Name: Goodbye
Director: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan,Rashmika Mandanna,Neena Gupta,Elli AvrRam,arun bali,Pavail Gulati,Shivin Narang,Ashish Vidyarthi,Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 / 5
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Rashmika Mandanna, Pavail Gulati, Sunil Grover, and Neena Gupta
Rating: 2.5 stars
Plot:
The death of a loved one always plays a role in reshaping lives and putting things to perspective. The Vikas Bahl-directed GoodBye is about how the death of Gayatri aka. Neena Gupta results in a reunion of a dysfunctional family with Harish Bhalla aka. Amitabh Bachchan leading the roost. The premise revolves around acceptance of reality and adapting to each other’s way of living. Rashmika Mandanna, Pavail Gulati, Sahil Mehta, and Abhishekh Khan as Bachchan and Neena Gupta’s children.
What Works?
GoodBye has some delightful moments throughout the narrative – be it the flashback sequences encapsulating the interactions of Amitabh Bachchan, Neena Gupta, and the entire family, the prolonged 20-minute episode featuring Sunil Grover, Big B’s monologue on the bank of Ganga, or some humorous moments in the first half. The film also has two good situational songs – Chann Pardesi and Jaikal Mahakal. There’s a moment in the narrative where the makers have recreated the look of Bachchan from the 70s and that’s sure to be a crowing pleaser for audiences.
What doesn’t work?
Delightful moments don’t always result in a delightful film. While the aforementioned sequences stand out in isolation, they don’t come together to weave themselves into the story, which qualifies for being more of a thread/subplot than a full-length feature film. The runtime is too long for a plot centered around death, whereas the character of children is not given many contexts. If not for all, at-least Rashmika Mandanna’s character warranted a backstory, which would have added another flavour to the story. While it’s all going at a decent pace in the first half, things dip in the second half with an overdose of emotional moments, without much of an adequate build-up. The film lags behind on the humour front too.
Performances
GoodBye belongs to Amitabh Bachchan. From the first frame till the last, he is simply fantastic proving why he is indispensable as an actor. Be it the authoritative scenes, emotional ones or the light-hearted ones – Amitabh Bachchan is the heart and soul of GoodBye. It’s his performance that makes GoodBye a watchable fare. Rashmika Mandanna is decent in her part but suffers due to a highly undercooked character. To make a debut in Hindi Film Industry, Rashmika definitely deserved a better and more filling character. Pavail Gulati does well and gets adequate support from Elli Avaram. Both Sahil Mehta and Abhishekh Khan also are apt for their brief appearance. Sunil Grover makes a brief appearance and brings in laughter in every frame he is a part of. And finally, it’s refreshing to watch Neena Gupta enjoy herself in this film as Gayatri. Hers is probably the best-sketched character, she’s full of life, and we wish, there were more of her scenes in the film. The backstory for both Rashmika and Neena Gupta would have added a new dimension to the script, which at present runs on a singular plot point. Late Arun Bali is heartwarming in his brief appearance.
Final Verdict
GoodBye works in parts and doesn’t in parts. While some moments alongside the soothing music stands out, the plot is wafer thin to hold attention for almost two and a half hour. In a rather uncertain world, there wouldn’t be enough interest in people to watch a film centered around death on the big screen. If you are an Amitabh Bachchan fan, watch it for his performance. The intent is to create the magic of Baghban for today's audience, but the narrative lacks the emotional depth and simplicity of the 2003 film.
