Fast paced and deftly edited, 'Go Goa Gone' is definitely worth a watch if you are looking forward to an evening of smirks and giggles
'Go Goa Gone'u00a0
A; ZOMBIE COMEDY
Director: Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK
Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Puja Gupta
Ratings:u00a0
Yes, there are going to be innumerable comparisons with Hollywood zombie films. Bollywood’s second desi zombie film (Luke Kenny’s forgettable 'Rise of the Zombie' beat it by just one month) comes with a lot of apprehension from zombie film fans. But thankfully unconcerned, 'Go Goa Gone' scores because it deftly marries the desi humour with this concept borrowed from the west.
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Two friends Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) are living or at least they think they are living their life to the fullest. While Hardik continues living a life of dope, alcohol and casual sex, Luv wants to give up the life of decadence before proposing to his girlfriend (don’t miss the pun in their names). Their friend Bunny (Anand Tiwari) lives with them but is cut of a different cloth. He is serious about his career and rues the wild ways of his friends.
Hardik loses his job and Luv his love and they decide to pile on with Bunny, who’s off to Goa for an official meeting. They have another perfect excuse. Luv is smitten by a girl (Puja Gupta) who invites him to a rave party in Goa, hosted by the deadly Russian mafia.
Dragging Bunny along, the duo land up in the isolated island where the party is hosted. What follows is a rip-roaringly hilarious adventure of the three friends and the girl as practically everyone on the island has turned into a zombie and they have to find a way to escape.
The best thing about the film is how the director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (of 'Shor In The City' fame ) has treated the film throughout with a delightfully confident and impertinent manner. Just watch one scene where he makes fun of the Bollywood’s typical going around the tree song sequences, and you will know what I mean. The next best thing are the dialogues (written by Kunal Khemu and additional dialogues by Raja Sen). As is the case with many so-called funny films, the dialogues most of the time are not fighting with themselves to prove which is cleverer, but are laid back, believable and truly funny.
This could be called Kunal Khemu’s best adult performance till date (no comparison to his acting as a child actor in films like 'Zakhm' and 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke')— he is natural, believable and funny. Vir Das is weak at points and perhaps a better actor would have added to the overall effect. Tiwari as a cautious, reluctant fellow is excellent. Puja Gupta looks gorgeous but that’s about it. She is not expected to do much either.
However, it is Saif Ali Khan in his peroxide blonde wig, a Delhi man posing as a Russian guy, Boris, who deserves a special mention. He is expected to be a caricature of a Russian hitman trying to help the trio and Saif does full justice to the role. The man whose favourite one-liner is “I keel dead people” blends in the background, lets the director and the others take centre stage and ends up being so endearing that for a while when he’s away, you start missing him. Yes, the film has some shortcomings, like the supposedly Smart Alec friends not knowing about zombies and vampires, but you are tempted to forget them and indulge the director who provides you with two hour entertainment packed with a mixed feeling of fear and merriment.
Fast paced and deftly edited, 'Go Goa Gone' is definitely worth a watch if you are looking forward to an evening of smirks and giggles.