Bollywood Brings Zombies Home: Go Goa Gone

With Go Goa Gone (GGG), Bollywood has official marked its entry into the world of zombie movies that until now was considered to the exclusive territory of Hollywood. The zombie comedy, directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK and jointly produced by Saif Ali Khan and Eros International, can be safely termed as a sub-genre that spoofs the classic zombie horror movies of the Hollywood.

Until now, Bollywood, unsure of the cine-goers verdict has remained evasive of the zombie domain. However GGG has gone ahead and rather cracked some funny jokes at the walking dead. The director duo has beautifully managed the different emotions of the cine-goers in the same length, perhaps for the first time. So while you will hold your bellies laughing your guts out, at the same time GGG gives you the chills. The film has a cameo by Saif Ali Khan as a ‘desi’ Russian Borris who with his peroxide hair and stubble is apt for the complete showing off for a dashing don who shoots off pucca Dilliwaala gaalis with the same flair that he shoots bullets off his gun.

GGG is a story about three friends. Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) and Bunny (Anand Tiwari) who are essentially slobs and head to Goa just to break from their bored and doped out life. With their eyes set on Goan babes, booze and drugs, the trio meet a girl named Luna (Puja Gupta) who asks them over to an underground rave party on an offshore island near Goa, organised by a Russian mafia don Boris (Saif) who, it seems, plans to launch the ultimate pleasure drug that night. However, the morning after the party sets the film rolling when the trio get to face the reality next morning which 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.

In a nutshell, Go Goa Gone is an wholesome entertainer that is full paisa vasool with its charming young cast and fresh idea that has made the film earn a positive word of mouth publicity among the cine-goers both in India and abroad. Even though you may not be much of a zombie fan, GGG is at least a one-time watch.

 REVISITING YOUR TEENS: GIPPI

If you wish to revisit your teens, then here’s the chance. Karan Johar’s recently released film Gippi is one such film that will take you through the roller coaster life as a teenager.

Directed by newbie Sonam Nair, Gippi is a story of a 14-year-old, a pleasantly plump teenager battling the bulge and coming to terms with all the changes that life brings at her age. Even though the Bollywood movies don’t often focus on the trials of being a teenage girl, Gippi aims to do just that, using unknown actors playing characters their own age, too. Despite the absence of any star, the low budget film from the house of Dharma Productions is bound to melt your heart.

The characters and situations in the film appear to have been inspired from the classic American teen drama Mean Girls and the notorious fashionable telly show Gossip Girls, with some scenes quite predictable.

Gurpreet Kaur, aka Gippi, played by Riya Vij, is a slightly overweight 14-year-old schoolgirl in Shimla, a hill town in northern India. She lives with her single mother (Divya Dutta) and brother (Arbaaz Kadwani.) The movie is about the highs and lows in Gippi’s life: boyfriends, head girl elections, and her pretty and intelligent rival Shamira Chauhan (Jayati Modi, the niece of Lalit Modi, the exiled pioneer of the Indian Premier League cricket tournament).

The mother-daughter relationship has been beautifully explored in the movie that is “well-intentioned” and “heart-warming.

The movie, which appears to be a mini version of Karan Johar-directed Student of the Year, has some mix music from Vishal-Shekhar ranging from a Punjabi song, to a Bhojpuri number, and another in Pidgin English.

However, the only side remains in handling the twists and turn that appear in the movie and are often predictable.

By Parwinder Sandhu