Ammu Abhirami make their way into the franchise with elegance, while Seetha, Sujatha, Swetha don’t disappoint. Madhusudhan Reddy, Pugazh, Imman Annachi do what’s expected of them. One can’t wait to watch what Abhirami has to offer in the coming episodes.
Analysis
Goli Soda Rising being the third (and the first digital) instalment in Vijay Milton’s hit franchise (Goli Soda and Goli Soda 2 were theatrical releases), presents the filmmaker with a timely opportunity to revisit his iconic characters in a different timeline. There’s instant nostalgia with the backdrop and it’s akin to visiting your long-lost cousins after many years.
However, the first set of episodes leaves you with mixed feelings. And one can’t solely blame the director for this. How does one create a new product in a popular franchise? How does retain the spirit of the original and reimagine it in a different era without getting repetitive? Goli Soda Rising is like watching the same old story all over again, sans any attempt to give it a modern-day upgrade.
The conflicts around gang wars, identity and loyalty remain the same. It’s peppered with adequate doses of situational humour, romance and action, but you don’t care much for the characters or understand the storyteller’s necessity to revisit the setting. After Aachi Mess, the boys want to set up a food truck to stabilise their lives, chalking out a strategy to borrow a loan and entice a new set of customers.
Moving on from their past, Naidu and the boy-gang are back on good terms. A handful of light-hearted sequences keep the ball rolling – their romantic escapades, silly banters with Aachi and petty fights with a group of college students. Several scenes surrounding the tension among Naidu, Ravi and Urundai offer a glimpse of the power hierarchy in the area.
Given that the Goli Soda franchise deals with a wide range of characters, the long-format storytelling does offer scope to do justice to their trajectories (unaffected by commercial factors). The sequences between Maran and a police trainee create an element an intrigue and a potentially good romantic track is in store for the later episodes.
However, the show yet again proves that Tamil digital space needs to go a long way to understand the grammar of the digital medium. Vijay Milton’s old-school storytelling and execution are a poor fit for OTT.
Although Goli Soda Rising isn’t exactly intolerable, it lacks the underdog innocence and the enthusiasm of the original. The character establishment isn’t quite impressive and the lacklustre screenplay – forcing a mix of humour, action and romance in a slice-of-life setting – struggles to warrant your attention. Unless the storytelling style gets better, it’s hard to expect much from this Goli Soda reboot.
Music and Other Departments?
Simon K King brings the typical ‘local’ flavour of the Koyambedu gang with a lively, animated music score. Vijay Milton’s cinematography is top notch, bursting with colours, representing the enthusiasm of his characters through the visuals. KL Praveen’s sharp edits, keeping the momentum of the story alive, are an added asset.
Highlights?
Nostalgia factor
Lively performance
Neat humour
Drawbacks?
Doesn’t have anything new to offer
Outdated storytelling
Lazy writing
Did I Enjoy It?
Only in parts
Will You Recommend It?
Only if you’re a hardcore
Goli Soda Rising Review by Binged Bureau
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