Rating: ***
Are we familiar with zombies? Not really…okay, may be. But do we understand entertainment? Of course, we do. The directors of ‘Go Goa Gone’ understand that zombies are a completely foreign concept for many of us. They have therefore infused the narrative with dollops of comedy to ensure that this unusual premise is made palatable for the average Hindi film buff.
Saif Ali Khan plays the Russian Mafioso whose rave party in an isolated Goan island goes all wrong. The revelers indulge in some red drugs and the morning after, they are loitering around zombified, hungry for blood. Blonde Saif nails it as Boris, the zombie hunter; he speaks with a twang, peppering his dialogues with choicest desi abuses (he is actually from Delhi). His portrayal, much like Javed Jaffrey’s pseudo- Australian accent in ‘Salaam Namaste’ (2005), remains the most memorable one from the film.
Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) are effective as junkies; their only ambition in life – to be in high spirits. As they exploit their third buddy Bunny (Anand Tiwari) to finance their many indulgences, it’s already too late when they realize that this is one party they just shouldn’t have gate crashed.
What I like about the film is that the makers know that they are dabbling with the absurd and yet, they don’t try to force-fit the story into a typical Bollywood framework. Both Sachin Kundalkar’s ‘Aiyya’ and Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola’ had tampered with the absurd element but were too scared to follow it through. Remember Rani Mukerji’s weird friend in ‘Aiyya’ and the pink buffalo in ‘Matru’.
‘Go Goa Gone’ doesn’t embed a clichéd romantic track or a superfluous item song to lure the viewer. Comic relief sees the film through for the most part; the first half is definitely stronger than the second half, the pace seems to slide a little post-interval. Overall, however, ‘Go Goa Gone’ makes for a fun watch and promises some genuine laughs.
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