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.
