Goa To Go:
Rating: Two stars:
These days, it seems quite possible for a film to be made only to cast actors with perfect bodies, because presumably that’s what the young multiplex audience wants; there are stars who have nothing more to offer than chiseled physiques, and their films do well. Plus, look at all the paparazzi photos of celebs going to, or emerging from, gyms; none of them going to acting or speech workshops.
Mohit Suri gets Aditya Roy Kapur and Disha Patani to flaunt hot bods in Malang, plus Anil Kapoor and Kunal Kemmu to hold up the acting end, and Elli Avram as garnish, so he does not have to bother about a coherent plot.
The film is set in Goa, which is in a state of 24/7 partying. On the Christmas eve that it is set, Advait (Kapur) calls trigger-happy junkie cop Agashe (Kapoor) to tell him he is going to murder a cop or two. While he goes about his killing spree, flashbacks show his strange, no-strings relationship with Sara (Patani), who has a list of fears she wants to overcome, and each act of bravado undoes a knot in her bracelet. The two explain their commitment phobia in a small burst of pop psychology (there’s a lot of this going around, every character is twisted), and then prance around doing touristy stuff in Goa, dressed in barely there outfits, as the soundtrack blares away ear-splittingly loud. (Their unlimited supply of funds is not explained.)
The first half shows the what, the second half, the why, with Agashe (Kapoor puts on red glares and a demented laugh) and a starchy cop Michael (Kemmu) trying to nab the cop killer slo-moing around Goa in a hoodie. On Christmas eve, there are carnivals, raves, fireworks and even a football match in a floodlit stadium, which the characters rush in and out of with a digital clock on the screen conveying that this is all happening in real time.
The film is stylishly shot and has a trippy vibe, so it is a pity that it makes so little sense—even less when the motive and true modus operandi of the murders is revealed. Malang aims at hip and edgy, falls into just plain ridiculous. The lead pair and the location are gorgeous—makes you want to hit the gym and then Goa… in that order.
