Goli Soda 2 movie review: The fizz which was intact in first part is somewhat missing

Director: Vijay Milton

Cast: Samudhrakani, Bharath Seeni, Esakki Bharath, Subhiksha

If acclaimed Goli Soda dealt with a bunch of adolescents from underprivileged class identity crisis of an individual, the thematic sequel is about three youngsters who struggle to retain their identity and create a space for themselves braving all odds.

The film opens interestingly with the interrogation scene where police officer Raghavan (Gautham Menon debuts as an actor) grills pharmacist Natesan (Samudhrakani) about three missing people. The story unfolds in flashback mode.  We see the three guys from North Chennai and their back-stories. Siva (Vinod) owns an auto, which is fitted with hi-tech facilities like Wi-Fi, newspapers and books to read. He wants to buy a car of his own, but gets cheated by the local councilor and loan shark (Saravana Subbaiah). Maaran (Bharath Seeni) who works for the local don Thuraimugam Thillai (Chenban Vindo Jose) wants to turn a new leaf for the sake of his girlfriend Inba (Subhiksha), but the former does not let him out. Oli (Esakki Bharath) works for a small eatery and is an aspiring basketball player. His love with an upper caste girl Madhi (Krishna Kurup) turns his life upside down. The only connect to these three youngsters is Natesan who was an ex-police man who has failed in life. After a point the question arises…who are you to decide what I should do and become? How the three men with the help of Natesan revolt and finish off the baddies forms the rest.

Samudhrakani is one of the most bankable actors in K’Town and he repeats his good act in GS2. Gautham in an extended cameo fits the bill and his voice is a major plus. All the three heroes are adequate with Bharath Seeni making an impact. Among the girls, Subhiksha had a decent screen space and she does her part well. Krishna scores in the given role. Veterans Rohini and Rekha are not utilized properly. The villains are not as effective as the one in the first part. They seemed functional, but the writing lets them down. The first half moves at a rapid pace and the hyperlink narration works to a good extent. Post interval, the movie moves in a predictable manner with forced over-the-top action sequences which are hard to believe. Some of the violence could have been done away with.  Milton who has also taken the onus of cinematography does a clean job. Achu Rajamani’s songs are already popular and his BGM also deserves mention. On the whole, the fizz which was intact in the first part is somewhat missing in Goli Soda 2.