Saif was initially skeptical with idea of Go Goa..

The 'Go Goa Gone' trailer received one million hits the day of its release on YouTube. Now, filmmakers Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK hope audiences will have horrific fun watching the zom com .

In 2010, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK found themselves pitching a film script to Saif Ali Khan. "It's about these three dope-heads who go to Goa for a rave party and get stoned," is how the director duo began the narration. Then came the zinger. "On waking up, they are shocked to see the place swarming with zombies."

The directors recall how for a moment, Khan himself was a bit shocked. "What? Zombies?" he said, poker faced. "Are you guys serious?" Ten minutes later, while doubling up with laughter, he added, "We must make this film".

Saif didn't just make the film with producing partner at Illuminati Films Dinesh Vijan — he's also in the film as Boris the zombie-hunter. A stretch for the 42-yearold actor, best known for his romantic comedy roles, but Vijan says Go Goa Gone is a genre-defining film for them all.

Billed as India's first "zombie comedy" and set to release in May, Go Goa Gone now readies for its biggest challenge — to persuade Indian cinema-goers that zombies can be funny. Going by the initial response to the film's trailer, they may just have hit the mark. Within minutes of its YouTube uploading on March 25, Go Goa Gone's trailer recorded one million hits. "To be sure, people responded that way because of its subject," says Krishna DK.

Films about the undead have always been a popular sub-genre of horror in Hollywood. Zombies, which literally means 'animated corpse', trace their origin to Haitian beliefs of raising of the dead. Reimagined by American director George Romero, deemed the father of zombie films who saw these creatures as a global disaster, today western filmmakers have varied their take on the subject, from a zombie apocalypse that simply scares the daylights out of people to a reflection on consumer culture, mindless violence and human loneliness, among others.

Bollywood has awakened to the theme a little late, nevertheless the invasion is here. Besides Go Goa Gone, there is another zombie film starring Abhay Deol and another directed by and featuring Luke Kenny. "As we all know, Hindi cinema is opening up to new ideas. Today, when Raj and I meet producers, they say, 'Let's not play safe'," says Krishna. "If we had attempted this subject earlier, say in the 1990s, it wouldn't have worked."

But in all fairness Go Goa Gone cannot claim the distinction of being India's first zombie flick. The Ramsays, a team of seven brothers, have been scripting, directing and producing films about the walking dead since the '70s. But Krishna says the Ramsays were exploring the kind of B-film popularised in Hollywood by yesteryear actor Bela Lugosi, best known for his portrayal of Dracula. Go Goa Gone, on the other hand, aims to be among films that have given the subject a new meaning and respect — like Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002). "It has few zombies and practically no violence, but it is such a compelling film," says the director who counts Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Zombieland (2009) among other films he enjoyed.

Making Go Goa Gone was a tricky affair in part because the director duo is catering to a diverse audience, including those with
no exposure to this kind of film and others who are fans of the genre, given their access to international cinema. "It had to be a fine balance between catering to those who don't know about zombies at all and those who know quite a lot about them," says Krishna. The filmmakers debated whether to include scenes that establish the logic behind the existence of zombies but eventually did away with it. "We have pulled it off in such a way that very quickly and subtly the traits of zombies are established and the audience will follow the evolution without getting bored," he says.

The directors were certain they did not want to make a serious horror film featuring zombies. "We wanted to do a comedy where there would be an element of danger but at the same time a lot of scope for fun," Krishna says, adding, "It also gave us creative license to get a little dirty and overthe-top. It's not a serious subject, so there was no risk of trivialising the subject." They hired Australian and American makeup artistes with experience in the genre to get the right look for their zombies. "We made no compromises on that," says Krishna of the film they shot on a modest budget. Starring Kunal Khemu, Vir Das and Anand Tiwari in lead roles, Go Goa Gone showcases Saif Ali Khan like he has never been seen before. Playing a Russian mafia ganglord, Krishna says he is the highlight of this film. "He has never been blonde, tattooed and so beefed up," says Krishna. The actor, who at some point in the film reveals his true identity of a fullblooded Delhi boy — insisted on learning the Russian dialect and accent for the film, and hired a Russian tutor who was present on the sets all the time. The other pleasure, says Krishna, was working with Kunal Khemu. "He has terrific comic timing," he says. "Watch out for him."

Nidimoru and Krishna both have a lot riding on this film as well. Buddies since their college days in Andhra Pradesh, and with a shared background in software consultancy, the two worked in the U.S before returning to India to chase their cinematic dreams in 2007. They started out making short films, training piecemeal in all aspects of filmmaking, until they made their first feature film called 99. The film, released in 2009 starring Kunal Khemu, Boman Irani and Soha Ali Khan, was a comedy about two crooks running an illegal SIM card duplicating business and was the film that got Saif interested in the duo. Shor and the City, their 2011 release starring Tusshar Kapoor and American TV show Heroes' star Sendhil Ramamurthy, received critical acclaim, but Go Goa Gone is their most ambitious project till date. As Krishna concludes, "A superstar is attached to it, making it a big, big film — bigger than what we had imagined."