''Go Goa Gone'' is a 2013 Indian
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
-language
zombie
A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...
action comedy film
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of a ...
directed by
Raj and D.K. The film features
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
Khan m ...
,
Kunal Khemu
Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema.
Early life and background
Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri ...
,
Vir Das
Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like '' Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and '' Go Goa Gone'' (20 ...
,
Anand Tiwari and
Puja Gupta
Puja Gupta (born 30 January 1987) is an Indian model and actress. She is a former Miss India Universe, a title she won in 2007.
Life and career
Gupta was born in New Delhi, India. Her modeling breakthrough came in 2007 when she won the title ...
. It was released on 10 May 2013. Almost one third of the film was shot in
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
.
It is the first
India
India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
n
zombie film
A zombie film is a film genre. Zombies are fictional creatures usually portrayed as reanimated corpses or virally infected human beings. They are commonly portrayed as cannibalistic in nature. While zombie films generally fall into the horror ...
.
''Go Goa Gone'' was successful at the box office. It received mixed reviews, but it received praise for its pacing, editing and use of
zombie
A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...
s, though the screenplay and the second act received criticism. A sequel titled ''Go Goa Gone 2'' is set for a release by 2023.
Plot
Hardik (
Kunal Khemu
Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema.
Early life and background
Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri ...
) and Luv (
Vir Das
Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like '' Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and '' Go Goa Gone'' (20 ...
) are two young men, living with their roommate/friend Bunny (
Anand Tiwari). After Hardik loses his job and Luv gets dumped by his girlfriend, both decide to tag along with Bunny to
Goa to relax. In Goa, Luv falls for Luna (
Puja Gupta
Puja Gupta (born 30 January 1987) is an Indian model and actress. She is a former Miss India Universe, a title she won in 2007.
Life and career
Gupta was born in New Delhi, India. Her modeling breakthrough came in 2007 when she won the title ...
), and she invites the guys to a rave party, organized by the
Russian mafia
Russian organized crime or Russian mafia (, ), otherwise known as Bratva (), is a collective of various organized crime elements originating in the former Soviet Union. The initialism OPG is Organized Criminal (''prestupnaya'' in Russian) G ...
, which is being held on a secluded island. At the party, a new drug, D2RF, is launched. None of the friends take it as it's very expensive. The next morning, the three roommates find that the island has been infected by
zombie
A zombie ( Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in wh ...
s, and the three men save Luna from her villa and stay together in hopes of surviving. A
Russian mafioso, Boris (
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
Khan m ...
), originally from
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
, arrives and reveals himself as a zombie slayer.
Boris, his partner Nikolai, the three boys, and Luna plan to use the boat they had used to travel to the island to escape from it. Finally, after escaping the forest, they discover that the mainland has also been infested by the zombies, forcing them to find another way to survive. Boris tells them the boat will come back to the original place due to the cyclic nature of water currents. However, the boat has been taken by a zombie. They find a home fully vacant and decide to stay there. Boris leaves the four of them in the house, saying he has important work with Nikolai. At night after Boris leaves, the zombies find the house and attack the four of them. They run away from the zombies and reach the rave party area, looking for food. There, too, they are attacked by zombies. Bunny gets trapped in a tent and is seemingly killed by zombies. The three manage to escape with the help of Boris and Nikolai: who arrive just in time. On the way, Nicolai gets bitten by a zombie, so he stays behind in the forest. The four are grief-stricken.
Luna realizes Boris had gone back to obtain his expensive cocaine. Whilst waiting for the boat to arrive, Hardik gets a call from Bunny saying he's alive and on top of a tower. The four of them go to rescue him, where Boris is surrounded by the zombies, and the four youngsters escape.
When they reach Boris's jeep, Bunny tells them that he threw cocaine at the zombies which were coming to attack him. The mixing of the red pill and cocaine made them still. They go back to save Boris, and throw the cocaine packets towards the sky and ask Boris to shoot them. This trick works, and all the zombies come to a standstill.
They leave the island coming to the conclusion that drugs ruin one's life.
When they arrive at the shore of Goa, they see that the settlement is burning and everything is damaged. All five take their guns out, and the movie ends there on the note – "The End..is near", signaling a
zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse is a genre of fiction in which society collapses due to overwhelming swarms of zombies. Typically only a few individuals or small bands of survivors are left living. In some versions, the reason the dead rise and attack hum ...
.
Cast
Production
Development
For his role in the film as
Russian mafioso turned
zombie hunter
is a dark and violent novel series published in the 1970s by Japanese writer, Kazumasa Hirai.It is about an ex-race car driver who hunts down and kills zombies.
Plot
The main character, Toshio Tamura, was once a grand prix
Grand Prix ( ...
, Boris,
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
Khan m ...
who had no experience of portraying such a character, was given the book ''
The Zombie Survival Guide'' by the directors as Khan was the first choice. Kunal Khemu was associated with the film writing, and it was his idea to get Saif Ali Khan on board.
The initial idea for the film was to make a crime comedy genre film, but then a zombie comedy was eventually finalised.
Promotion
The film was publicised as India's first "Zom-Com".
The
Volkswagen Polo
The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car ( B-segment) produced by the German car manufacturer Volkswagen since 1975. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, and estate variants throughout its production run.
History ...
used in the film was selected from a car audition named "My Car Superstar!" in association with
Volkswagen India
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
.
Soundtrack
The music was composed by the duo
Sachin–Jigar. The lyrics were written by
Priya Panchal and
Amitabh Bhattacharya
Amitabh Bhattacharya (born 16 November 1976) is an Indian lyricist and playback singer who works in Bollywood films. He shot to fame with the film ''Dev.D'' with the song "Emotional Atyachar" turning an instant hit. He sang this song under the ...
, and songs feature the voices of Jigar Saraiya, Talia Bentson, Sachin Sanghvi, Priya Panchal, and
Shreya Ghoshal
Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awa ...
.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics and has gathered a cult status in horror comedy.
Piyasree Dasgupta of
Firstpost
''Firstpost'' is an Indian online news and media website. The site is a part of the Network 18 media conglomerate owned by Reliance Industries, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC-TV18.
The ''Network 18'' group was originally owned by Ra ...
noted that "Go Goa Gone works in a manner similar to why Delhi Belly did" commending it for its "superb pace" and "smart editing". Lisa Tsering of
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...
stated that "the film starts out promisingly" calling its soundtrack "infectious" while also criticising its screenplay for "fizzling out halfway through".
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media.
Career
Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
of
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provide ...
gave the movie 3.5/5 stars and stated that "On the whole, GO GOA GONE is experimental since something like this has never been attempted earlier. But it's fun, witty, amusing and yes, thoroughly entertaining". Meena Iyer of
Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
gave it 3 out of 5 stars and said "Go Goa Gone is positively different from anything you have seen before. And for the young and restless or even those who like whacked-out fun, it's a great ride.".
Namrata Joshi of ''
Outlook
Outlook or The Outlook may refer to:
Computing
* Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft
* Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft
* Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...
'' rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and summarised by saying "It's fun, sharp, smart and irreverent. Go Goa Gone pushes many of our sanctimonious envelopes."
Rajeev Masand
Rajeev Masand is an Indian film critic and journalist. He has worked for Noida based English language news channel CNN-Indian Broadcasting Network (CNN-IBN). He usually reviews Bollywood films and major Hollywood films released in India in hi ...
gave the film a 3/5 rating and wrote, "So much in this film is good, until it all goes nowhere in the end."
Shubir Rishi of
Rediff.com gave it 2.5/5 stars and said: "Go Goa Gone" is a fun watch. There are plenty of innocent-sounding, slow-exploding one-liners, which are funny".
Anupama Chopra of
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia.
It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...
gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars stating that, "The problem with Go Goa Gone is too much cleverness and not enough plot. Shubhra Gupta
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Limited, Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, ...
rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "The film would have been funnier if the second act hadn't gone into a slide. And also if Khan hadn't played Boris so straight."
Sequel
Shooting for ''Go Goa Gone 2'' was to start in January 2019 but was pushed to September 2020 due to actors’ unavailability of dates. The first look poster of the film was released by
Maddock Films
Maddock Films Pvt. Ltd. is an Indian film & web series production company founded by film director and producer Dinesh Vijan. Established in 2005, Maddock Films has produced critically and commercially acclaimed Hindi films such as, ''Love A ...
on 15 January 2020 on their social media handles with a release date of March 2021. The film shoot was delayed due to the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
pandemic in 2020. The sequel will see
Saif Ali Khan
Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi.
Khan m ...
,
Kunal Khemu
Kunal Kemmu (born Kunal Ravi Kemmu; 25 May 1983) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema.
Early life and background
Kunal Ravi Kemmu was born in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, India on 25 May 1983 into a Kashmiri ...
,
Vir Das
Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like '' Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and '' Go Goa Gone'' (20 ...
,
Anand Tiwari and
Puja Gupta
Puja Gupta (born 30 January 1987) is an Indian model and actress. She is a former Miss India Universe, a title she won in 2007.
Life and career
Gupta was born in New Delhi, India. Her modeling breakthrough came in 2007 when she won the title ...
reprising their roles. The film is expected to be continued from where it left off.
References
External links
*
*
{{Raj and DK
2010s Hindi-language films
2013 action comedy films
2013 comedy horror films
2010s buddy films
2013 films
Films about drugs
Films set in Goa
Films set on beaches
Films shot in Mauritius
Indian action comedy films
Indian comedy horror films
Indian buddy films
Indian action horror films
Zombie comedy films
Stoner films
2013 comedy films
Films directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K.
Human-zombie romance in fiction
Indian zombie films