Director Vijay Milton: Vijay Antony’s ‘Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan’ is inspired from a Denzel Washington film
The filmmaker looks back at his breakout directorial ‘Goli Soda,’ which came out ten years ago, shares what he learnt from working with superstars like Shivarajkumar, and the quality he admires most in Vijay Antony
(Originally published in The Hindu on July 30, 2024)
On 10 years of Goli Soda
Remember the ripples that Goli Soda created way back in 2014? A humble film, it boasted a lot of heart in telling the story of teenage boys forced to fight back when pushed to a corner, catapulting ace cinematographer Vijay Milton as a filmmaker to watch out for. As Milton looks back at the film, he likens himself to a 13-year-old boy who, through that film, was also forced to fight back. “It seems like a blunder that children commit so courageously because I don’t know where I got the courage to start such a project and how I managed to complete it.”
How precisely he translated the text to the screen, and the vigour he saw in the actors and his assistants, is what Milton remembers fondly from that time. “I didn’t provide them with the basic amenities required for a film shooting. I’m saying this because I endured all that because I had a dream I was running after, but they didn’t have to do that. They blindly just followed me.”
Ten years later, Milton is now at a place where he doesn’t have to think twice about getting caravans for his actors. He makes films for the likes of Shivarajkumar and Daali Dhananjaya, and the production values are exponentially bigger. After a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic — and production banner Infiniti Film Ventures’ line-up of films with lead star Vijay Antony — Milton’s Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan is finally set to release this week.
On Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan, a ‘poetic action film’
The title grips your attention first — ‘The Man Who Despises Rain.’ Milton says he was adamant about this title, and you can see why. It immediately creates a sense of mystery about the character, which Milton says is the niche of the film. “In fact, Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan is inspired by..
Read the full interview here: