Go Goa Gone

I've been a zombie movie follower for some time (sometimes unwillingly). This movie obviously breaks ground as far as Bollywood goes - it is a respectable (?) zombie movie.

Any respectable camp zombie movie should have the following, IMHO - an unconvincing social message (e.g. Romero's "Dawn of the dead" was a backhanded critique of consumer capitalism and mall crawls, Danny Boyle's "28 days later" against irresponsible experimentation), references to other movies of the same genre (e.g. Shaun of the dead), and some innovative twist or variation.

Go Goa Gone scores on all three - it has a (tacked-on) message against drug culture, references to other zombie movies including Shaun of the dead (whose solutions are quickly discarded, since it should be obvious to the gentle viewer that desi/pardesi zombies in Goa are different from desi/British zombies in England), and an enjoyably terrible "solution". Also, good music, which Danny Boyle would concur with.

All in all, a respectable attempt!! As a camp horror addict, I am satisfied!! Also, a memorable quote that does not quite reach the heights of "When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth" - it goes: "What do we know? What have we learned?"

I gave this movie 10/10 simply because I found everyone's work commendable. This is definitely one of the best comedy movies in Hindi cinema. This movie will unfortunately not appeal to an audience that enjoys the big budget movies of the Khans ( no, not in the same league). Kunal Khemu and Vir Das have excellent comic timing. The dialogs were hilarious. The songs are very catchy!! The girls in the movie are great eye-candy. Refreshing is a word that comes to mind!! The other lesser known actors outshone Saif Ali Khan. It is fair to assume that there could be a sequel based on the way the movie ended. I am going to repeat. Refreshing.Entertaining.Funny.

Long back (actually 2 years back) there was a rumor that Bollywood was on its way to make movies on Zombies. Two unnamed films were heard to be in making. Two years after one movie is already released "Rise of the Zombie" (released and flopped) another released today "GoGoa Gone". The name is wacky and trailers are not that interesting but the songs...the songs were its USP. Remember "Delhi Belly", how its wacky songs created the curiosity around it and turned it into a smash hit?....I hope the same thing clicks for it. Now the main business, the review.

Theme: Three friends goes Goa for different reason. Two guys to just chill out and one for office presentation. They join a rave party and things turn bad there. People suddenly start turning into zombies. What now? (Well Zombie movies were always about two things either its a horror or its a comedy. Its a comedy and that's the maximum you need to know about it)

Character Development: There is hardly any chance of any character development. And this being a "piece-of-life" movie its unjust to ask any from it too. So, leaving this topic.

Direction: Was going through the filmography of both the directors. A very impressive catalog : "Shor in the city", "99" to be mentionable. In case of "Go Goa Gone" I would say they have nailed it. The big hit that everyone waits for is here, they can enjoy the success. Its not easy to make offbeat movies in India specially if you want to make profits too from ticket sales. But I guess this is gonna be hit among young viewers. The direction is very much to the point, gives very less focus to individual characters so less time to commit mistakes. You would get almost 100% dialogs rather any monologue. This ensures a creative input of comic timing and surprise element to audience. Just imagine you won't be seeing Saif doing overacting! That's an achievement on its own! On second thought, actually Saif actually did over the top acting. And that blends to the tone of the movie. Crazy characters! Every single one was created with utmost care and then was given some intelligent lines. The chemistry between Vir Das and Kunal Khemu to be mentioned here for this. Then the intelligent film-making by including inspired scenes from "Zombieland" and "Shaun of the dead". Well, you know what is intelligent here? They not only copied scenes but took a dig on it! Bollywood making fun of Hollywood movies is a remarkable scene for sure. Another intelligent aspect is how they handled Clichés. They touched every Cliché that is related to such zombie flicks and made fun of those. Then they made fun of themselves too. Too many things in a movie?! Yeah and you would enjoy it for these things. Hats off to the director duo. Hope they bring a sequel too.

Cinematography: Though the movie takes place in Goa they have cautiously escaped showing the scenery of Goa. That was unnecessary for his movie and it was avoided. Rather collage of a rented room of bachelors, office room and a zombie infested island is well crafted. No special mention here. You get to see just what is there, no artsy-fartsy bullsh1t.

Songs and background score: The songs are already popular. Specially "Slowly slowly" and "Khoon choos le". Whacky lyrics along with party themed music. Apt to the mood with movie. Two of the songs are used as title credit scene and end credit scene and others are as background score. The dedicated background score is average though.

Editing: The editing is superb till intermission but the movie slows down its pace in the second half and this happens mostly due to lack of ideas in screenplay. Still a very good job.

Entertainment value: After a long time laughed out loud in theatre. Full entertainment (provided profanity does not bother you!). Kunal Khemu and Vir Das runs havoc and Saif's crazy Russian accent is fun...trust me!

Verdict: Since "Delhi Belly" this is the only movie which can shake the former's stature of intelligent. tongue-in-cheek comedy movie. Beware of profanity though. IF you have problem with profanity, this movie is not for you. Rest all assured you would enjoy for sure.

I went in for the opening show expecting just as much as everyone else did from a film which built the hype calling itself the first ZomCom (Zombie Comedy) of Indian cinema, and I felt the movie delivered.

The storyline itself is pretty simple with two stoner guys taking a trip to Goa with their socially inept friend where the effects of a new breakout drug go horribly wrong for the partying vacationers. The rest is just classic zombie-killing fun with guns, knives, whatever-comes-handy and more guns! The fun elements come from the rough language used throughout which doesn't try too hard and admirable visual effects. The ending might be predictable for those who have watched a fair share of Apocalypse movies but the film itself was quite fresh for me since it didn't try to shove another love story down the throats of the viewers.

The acting was decent and the characters themselves were well-designed for this kind of film. Since it's a ZomCom, you might not get the gore scare you might be looking for. But if you enjoy youth-oriented comedies and are in for the Indian "Shawn of the Dead", this is the movie for you! Go watch it, before it's Gone.

Centenary year of Indian cinema started on a positive note with different genres being explored & various subjects being applauded by audience. The scenario is perfect to introduce new genres & the film fraternity did not let the opportunity go waste. With "Rise of the zombie" & "Go Goa Gone" Indian audience was introduced to the concept of Zombie. While the dark zombie-origin film "Rise of the zombie" came without any hype, the Go Goa Gone became an instant rage with its wacky promos.

"Go Goa Gone" is basically a slacker comedy revolving round two friends Luv & Hardik & their frustration with mundane life. Be it girls or respective bosses the need of the hour is a break from the tin & bustle of material existence. When their third room-mate, geeky Bunny, had to go to Goa for an official presentation Luv & Hardik joined in & thus the mad adventure began as the trio attends an under-ground rave party in an isolated island miles away from Goa. Out of the blue, the island became infested with zombies & thus the cat-n-mouse game of survival began.

"Go Goa Gone" follows the typical linear path of any mainstream zom-com film & the writers (Raj, Dk & Sita Menon) did a commendable job in introducing all the basic rules from the zombie-survival rule book. It is a perfect launch pad for the genre to a large Diaspora who're totally alien to the concept. The quirky slacker comedy gelled well with the narrative & sets the mood. The film is a 2 hour laughter marathon. The director duo (Raj & DK) showed their adroitness in making brilliant wacky dark comic films with "99" & "shor in the city". With "Go Goa Gone" they will surely become a known name amongst those who enjoys the tongue-in-cheek kind of humorous films. The film had been given a graphic novel narrative with intelligently divided into three chapters - "go", "Goa" & "Gone". Within the limited budget director duo successfully established the gore & violence involved with a zombie film & took only 2-3 scenes to establish the ugliness of the Living Dead(s) as they pounce on human body eating every ounce of it till the last flesh. A decade ago majority of the audience would have got repulsed by those visuals but with world cinema penetrating every households I don't think anybody would complain (apart from few weak hearted).

The uniformity of film is commendable with sleek editing by Arindam Ghatak. Dan's cinematography is worth mentioning as he translates the whole island into a zombie inflicted territory. Within the comic milieu the fear of unknown lurking somewhere could be felt & the sudden shakiness of camera effortlessly captures the Attack of the Zombies. Along with the pace of the film, the humour has been equally spread throughout the narrative & those are situational thus never looks loud or slapstick. The scenes come alive actuated by hilarious dialogues which bring in a zany flavour to the proceedings (trademark of the director duo). There are many scenes which deserves mention for its execution like the initial scenes revolving around luv & hardik; Luv dumping his two-timing girl friend; their confrontation with Zombies & the confusion as to what those creatures are; Boris explaining the concept of zombies; Hardik being interrogated after having sex with a living dead..etc etc..

The make-up & graphics never looked fake which adds on to the credibility. With heads getting popped-up, bloods flowing like red wine, flesh getting ripped-off the effects are realistic enough to get audience approval.

Sachin-Jigar's music gels with the mood. "Khoon Chus le" has already become anthem for majority of us who hates to wake up on Monday morning & slog our body to the workplace."Babaji ki Booty" is another gem of a song that reflects the mind of a person when one is "high".

The second half might give you a feeling of Dejavu but then majority of zombie survival films moves in this set pattern. Being the first zom-com in Indian cinema the director duo aptly chose the basic concept without making a convoluted plot which might have backfired. There is homage given to iconic zombie film "Night of the Living Dead" to "zombieland" in the second half. The heart of the film reminds you of Edgar Wright's masterpiece "Shaun of the dead".

Coming to the end there is also a social message against usage of drugs.

The actors were in full form & seem to enjoy the madness of the script. Kunal Khemu as the lecherous "Hardik" is spontaneous & spot on. His energy & comic timing is infectious. Vir Das as confused lover boy "Luv" is flawless. Anand Tiwari as geeky mumma's boy "Bunny" is lovable & he has the cute smile which reflects the innocence in his character. The camaraderie within the boys is superb & that helped bringing in the required madness. Saif as the Russian Mafioso "Boris" is in full form & his accented English is a treat to watch. His dialogues "Let's Keel Ded People" & "Main Delhi se hoon bainchod" have already become a rage amongst the youth. Pooja Gupta looked gorgeous & instilled hotness quotient (and never just an eye-candy) in all boys' team.

On the whole GGG is the perfect torchbearer for the zom-com genre in Hindi cinema. Moreover since "Delhi Belly" the audience haven't seen a hilarious smart slacker comedy. GGG seamlessly merged the two concepts (Zombie & Slacker comedy) & made one hell of a mad ride. Go for it - it's a laugh riot.

P.S : There is a hint of a sequel & I am looking forward to some more madness in it.