Goodbye is the story of a dysfunctional family. Tara (Rashmika Mandanna) is a lawyer who lives in with her boyfriend Mudassar (Shivan Narang). She wins her first case and hence goes out to party. Her mother Gayatri (Neena Gupta) calls and messages but Tara ignores it.
The next day, her father Harish (Amitabh Bachchan) calls and that’s when she learns that Gayatri has passed away. She rushes to her hometown, Chandigarh to be with Harish. Harish has three more children – Karan (Pavail Gulati), Nakul and an adopted son, Angad. All of them are away. Karan and Angad also book the first available flight to Chandigarh. Nakul, meanwhile, is unreachable. Tara is the first one to reach. She and Harish don’t see eye to eye and both clash over the funeral ceremonies. Harish also gets upset with Karan and Angad as he feels that they don’t seem moved by their mother’s demise. Harish’s behaviour leads to fights in the house. But all of them have no choice. They have to stay together under one roof for a few days. What happens next forms the rest of the film.
Vikas Bahl’s story is relatable and well-intentioned. Most of us will be able to relate to certain goings-on and moments. Vikas Bahl’s screenplay, however, is not well fleshed out. While it’s strong in the first half, the writing goes haywire in the second half. The dialogues are witty and save certain scenes too.
Vikas Bahl’s direction is average. This is more in the zone of his acclaimed film QUEEN as GOODBYE is also a slice-of-life film about a character who gets invaluable life lessons after going through a hellish experience. The first half will leave viewers teary-eyed. The comedy is well-infused into the narrative and doesn’t seem out of place. The tracks of the neighbourhood aunties and P P Singh (Ashish Vidyarthi) are funny. They are very relatable as we have all come across such people at funerals. The scene where the family members imagine Gayatri is talking to them is sweet and well edited. The Haridwar track in the second half, involving Pandit ji (Sunil Grover) is also entertaining.
From here on, things happen at random. A few aspects are forced. The animation flashback of Amitabh Bachchan and Neena Gupta is cute and stands out individually. But it’s wrongly placed and ideally should have come at some other point in the movie. Many developments will leave viewers scratching their heads. Tara constantly complains that her mother didn’t believe in blind faith. However, this and Gayatri’s love for the ukulele never gets established in the flashback portions. The track of Nakul is the biggest problem in the film. The makers fail to establish that Harish and Gayatri had three sons. In fact, except at two places, no one in the film is wondering where Nakul is and why hasn’t he made it to the funeral of his own mother! Even the tracks of the other children are not easy to digest. One can still understand Harish was angry with Tara. But his objection to Karan and Angad fails to make sense. They seem to be the bad sons just for the heck of it. One also will be bewildered as to why Angad is having a feast when he is genuinely sad over his mother’s sudden death. Moreover, Angad’s love affair with the maid has no relevance to the principal plot and viewers will truly wonder why the makers have added these bits without any rhyme or reason.
Amitabh Bachchan, as always, gives his best and delivers a bravura performance. The way he brings out the sadness and anger over the situation is beautifully portrayed. Rashmika Mandanna has a fine screen presence. Her acting is a bit off in a few places but otherwise, it’s a fine job by the actress in her first Hindi film. Neena Gupta is adorable. Sunil Grover has a cameo but is very entertaining. Pavail Gulati and Sahil Mehta are decent. Ashish Vidyarthi is too good. Elli AvrRam (Daisy) is fair. Shivan Narang gets no scope. The actors playing the role of Nakul, the maid and the neighbourhood aunties are fine.
Amit Trivedi’s music is well woven into the film. ‘Jaikal Mahakal’, ‘Chann Pardesi’ and ‘Maaye’ are quite touching. ‘The Hic Song’ is peppy. ‘Kanni Re Kanni’ is well-tuned but comes at a wrong point. ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Beautiful’ are forgettable. Amit Trivedi’s background score is better.
Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti’s cinematography is neat and uncomplicated. Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty’s production design is a bit unrealistic but works. Akangshee Chopra’s costumes are straight out of life. Famulus Media and Entertainment’s VFX is fine. A Sreekar Prasad’s editing is great.
On the whole, GOODBYE works due to the touching moments, relatability factor, and performances. However, the film suffers due to the bizarre developments, weak second half, and depressive tone. At the box office, it will turn out to be an average fare.
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