Go Goa Gone: Stars’ promises vs our verdict

When Bollywood stars swoop into Dubai to promote their films they are usually big on promises. Just like a fancy wedding, the stars turn into gushing brides and grooms quick to paint a rosy picture about how their latest film will entertain and charm the pants off us.

Superlatives and adjectives such as “different”, “wildest film ever” and “funniest flick” are bandied about.

But the big question is: Do they live up all the expectations and promises?

tabloid! decided to put this question to the test with our recent visitors – the stars of Bollywood’s first major zombie flick ‘Go Goa Gone’.

Actors Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu and Pooja Gupta were in town last week to talk up their attempt at introducing Bollywood to the zombie craze with ‘Go Goa Gone’. The film is about three friends who love their women and drugs in equal measure, and who head to India’s party capital Goa for its underground rave scene. They get high on life until a pill circulated during a party turns the party goers into flesh-eating zombies.

tabloid! took stock of the promises the stars made and decided to compare it to our verdict after watching the film. Here’s how they compare:

Kunal Khemu: “The film is a wild thing to be a part of. The location was awesome. Imagine our shoot started at 7am when a van carrying beautiful women in bikinis came along. Two hours later, they all turned into these monsters. It’s great to kill your fantasy about women”.

Our verdict: This was not an empty promise. ‘Go Goa Gone’ was refreshingly wild in the first half. The chemistry among the three friends, their fractured lives and their goofball behavior was beautifully captured. For once, Bollywood heroes weren’t larger-than-life, all-sacrificing, beefy blokes. They were also dumb at times and the film celebrates this in a wild way.

Saif Ali Khan: “I got to shoot 200 zombies … bam, bam, bam. I have never shot so many people in my life, on-screen. We showcased cruelty towards the dead who become the un-dead.”

Our verdict: Khan may have taken immense pleasure in gunning down 200 zombies, but it gets a tad tiring to watch him channel his violence at the un-dead for more than an hour. While the first half is delightful thanks to some brilliant acting by Khemu, Anand Tiwari and Vir Das, the second half of ‘Go Goa Gone’ feels laborious because it’s all about polishing off the zombies. The relentless spraying of bullets on a zombie and those monsters eating your intestinal entrails can get a bit tiring. Move on, already.

Saif Ali Khan: “The idea was to make the film frightening. We knew the make-up and the visual effects need to look authentic and not that we have covered them in ketchup and make-up. There has been good and bad zombie make-up in Hollywood films. We were trying for the good stuff.”

Our verdict: Zombie films are a relatively new genre in Bollywood. So for a first attempt, the ‘Go Goo Gone’ crew hasn’t done too shabbily. Unlike most Bollywood horror flicks, the monsters didn’t look silly and become unintentionally funny.

Saif Ali Khan: “Zombies are a new story in literature, while vampires are part of gothic literature, what with Bram Stoker’s Dracula for instance. Even Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein introduced the world to monsters. Zombies were part of the B-grade cult that no one gave a second look to… Our film is a celebration of the ultimate idiots.”

Our verdict: As reference points, Khan and his team may have looked up Hollywood zombie fare but they have done a good job at replicating it for Bollywood fans. Khemu and Das – as two dope heads who become reformed responsible adults after they survive the zombie onslaught – celebrates idiocy in all its glory. They don’t use Bollywood’s oft-used crutches such as slapstick comedy and jokes about disabled people to evoke laughter.

*’Go Goa Gone’ is currently showing at UAE cinemas