Khoya Khoya Chand

It is difficult to fathom the minds of Indian directors - what drives them to create period movies with stories that are still relevant in 21st century. Whether it is Vidhu Chopra's "1942 - A Love Story" or Sudhir Mishra's "Khoya Khoya Chand". With too much focus on recreating the past, the story takes a back seat and as a result, the movie fails to impress.

Time to time, Bollywood keeps making movies about itself - mainly the struggle for new comers and its dirty ongoings, right from Guru Dutt's "Kaagaz Ke Phool" to Zoya Akhtar's "Luck By Chance" (Best among the crop being Hrishikesh Mukherjee's "Guddi"). Sudhir Mishra takes one step further - he makes a movie about 1950's Bollywood. He tries to cram everything into a story - new comer struggle, casting couch, art v/s mainstream cinema, etc., etc. But while putting so much efforts to recreate that "magical era", the story, the dialogues and the character development takes a back seat. The result is just a movie that seems to be going nowhere.

The movie centres around Nikhat, an actress, played by Soha Ali and Zafar, a script writer/novelist/director/producer played by Shiny Ahuja. The movie centres around the ups and downs in their relationship, and between other characters along a time period. However, crammed with corny dialogues, annoying stereotype characters and clichéd situations, the movie drags right from the start. After a while, you just don't care what happens to the characters. Inconsistencies and loopholes are galore. Since the main characters have a Muslim background, it is customary to speak "khalis Urdu" and observe that "tehzeeb". However after few scenes, all that mannerism seems to disappear in thin air. The height of ridiculousness comes when to show her alcoholism, the director shows Soha Ali in a car parked on Bombay street side and Soha enjoying a glass of hooch.

The character of Shiny is supposed to be some kind of deep brooding, which he plays to an annoying extreme. It reminds me of similar character played by Akshay Khanna in "Dil Chahta hai". But speaking in a slow baritone voice doesn't make you an intellectual, it just makes you look a phony.

This movie somehow reminds me of Scorsese's "The Aviator". In "Aviator" however, with emphasis on recreating past, the director did not lose focus on the basic element for a good movie - a strong solid storyline. With "Khoya Khoya Chand" however, no such hope exists,sadly. The only positive aspect that I did not spend any money to watch this drivel, a simple walk to public library is all the effort that I put in watching this movie. I still gave 4 starts to the movie, as there are still movies that are worse than this and are still popular and made big monies at box office.

Expectations that were never met - that is the sad story of Khoya Khoya Chand. Who would think that the man who gave us the mesmerizing Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi would now try to foist this film on us? This is a story of a greedy grabbing star actor, Rajat Kapoor, playing yet again an oily villainous type, the vulnerable and abused actress, Soha Ali Khan playing Nikhat, the dreamy idealistic poet, Shiny Ahuja playing the novelist/script writer. There are casting couches, there is crude (sorry, blunt) language, there is simulated sex with lots of oohing and aahing while clothes do not come off, and there are interminable scenes of films being shot. But somewhere along the line the filmmakers lose the plot and forget that in this collage of events they are also obligated to have a thread of a story. There is the thinnest of tales and unengaging at that.

The movie is visually stunning, an excellent period piece, also interesting for how it hints at real life stories like Guru Dutt and Waheeda and those countless women who were sent to earn a living in the biz at a very young age. The direction is sub-par, in the multitude of bodies milling about the key elements are never really isolated well enough, and the leads are quite wooden most of the time. Rajat Kapoor is great, as is Vinay Pathak. Sonia is quite good too. But Soha and Shiny disappoint hugely. In the hands of a more experienced pair of actors this could have risen to greater heights. As is, this is no Kagaz Ke Phool, but rather Kahan Hai Phool.

The music is mediocre (except the title number) and the sound is one of the most annoying parts of the film. The director wanted realism in the form of the hustle and bustle of a real set, but what we get is a background of cacophony in every scene, so much so that it is hard to hear what is going on. The story moves in fits and starts. The leading lady suddenly develops a hole in her heart, and the director has to go on blogs to tell us that the final shot is her orgasm! What the fish? Then we are told the rest of the tale in a written narrative - as if we cared by then what happened to this tepid tale.

The title "Khoya Khoya Chand" is a song which was sung in a 1950's movie "Kaala Bazaar" by the late Mohd Rafi for Dev Anand. This is an indication that this movie, by Sudhir Mishra is based during that era - 1950's to 1960's. In fact, in a recent interview, he said that this film was his way of paying a tribute to those in that era.

Nikhat, daughter of a well known actress, Sharda, is keen to join the movie industry and does so by learning to dance and catches the eye of the top actor Prem Kumar with whom she falls in love with. She later finds out that he is getting married to someone else, even though he has proclaimed his love for her. This is when script writer Zaffar liberates her from the actor's stranglehold but then events take another turn for Nikhat and she's left alone again.

Soha Ali Khan, sister of Saif Ali Khan and daughter of the legendary actress, who herself was a excellent actress, Sharmila Tagore and also daughter of the famous Cricketing legend, the Nawab of Pataudi, has given an excellent performance in this movie. She, also, looks gorgeous. The other cast include Shiny Ahuja, who has also performed well, Rajat Kapoor,Sushmita Mukherjee and Vinay Pathak. The music director, Shantanu Moitra, has set a very good example of recreating the music style of the 1950's and the 1960's and not to mention the jazz genre in it, which makes the songs worthwhile listening to. Finally, the director, Sudhir Mishra, no doubt has created and directed a speciality movie by recreating the 1950's and 1960's era for the screen. Also what has made this movie interesting are the songs that are being played in the background - many of which were, and still are, most memorable tunes from that era. Soha Ali Khan, recently said that her mother helped her with the dressing for the movie. This is not surprising because Sharmila Tagore was a fashion icon at the time as well being a excellent actress of the 1960's. There were rumours that this movie was based on the romance between Waheeda Rehman and the late Guru Dutt,who was married to the singer, Geeta Dutt and who directed movies such as the classical "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam" and "Pyasa". But the director, in no certain words, has denied this. However, there may be certain parts that some viewers, and especially those of the elder generation, may consider the rumour to be true.

Conclusion: Those who like to watch movies from the 1950's and 1960's - a worthwhile movie to watch and enjoy. But those who do not like such movies, or are not very keen on such genres, may not find it worthwhile.

'khoya khoya chand' prooves the amazing skills of the director sudhir mishra. although the writer sudhir mishra may still need to work a bit.

the movie style is amazing. the story being set up in the early 60s is amazinginly displayed using all details of the era. from wooden badminton rackets to clothing...... each detail has been taken care of.

the art direction and special effects also need an applause.

the first half of the movie has great dialogues and great story. the second half seems to be a bit stretched.

after the awesome movie ' hazaron khwaishien aisi', one expected an 'unexpected ending'. although the end could have been arrived earlier than it did, it was still 'unexpected'.

It is inevitable to bring in the reference of Sudhir Mishra's previous film,"Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi" , when one sits to ponder over KKC's relevance today. Like his previous film, KKC is also set in a bygone era, a time that boasts of being the "golden" age of Indian cinema, HKA was based set in the most turbulent times of Indian politics(well...it's turbulent now too), but both films have struck the right chord as today's audience could identify themselves with those in the films.

Coming to Khoya Khoya Chand....whatever I had gathered from the trailers and reviews of the movie....everything was very discouraging. But after I saw the movie ,I did not get up from my seat for a good few minutes.I agree with most people , who have taken it to be their sole ambition to slander the movie and the filmmaker, that the story has been told many a times before....but I doubt whether it had received such a palpable treatment.

Sudhir Mishra should be solely championed because of the characterization of Zaffar, Nikhat ,Ratanbala ,Shyamol ,Noni Ganguly....But I guess the best one's that of Prem Kumar's. With a stroke of artistic brilliance, Mishra has asserted the fact that, nobody wants to harm anybody-they just want to pursue their own interests, but if you stand in their way, well only a few would spare you to be busted out. That's how the world rotates on give-and-take policy.

The director creates many cinematic moments and the language of the camera is impeccable. The performance are flawless ,to say the least , and every actor- be it the main leads or the supporting cast ,they have done a brilliant job. The scene in which Prem Kumar's engagement is announced , the broken,cheated look on Nikhat and the compassionate look on Ratanbala , who too has been cheated, superbly portrayed by Soha Ali Khan and Sonya Jehan.The flashback scenes of Zaffer's troubled life in Lucknow, the look of shock and despair on Zaffer's face when he returns from London, only to know that His beau Nikhat was married to his best friend as she needed support in the brink of her downfall, Zaffer's father praying for forgiveness , Zaffer caught by Nikhat making love to Ratanbala and the look on their faces, the drunken brawl of Zaffer with Nonida.....I can go on and on and on.

Rajat Kapoor is marvelous as the talented,charming,sly, opportunist, compassionate , wicked(yes , he is the most humane of all characters, neither fully good nor fully bad)superstar and Sonya Jehan is a good find of Mishra's(she only did a "Taj Mahal" before)as the seductive , fussy, actress, cheated again and again in love. Her portrayal of Ratanbala reminded me of the penpicture of the lonely moon in Shelley's "To the Moon",filled with a sense of nihilism. She is the Khoya Khoya Chand in my opinion. Soha has delivered her best performance till date and Shiny like always delivers this time too.Sushmita Mukherjee, Saurabh Shukla and the actor playing Nonida,do justice to their characters but kudos to Vinay Pathak's Shyamol,Zaffer's friend , repenting every moment of his marriage to Nikhat and to see her suffer.Superb.

The impact of the film keeps haunting you for quite sometime. The music resonates in your memory long after you have actually ceased to hear it.And you can still hear someone saying,"Zaffer, Ab To Mauff Kar De Yaar"(forgive me now at least) or "Pata Hain Tum Apne Bap Se Itni Nafrat Kyun Karte Hon??Kyunki Tum Jab Bhi Apne Andar Jhankte Hon To Unhi Kon Paatein Hon"(do you know why do you hate your father so much?because whenever you reflect upon yourself, you find him)