In anticipation of Khoya Khoya Chand: Meanderings of a Cynical Mind
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Suzy (NY, USA)
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suzy.miss [at] gmail [dot] com
In anticipation of Khoya Khoya Chand: Meanderings of a Cynical Mind
Sudhir Mishra’s Khoya Khoya Chand is releasing on December 7. Since his last film was critically appreciated, all of Mishra’s fans are hoping for another gem of sorts. The music is already creating a buzz! Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire seem to have another winner after Parineeta.
Word is that the story is based on the Guru Dutt-Waheeda Rehman romance of the 50s. The breathtaking sight of Waheeda Rehman’s tear stained face, a white sari trailing behind her and the heartbreaking expression on Guru Dutt’s face …. I wonder if a young inexperienced actress like Soha Ali Khan can pull it off? She will have to be a mix of the innocent and the seductress, be expressive yet vulnerable.
Will Shiny Ahuja be able to bring out the pain of a hard life full of knocks? The stark landscapes and shadows that are so easily brought out in a black and white frame will be hard to replicate in Eastman color, so to speak. I almost wish Mishra had the courage to make the film in black and white; but in this age of opulent sets and Broadway style choreography, who would go and see such a film? The general public wants to see films with shaadi songs, trailing chiffon sarees and “nauka vihar” in Switzerland. Will they appreciate a story about a time that was simpler and unvarnished?
Think of movies like Mudhumati and Sahib, Bibi aur Ghulaam which were regarded as classics of their times. The slow pacing, which was so essential to the story line, seems so “outdated” now. That is why many of these classics are not being remade for the big screen. People have such a short attention spans now. This is the time of American hegemony in all things, be it the nuclear deal, the music industry or movie-making styles. Cultural imperialism is what it used to be called. High tech revolution is what it is called now! And our Indian audiences have bought this “hollywoodization” hook line and sinker. You cannot blame them. It is all over. It has seeped into our sensibilities. That is why we over analyze why our movies are not making it in the short list of the Oscar awards. That is why our directors are constantly lamenting the state of the “bollywood” film industry.
So what can we do? Do we retreat towards our “regional” cinema and reject everything coming out of “bollywood” or do we sit back and become arm chair cynics like many of our English speaking, western educated commentators and critics. These hypocrites criticize anything worthwhile coming out of our film industry and yet lap up the crappiest Hollywood product in the name of good story telling. Criticizing the status quo or accepting things the way they are, are both not adequate responses. I guess we need to educate are audiences into accepting “experimental” cinema. New styles, new stories, any thing that is different from the soft porn that is being peddled by our big underworld funded studio bosses. Not just blue-hued adaptations of European classics or self-indulgent interpretations of some esoteric paradigms. What we need is simple original story telling in new and different ways, which appeal and yet inform. So to come back to the original point that inspired this article- is Khoya Khoya chand going to herald such a move towards something “different.” I surely and deeply hope so.
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9 Responses to “In anticipation of Khoya Khoya Chand: Meanderings of a Cynical Mind”
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nice article ..but the music
its so unexciting (but ive heard music just in the promos)..
there is a song by a band Fuzon called Khamaj .. its a lovely classical song and its video is also made roughly on kagaz ke phool’s storyline .. both the video(period depiction) and the song itself are so beautiful !!!
i thought maybe sudhir sir could have experimented with a fresh sound by roping in one of these bands
I dont know wat this article stands for, it starts with Khoya Khoya Chand and then drifts towards the cultural imperialism of west.
I really dont understand the point of view of the writer.
Filmibhai
are you kidding.. Khoya khoya chand music is best since Hazaaron Khawaishye aisi… all songs are amazing and has beautiful multi dimensional lyrics.. the title track gives me goose bumps at each line.. i wish if we get more and more stuff like Khoya Khoya chand… awesome soundtrack.. 100 on 10.. coz it does get better than the best..
KKC has the best soundtrack of 2007. period. O Re Pakhi should probably be all time best from Sonu and one of the best bollywood songs ever. The rest of songs are awesome as well. Ifmovie turns out to be even 60% of quality that songs are, I am paying my 10 bucks to watch this one.
@jitender;
Thats why I used the word “meandering.” Check out the meaning of the word. These are random thoughts on the state of “bollywood” in general and KKC in particular. I agree with badmash. The music is beautiful. Filmibhai, you must hear it again. It will grow on you.
Hello Suzy,
Thanks for replying , I dint expected that and also after looking into meaning of meandering , i still feel film makers can go out of way sometimes. Once imagination and creativity can be meandering for someone else , its just the way u see and analyze movies and some thing in life.
All the great artist have been referred as cynical in some part of their lives.Many of whom were pateints of hypomania also, so i can just say in the end mavies are for people and they decide wat they want to see.U and me can only talk.
i dwnlded couple of tracks .. still dont find them too great .. but maybe pictursation will enhance them ..
but nothing compares to stalwarts of that era ,, sd burman, salil chaudhary, hemant kumar etc.. sadly
That is very true Jitenderjee. We can just analyze the state of our movies. It is the audience which is the ultimate consumer. Nonetheless, we can have an important role. Every community can only move forward when there is discourse.
Good for Sudhir sir. Hope the film gets a good release. The promos look good.