Khoya Khoya Chand

An excellent movie... wonderfully directed,with excellent characterization, screenplay... The story of a person as he realizes his naivety and attains maturity through the course of his life is depicted through the character of Zafar, the cinema industry of the fifties being an excellent backdrop. One can see how life is dealt with, differently by different persons as we look at the distinct personalities in Nikhat, Zafar and the superstar Prem Kumar. As we are taken through the movie we get a glimpse of the movie industry in the fifties in the perfectly made settings, giving the impression of an excellent classic in the current times.

Khoya Khoya Chand - Its an attempted journey into the film world of 60s when writing was an important aspect of films and many writers became directors of their movies. The ambiance of the 60's film industry is captured rightly to some extent as its all mostly indoors and vintage cars. But the film does not impress and fails to make an impact. The viewer does not relate to the happenings and cannot feel anything for the characters. The story has its plots pointing towards the life of Guru Dutt & Gulzar. The script till the interval seems like pieces joined together. It only gets its grip after the interval but till then the audiences have lost hopes. Its as if we are watching a well made documentary on how the films were made in the 60s and how the artists related in their personal lives. After seeing the flick one is forced to believe that the casting couch existed in the film industry long time back too and everybody had illegitimate relations around them. Performances wise Soha Lai Khan tries her best which shows from her effort but she look too young and immature to play the role. Her act is satisfactory but she lacks the depth demanded by the script. Shiny Ahuja is impressive but gets loud at some places. The best act comes from Saurabh Shukla as the punjabi producer and he looks superb and very enjoyable. The music is good but doesn't have any memorable song. Only the title song scores the highest among the all.

Overall its an average movie with insights on the Indian Film Making System. But surely much more was expected from Sudhir Mishra who gave us "Hazaron Khwaishen Aisee" & "Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin"

Ratings : 2 Stars (Go for it if you want to take a look how films were made in the 60's)

'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'.

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.

Movies from Sudhir Mishra's basket as always stand apart from the rest of the crowd. The subjects he chooses, the characters he brings to life and the way he presents them on the celluloid has always been different. And Khoya Khoya Chaand is no different. This time around he attempts a period movie against the backdrop of the Indian film Industry (I would abstain from using the word Bollywood as I very much doubt if the term existed in 1960's). He takes bits and pieces from the film magazines, scandals, rumours and biographies to weave a plot and base it on the love-story between the writer/director and the actress. Sounds familiar? Well, fact meets fiction and a thin line separates the two. For a novice it would seem KKC is a tale taking snippets predominantly from the lives of Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Kamal Amrohi, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. And perhaps more, if one were to ask an expert on the subject.

As with Sudhir Mishra's movies he infuses the grey shades to the characters owing to which they flesh out very much true-to-life.

ם Shiny Ahuja:: Does a good job. Its evident that his character loosely inspired on the life of Guru Dutt and perhaps Raj Kapoor.

ם Soha Ali Khan:: Quite a matured performance indeed. Her character has many layers and safely manages to deliver the goods. I am sure the inputs from Mum must have helped.

ם Vinay Pathak:: Initially you feel the actor is wasted in a pathetic character, but in second half the character gains momentum.

ם Rajat Kapoor:: As usual dependable.

ם Sonya Jehan:: Extremely pretty however her performance seemed very plastic.

The set, makeup, songs, dances, costumes (and even the telephone ring) transport you into the era of 60's. Everybody who has contributed to the movie deserves to be acknowledged for the valiant effort. KKC is not Om Shanti Om, the goody-goody glorified industry, it is not Bollywood Calling, the dark satire and neither Luck By Chance which portrays the industry from the struggler's perspective but yes - it belong to the same genre. It does not shy away to tell the darker side of the industry and attempts to realistically portray the picture behind the iron wall without being derogatory. The movie caters to a cross-section of audience hence there is hardly any room for commercial or wider acceptance.