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Director: Sudhir Mishra
Cast: Shiney Ahuja, Soha Ali Khan, Rajat Kapoor, Soniya Jehan, Vinay
Pathak, Saurabh Shukla
Rating: ** 1/2
At a time when the country was just getting used to the First and Second Five year plans, the magical world of Hindi cinema provided people with much-needed relief and entertainment.
'Dus Kahaniyaan' premiere party
It was a time when movie-making was more an art, and less business. We have heard stories of how makers laboured on their films for years together.
Actors, then, were known to 'live' the characters they portrayed on screen, some affecting their personal lives in the bargain. Producers mortgaged their private properties to finance movies, many ending bankrupt and homeless. But what survived was the passion to make movies.
Another interesting facet of that era were the clandestine affairs of stars, which make the liaisons of our present-day celebs look plain boring, even with the presence of an unrelenting paparazzi today.
A movie with the 50s film industry as the backdrop, then, seems like a great idea. And Khoya Khoya Chand succeeds, to an extent, in bringing out all the interesting aspects of the era to screen.
However, in the process, the makers try to pack in a little too much, and this becomes the film's biggest undoing.
The first half of KKC is breezy. Gautam Sen's brilliant art direction transports you to the studios of yore. Interesting sequences, like the producer being treated with disrespect by film stars and actors changing scripts without consulting writers set the mood.
In the midst of all this, blossoms the love between Nikhat (Soha) and Zafar (Shiney). Both of them have a troubled past, the demons of which still linger, and are trying to find emancipation in their respective arts -Nikhat as an actress, and Zafar as a writer first, and later as a director.
However, the affair is not free of complications. First, Nikhat's secret liaison with the superstar of the time Prem Kumar (Rajat Kapoor), and later Zafar's inability to deal with the failure of his first film as director and the ensuing frustration, lead to cracks in their relationship.
The story highlights the tragic lives of the film stars of the time, and plays up the fact that fame and success come at a price.
This has been portrayed well in the irony of Nikhat's situation. A carefree junior artist, stardom brings along with it a feeling of emptiness, which culminates into alcoholism.
Zafar, who uses his profession to release pent-up emotions, gets consumed in work to the extent that failure becomes an unacceptable reality.
To Sudhir Mishra's credit, he handles the emotions and complexities of the characters with a rare sensitivity.
An obvious connoisseur of movies, he has paid great attention to detail, and the transition of the industry from the early 50s to 1965 is smooth.
However, somewhere down the line, Mishra tends to get a bit overindulgent, focusing too much on camera angles and exquisite shots, which take you away from the narrative.
Also, the makers seem to have gone overboard with their 'inspiration' of real-life characters.
Nikhat's character, for example, has drawn references from the lives of Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rehman, not allowing Nikhat's persona to flourish completely.
While most sequences will be lapped up by those in the know of how the industry functions, they may fall flat for audiences who are not. The element of the sutradhar, introduced in the beginning, seems to be forgotten by the writers as the movie progresses.
You may or may not like KKC, but you've got to appreciate the honesty of those involved with the film. From the set designs to cinematography (Sachin Kumar Krishnan), from the authentic costume designs (Ashima Belapurkar, Niharika Khan) to the old-world like music (Shantanu Moitra), everyone has laboured to do their best.
Every actor has been cast in roles, tailor-made for each. Rajat Kapoor oozes the aura of the ageing, yet revered superstar Prem Kumar, while Soniya Jehan looks every inch a diva of the years gone by.
Shiney Ahuja has been aptly cast in the role of a princely writer, and he lives his role. Mishra knows well to tap the limited talents of the actor, and has given him a role that suits him well.
But the star of the show, clearly, is Soha Ali Khan. From a junior artist to an upcoming star to a seasoned actress, and finally a has-been who drowns herself in alcohol, she pulls it all off with aplomb.
Portraying the most crucial and complex character in the story, Soha makes sure that she's well earned it. A child-like quality that endears itself to the audience, and beauty that holds you spellbound, Soha is a treat to watch.
The actor, along with a realistic portrayal of the film industry, quite unlike the one seen in the year's biggest blockbuster Om Shanti Om, and an interesting first half are just about the reasons to watch KKC.
