With Khoya Khoya Chaand, Sudhir Mishra reiterates very painful, complex realities that weave the lives of actors and directors of cinema. Though this flick draws you to the theatres with great expectations, given the sincere recreation of the 50s-60s and the popular star cast, there is inexplicable relief at the end that the ordeal of figuring who does what and why is over.
The first half makes you ogle at the awe-inspiring sets and repeat after the actors in wonderment as they speak chaste Urdu. Just when you figure why everyone speaks only in riddles and as you include yourself in the circle of the intelligentsia that solves cryptic crossword puzzles, the intermission slams into your face. The second half is more eventful, more complex and the intrigue just dies there. Yawning sustains and the wait for the end begins. Not so much of boredom as it is of frustration that these traumatic situations are painfully true to life and very familiar.
Zafar, (Shiney Ahuja), a successful Urdu writer comes to Mumbai, intolerant of his family circumstances with a love-deprived childhood as a baggage. He is soon employed as a script writer for films. He meets Nikhat (Soha Ali Khan), a big star. Circumstantial weakness drew her to cinema, with which she runs her family. Love, lust, power, name and fame supercede art and she implements the trick of the trade to maintain her position.
Empathetic with Nikhat, Zafar offers to brighten her life. Charmed by Zafar and jilted by her old flame, she moves on. Several complex plots involving high strung drama, deceit and dread surfaces. Nikhat turns a compulsive alcoholic while Zafar, after a hiatus of 2 years returns to Mumbai and makes a movie titled Khoya Khoya Chaand. Phew!
Shiney plays his part well. He has the right intensity required of Zafar while Soha appears wooden. She is cute as a button. Period. Vinay Pathak playing Zafar's ever-loyal friend takes away the cake. What the movie really offers is the hummable, loveable title track, Khoya Khoya Chaand, which is quite your state at the end.
