Remembering ‘Go Goa Gone’ Raj Nidimoru says: “Saif Ali Khan was game to dye his hair blonde, use the accent, learn Russian curse words” - Exclusive

A decade ago, ‘Go Goa Gone’ stormed into cinemas with a zombie outbreak and a bizarrely blonde Saif Ali Khan, redefining the limits of genre and comedy in Hindi cinema. Directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, the film blended horror, stoner comedy, and satire into a cult classic that fans still rave about. Remembering the first of its kind movie, Raj Nidimoru, in an exclusive conversation with us, talked about its genesis, the cast, and the unfulfilled dream of a sequel.While talking to us, Raj Nidimoru shared, “What I remember the most is, we wanted to break the heroic one-man army mold. We were seeing every hero being the guy who can do it all — the one-man army, the guy who's good at everything, the perfect hero. So my thought at that point was, why can't our hero be a slacker? Why can't my protagonist be someone who can’t even get up to pick up the television remote because it’s two feet away?”“We wanted to make slackers our protagonists, and it looks like it was the first of its kind — I didn’t realize that. That was the idea, the genesis. These guys, they’re the ones who would have to stand up and protect themselves and others, and become the heroes at the end of it.”Today, horror comedies are a big deal, and ‘Go, Goa, Gone’ came at a point when nobody was thinking about mixing the genres. Weighing in on this, Raj said, “The idea was to create a slacker comedy—first of its kind—and a horror comedy in a way, also first of its kind at that point. Why not mix genres? I used to see all these song-and-dance movies where everybody goes to a party and dances. So we thought we should take that genre, where people go to a party, it looks like a great, happy film, and then it all turns into a nightmarish mess.”Further, on highlighting what prompted the decision to bring zombies to the big screen, he said, “The point was to say that we live life like zombies—in our routines, our phones, our office, home — so we thought, literally, let’s transform them into zombies. That was the thought. And that started our love for the horror-comedy genre. From that came Stree, and while we worked on Stree as a franchise, we also explored drama like Shor In The City.”A film's success heavily depends on the selection and work of the cast, and echoing the same sentiment, Raj said, “Casting was the final good stroke. Once we had Saif, Kunal Khemu, and Vir Das onboard, they were the best trio. I think it’s still the best trio on screen. The camaraderie — people used to say, “Wow, that’s how much fun three boys can be!””He added, “Saif agreed to play this strange, almost comic-book action figure. He was game to dye his hair blonde, use the accent, learn Russian curse words, and all that. He was just rolling on the floor laughing during the first narration — I remember that clearly. Thanks to all of them for doing this.”“We always wanted to do a sequel. We’re usually not the sequel kind of people, but this one film was always exciting enough to make a part two of. That said, we also started creating quite a few original projects — The Family Man, Farzi, Guns & Gulaabs — and then many other new stories we’re working on. I’m happier telling new stories than making sequels. My preference is to create original new worlds. That said, Go Goa Gone is something I’d love to do — but it’s a complicated situation. Too many people are involved in it. Too many rights-holders. That’s been the case for years now. So I don’t know what’s going to happen there. But I must tell you something,” said Raj“To pull off Go Goa Gone was not easy. Everybody thought we were bonkers — especially after Shor In The City, which was critically acclaimed and won awards. People thought we were serious filmmakers. And then we said we want to do a film with zombies,” he concluded.