Go Goa Gone
Year: 2013
Director: Raj Nidimoru, Krishna D.K.
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwary, Puja Sharma

Zombies… Those evil dead Hollywood imports; those all-distorted, mindless flesh-eaters. They have never really appealed to me. They are never scary- just plain disgusting.

Bollywood has never really taken them to heart either. Off-hand I just remember RGV’s Vaastushastra bringing in the classic Zombie element (and thereby ruining a fine horror-tale!). The Ramsay-souls (Aatmas!) may have looked like zombies but they were not really the same in ‘spirit’ (pun intended)!

So when I read that Go Goa Gone is a Zom-Com, a comedy revolving around zombies-(what all genres people can invent!)- I was not terribly inclined to see it. But then I said- ‘What the heck? Let’s give it a try.’

What’s the plot?

Three young executive bachelors- a wise-ass perpetual skirt-chaser-cum-regular porn viewer-cum-occasional drug user (Kunal Khemu); his similarly ill-programed yet soft at heart romantic buddy (Vir Das) and their uptight, prim and proper friend (Anand Tiwary)- come to Goa. Well, the prim and proper one has come to attend his business meet and the two bad-asses just to have a blast. The trio visits a rave party arranged on a remote island. The day after begins with a discovery that hundreds of the rave party revelers have now turned into zombies, who are roaming around the whole island searching for live human preys. The terrified trio now finds that a pretty girl (Puja Sharma), a desi Delhi-ite posing as a Russian drug dealer (Saif Ali Khan) and his real Russian friend are the only friendly humans left on the island! Together they must plan an escape. How will they do it?

What’s hot?

·         It may be Hollywood-inspired but still Go Goa Gone is a fresh funny take on zombies. A definite Bollywood first!

·         Excellent performances and breezy screen chemistry.

·         Khemu, Das and Tiiwary fit perfectly as rudderless yuppies.

·         Puja Sharma looks good.

·         Saif Ali Khan is terrific as Boris (pronounced Baris!), the zombie-slayer. His peroxide hair, put-on Russian accent (I keel deyed peepal!) and perpetual scowl…everything is hilarious. It is doubtless his best comic performance.

·         Well-written. Many funny scenes. Situational and dialogue-based humor is exploited to the hilt.

·         Good music.

What’s not?

·         Many viewers will find the language too coarse and vulgar.

·         Overkill of zombies. Once the initial novelty wears off, their gory brain-dead flesh-eating antics just become repetitive.

·         Could have been shorter by about 20 minutes.

·         Certainly not your routine weekend Bollywood family-fare!

Verdict

To present a zombie horror-spoof to Bollywood audience was indeed a brave decision. But Go Goa Gone surprisingly pulls off that comic heist thanks to a well-written script, crisp contemporary dialogues and some breezy performances.

Saif Ali Khan’s decision to back the film as a producer has received mixed response and that is but expected. Zombies, rave parties, ribald jokes… it is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea.

But still if you are game to go through something gross and gory, in order to get something genuinely funny, then you won’t go wrong with Go Goa Gone. In that respect, it is almost Delhi Belly 2 despite the obvious thematic differences.

As for me, I usually hate films with deyed peepal but I almost loved Go Goa Gone. It is wild, wacky and wickedly funny.