Bollywood's Saif Ali Khan takes a zombie bite with 'Go Goa Gone'

Twilight fans, take a deep breath, because in Saif Ali Khan's words, "The world has moved on from vampires."

While R-Patz and K-Stew followers are probably burning up the phone lines to launch an offensive, Khan wants those with Bollywood sensibilities to at least graduate to a different kind of walking dead - the zombies.
 
As 'Go Goa Gone' releases in UAE cinemas today, the lead actors of Indian cinema's first 'zomcom' were in Dubai on Wednesday to tell us why they "like to kill dead people."

"Zombies are a new story in literature, while vampires are part of gothic literature, what with Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' for instance," said Khan. "Even Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' introduced the world to monsters. Zombies were part of the B-grade cult that no one gave a second look to."
 
By that argument, surely Indian cinema's reigning kings of B and C grade horror films, the Ramsey brothers, would have already tapped into this gory plotline.

But Khan has another theory to put forward; conspiracy junkies, hold your breath.
 
"Why don't we have zombies in India? Because every thing in Bollywood is a celebration; we do not celebrate mediocrity," said Khan.

He continued: "Our heroes are God-like, socially accepted, while zombies are a slacker device, a celebration of the ultimate idiot."
 
Dissecting Indian cinema's rather checkered history of the horror film genre, Khan explained that traditionally, ghosts and witches cater to those with the standard love for the supernatural and that is all that's ever worked upon as a plotline.
 
"But if you think about it, zombies are the only creatures that could find their way into real life," said a deadpan Khan.

Err, say what now?

He further explained: "Where would you chance encounter a vampire or a werewolf? Meanwhile zombies, well, they are outcomes of a virus that has eaten away their bodies and killed them off. All that remains alive is a certain part of the brain that functions to feed itself.
 
"With so many experiments, nuclear disasters occurring in this world, how could you rule them out?"

Few know that 'Go Goa Gone' was actually conceptualized by one of the film's lead actors and Khan's future brother-in-law, Kunal Khemu, who is also credited as one of the writers of the film, with lines such as "I kill dead people" gaining a cult following of sorts after the trailer of the film saw a blonde Khan mouth the dialogue while pretending to be a Russian.
 
In Khan's own words: "The film is really about two boys, played by Vir Das and Kunal, who jet off to Goa to escape their miserable work lives.

"After a party one night, all those who have consumed drugs have turned into zombies. There's a social message also in there somewhere."
 
Khan, who confessed that he went through some hair raising ordeal to be dyed blonde for his Russian act "which turned orange at one point, burned like hell and later I resorted to wearing a wig", is also seen mouthing some choice words and foul language in the trailer.
 
For the actor, whose mother Sharmila Tagore, was once the chief of the Censor Board for films in India, chances of her raising a red flag were quite plausible.

Quiz Khan though, and he denies such was the case.
 
"My mother is quite progressive in her thinking," he countered. "I'm not saying that if I show her the trailer of me swearing, she would say 'I am proud of you my son'.

"She is my mother, she needs to be a little traditional. But she recognises that there's a counter culture at play here. The world is moving ahead fast, and those days are gone that a woman would wear a shalwar kameez and jump into a swimming pool."
 
With Bollywood witnessing a spate of sequels of late, the actor, who has also produced the zomcom under his Illuminati Films banner, said that instantly if you asked him, he would say no to a sequel.

"It depends on how well this film does, but I would much rather put these two boys in a different set up next time, maybe failed international spies," he laughed.
 
Before Khan disappeared on his spate of marketing spots for his film across Dubai, when asked what he would do when facing a zombie apocalypse for real, he said: "Well, naturally you would want to say you are spending it with a beautiful woman, but frankly, with the world about to end, I hardly think cosying up to a lady would be possible for any man.
 
"I think I would just sit back with one last drink and go 'bite me'."

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