Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandanna starrer film, “Good Bye” offers a fitting farewell with its tragi-comedy
The wide humour as well as heavy-handed tenderness, in Amitabh Bachchan and Rashmika Mandana’s movie, succeed best whenever the emotion periodically rises to the top even without belabouring.
Goodbye’s writer and director Vikas Bahl will not provide anything much space to progress past the surface. This mediocre study of loss and bereavement, which is tainted by superficial characterisation and handling, cannot be saved by Amitabh Bachchan.
The Pandemic made us aware of the ephemeral aspect of life, making tales that depict the pain and agony associated with a family member’s unexpected death feel all the more authentic. Vikas Bahl, the writer-director of the film Goodbye, examines how various people deal with sorrow in different ways.
The expression of loss and suffering on the big screen is only successful if the story’s major emotions are differentiated with the appropriate complexity and articulated with genuine empathy. Goodbye’s writer and director Vikas Bahl will not give anything much space to progress past the surface.
The Cast
Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Neena Gupta, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rashmika Mandanna, Eli AvrRam, Pavail Gulati, Shivin Narang, Sahil Mehta, Abhishekh Khan
Director: Vikas Bahl
The Plot
Coping with death as well as its effects is a common problem. A divided Chandigarh family learns of the death of a beloved family member in the movie “Goodbye” in various ways. This also discusses what happens whenever you go to an empty house in which the spirit of the deceased person is still very much there.
The Story
Tara (Rashmika Mandanna), a lawyer, lives there with Mudassar (Shivan Narang). She leaves following winning her initial case to go out and party. Calls and mails from Tara’s mother Gayatri go unanswered (Neena Gupta).
Whenever her father Harish (Amitabh Bachchan) arrives the following day, she learns that Gayatri has passed away. To spend time with Harish, she quickly travels to her birthplace of Chandigarh.
The other three children of Harish—Nakul, Karan (Pavail Gulati), as well as an adoptive son named Angad—were all living elsewhere.
In addition, Karan and Angad booked the first available flight to Chandigarh. Nakul isn’t reachable in the meantime. Tara is the initial person there.
In the meantime, Tara and Harish argue over the funeral rites. Harish is also enraged at Karan and Angad because he believes they are unaffected by their mother’s passing. Harish’s behaviour causes fights to start inside the house. Neither of them has a choice, though. They will have to share a home for a few days. What happens next determines how the rest of the film will pan out.
The odd blending of genres in “Goodbye”—tragi-comedy, coarse humour, plus heavy-handed emotionality—works best when the emotion sporadically bubbles to the surface unaltered.
The First Half and the Review
People watching will cry during the first half. Adroitly weaved into the narrative, the humour doesn’t seem out of place. The local aunties’ songs and those by P P Singh (Ashish Vidyarthi) are amusing. We have all met people like this during funerals, thus they are immensely relevant.
The scenario during which the family members act as though Gayatri is talking to them is charming and expertly handled. It’s very enjoyable to listen to the Haridwar track with Pandit Ji in the second half (Sunil Grover).
The Lag and the Lack
After that, events start to occur at random. Some of the components seem forced. The animation flashback starring Amitabh Bachchan as well as Neena Gupta is cute and inventive. However, the timing is off, and it should have been revealed in a different scene. The sheer quantity of developments will confuse viewers.
Tara often berates her mother for not having complete trust. But neither of these facts nor Gayatri’s enthusiasm for the ukulele are ever made clear in the flashback scenes. Nakul’s track is the film’s biggest flaw.
It is not proven by the filmmakers that Harish and Gayatri had three sons. Except for two instances, nobody in the movie is concerned about Nakul’s whereabouts or the reason he didn’t make it to his own mother’s funeral. Even other kids’ tunes are difficult to understand.
Neena Gupta and Amitabh Bachchan duo
There is real heat between the two. Gupta, who should have been on the screen for more time, shines. And Amitabh Bachchan, after an extremely long time, allows himself to pause and inject real emotion into his role as a husband who is unsure of what to do with himself now that his lodestar has disappeared and a father who is working hard to restore the previous level of intimacy among his flock.
Roles and the actors/actresses.
Amitabh Bachchan puts on a fantastic performance and gives his all as usual. He does a beautiful job of capturing the pain and hatred he feels about the situation. On-screen, Rashmika Mandanna has a commanding presence. Neena Gupta is a wonderful person. Sunil Grover shows in for a little while and is hilarious.
The others
The forced humour that surrounds the sorrow is offensive and irritating. Sunil Grover’s cheerful portrayal of the “modern” pandit at Haridwar livens things up a little but serves as another teaching tool for the youngsters, who unsurprisingly learn to grin instead of yell at one another. Their adorable Labrador, who had given up eating, is also drawn in by the allure of food. The movie emphasises that once again predictably, life moves on.
The flavour of the relationship between an older guy and a young woman, how they met, as well as the sorrow of the one left behind are the final things you are taking away. Only a few places caused my eyes to become teary.
The relatability factor, performances, and emotional moments help GOODBYE thrive as a whole.
