Much heart and soul, GoodBye shines bright in its poignant moments
Featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandanna, in her Bollywood debut, GoodBye’s grief with a tinge of comedy is sure to make you want to take this ride. But stumbles due to repetitive beats and over two hours runtime.
Living through a pandemic has made all of us sensitised towards the much-hushed topic of death. Most of us have either lost someone close or have seen others grieve.
The topic of grief—and its many forms—has been the core of several recent Hindi movies. After Seema Pahwa’s Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi (2019) and Umesh Bist’s Pagglait (2021), Vikas Bahl is in his latest directorial offering GoodBye explores how the passing of a matriarch Gayatri Bhalla (played by Neena Gupta) affects her family.
Gayatri was a wife, mother, sister, aunt, and friend. And we see that at her funeral. Playing out as a typical scene, with a few grieving members Vikas, who also wrote the film, injects comic notes through uncle and aunties, who can weep at the drop of a hat but also talk about buying shoes worth “15-20 grand”.
This is where the film shines. Vikas, who brought a similar flavor in Queen (2013), constructs scenes with the tinge of sorrow and comedy and brings out the nuances of grief.
Each person deals with death in their own unique way; some are able to cry right away while for others, grief hits like waves at the most unexpected moments.
The background score and Amit Trivedi’s music provide a much-needed elevation and sometimes communication of emotions. Special mention to the makeup and hair department for keeping the cast looking very real.
Rashmika Mandanna’s Bollywood debut is tepid. In her layered character of Tara, she comes across as single faceted. She is either angry or sad, and has little chemistry with other actors playing her family members. Watch out for Pavail Gulati though. Last seen in Anurag Kashyap’s Dobaaraa, the successful and busy eldest son of the Bhalla clan, it is Pavail’s nuanced performance, which will get you all teared up. Amitabh Bachchan, who plays the father, delivers what is expected from an actor of his calibre.
And Elli Avrram, is a revelation in her role as the white wife of an Indian man. Quite a few funny moments come from her character trying to navigate a Hindu funeral with a grieving family. While Neena Gupta doesn’t have a lot of screen time, she is constantly with you just like the ones departed.
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But while Vikas brings in much writing sensibility, from his Queen days, constructing scenes with an essence of pain, the film is unable to transcend to those heights. Maintaining a balance between comedy and drama is challenging, and while the movie does justice to the many colours of grief, it does get rather sappy at times. Some beats are also repetitive and the film could have benefitted from a reduced run time.
With all its flaws, GoodBye could make for a decent weekend watch with family. The film shines bright in its moments, and the sensitivity and nuance the brought in while talking about death and grief is much appreciated.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti