‘Go Goa Gone’ review: Zombies will tickle your funny bone!

‘Go Goa Gone` starring Saif Ali Khan is a comedy – with generous dollops of bloody-gory-hungry zombies.

Ananya Bhattacharya

Zombies are not exactly the friendliest of your ghosts. But they are devoid of any of the logical or reasoning capabilities, and therefore can come across as a tad dumber than the usual coterie of supernatural beings that we are so accustomed with here in the Hindi film industry. A few weeks back, the country was treated to… erm… (assaulted by?) its first-ever batch of zombies in Luke Kenny’s ‘Rise of the Zombie’. That one hadn’t been able to make much of an impression on the minds of the desi audience that we have here in the country, but ‘Go Goa Gone’ is poles apart from it. Directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, both known for their comedies, this ‘zom-com’, as the film has been promoted, is also a comedy – with generous dollops of bloody-gory-hungry zombies. And with an ensemble cast consisting of Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari, Puja Gupta and Saif Ali Khan, ‘Go Goa Gone’ makes for an entertaining watch – however, only if you are willing to tolerate the very graphic scenes where zombies tear human flesh apart and so on. Luv (Vir Das) is dumped by his girlfriend and an irresponsible act by Hardik (Kunal Khemu) leaves him without a job. Bunny (Anand Tiwari), meanwhile, lands himself a business class flight ticket and a five-star stay at Goa – thanks to a presentation of his in office. Luv and Hardik, instead of whiling and whining their time away in booze and drugs, see their salvation in the Party Capital of the country – Goa. Once in the state, Luv meets Luna (Pooja Gupta) and the latter invites him to an extremely exclusive and clandestine underground rave party – organised by the Russian Mafioso – in an island off the shore of Goa. The trio set out for a night of debauchery and enjoy themselves to the hilt – and the next morning brings them to the other, darker side of their nirvana. They find out that the island is infested by zombies. Luv decides on saving Luna’s life too and follows his idea. On the way, they encounter Boris (Saif Ali Khan), a self-proclaimed zombie-hunter. And there begins the adventure. Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK have toyed with a fresh concept and have emerged victorious largely. Apart from a few glitches here and there, ‘Go Goa Gone’ is a pretty enjoyable venture. The locales of Goa are mostly reduced to the island that the characters are marooned in, but the sand and the sea and the forests are all treated with the right amount of fright and comedy that a ‘zom-com’ might have required! Kunal Khemu, Vir Das and Anand Tiwari all look tailor-made for their characters. They slip into the roles with ease and perform this trio of frustrated-in-life young men well. Kunal Khemu’s Hardik – the guy who doesn’t stop flirting with any woman – with or without a brain – is well-played by the actor. Vir Das, meanwhile, easily takes the cake. Lovelorn and unable to make a lasting first impression on girls, Luv symbolises the plight of perhaps every such man who has been dumped in love and have sought their reliefs in Goa! Anand Tiwari’s comic timing is praiseworthy. The actor does a good job of performing the seedha-sadha Bunny – that guy in every group of friends who is the hardworking of all and the one who, as he rightly puts across, is the ‘hero ka friend’. Pooja Gupta doesn’t have a lot to do in this bromance-of-sorts, but whatever she is meant to, Gupta plays it well. Saif Ali Khan’s Russian-accented, burnt-haired, heavily-tattooed zombie hunter avatar Boris is a likeable one. Khan, as by now is a fact well known, has a flair for comedy and the actor proves his mettle here too. The music of the film, composed by Sachin-Jigar, consists of four songs. ‘Slowly slowly’ and ‘Khoon choos le’, by now, are almost on their way to the top of the chartbusters for the catchy tunes and the ‘different’ lyrics. ‘Khushnameed’ is a slow, pleasant number. ‘Babaji ki booty’ is another insane song from the makers! ‘Go Goa Gone’ is a pleasant watch, and despite the innumerable scenes depicting flesh and gore, doesn’t leave one with an urge to vomit. The dialogues are witty and are mostly responsible for invoking a laugh. Sense, logic and sensibility be damned – go ‘keel dead peepal’! Follow @nanya116