The boys are back

Popular enough to be recognised by people, but also grounded enough to acknowledge their challenges, Pandi, Udhaya, and Kishore give out a sense of honesty while also constantly poking jokes at each other. Starring in the Disney+Hotstar series Goli Soda Rising by Vijay Milton, Pandi and Kishore reprise their roles of Sithappa and Pulli from Goli Soda, while Udhaya replaces Sree Raam as Saettu. ? Udhaya: It is more comfortable.

Box office success has become reliant on word-of-mouth, but with streaming, the content is more accessible to people of all ages, making it easier to take to the audience. Kishore: With Pasanga, we just did what we were told. Our learning started after Goli Soda, when we started being seen as serious actors.



Now, we’ve started to ask questions about our characterisation, art, and screenplay, and this has actually increased the makers’ trust in us. There is still a long way to go. Kishore: For a director, handling a series, as opposed to a film, will be different since a series will have more material to work on.

The team guided us to perform accordingly, and we followed suit. So, it was a smooth process. Udhaya: It was pretty difficult.

Sree Raam had already created an identity for Saettu. I saw Goli Soda 5 times and carefully noticed his performance, as well as Saettu’s emotions. Sree Raam had his mannerisms, which I have slightly adapted, on top of adding my own spin.

I hope I have fulfilled what the character deserves. Kishore: We were given an unexpected level of fame at such a young age. However, the following ten years were quite a struggle, with its own ups and downs.

Now, we’ve learnt to separate things on and off-screen. We just want to be ourselves. Pandi: I think the biggest challenge is that we’re known as the Pasanga or the Goli Soda boys.

We want to be known beyond these two films. We got a big break at an age when we didn’t understand what it meant, and now we want to prove that there is more to us. Kishore: I am more fascinated by what actors do outside the camera.

I am inspired by how stars like Vijay have a sense of discipline to maintain their physique and how some stars are always learning from one source or another, upskilling constantly to move forward. Pandi: Adi Vaangithaan (laughs)..