IFFLA 08′: Interview Sudhir Mishra (Khoya Khoya Chand)

A couple of weeks ago, Yama Rahimi attended the Indian Film Festival in
Los Angeles (from April 22nd to the 27th). Now in its 6th edition, the
festival works at promoting a greater appreciation of Indian
cinema by showcasing films about India and the diverse perspectives of
the Indian Diaspora. Here is his coverage.

A stunning homage to the 50’s and 60’s of Hindi cinema before it was called Bollywood which will seem to the Western audience like a remake of “A Star is Born”. Writer/director Sudhir Mishra captures the essence of the time. Instead of one particular star, he references almost all the stars and leaves it to the audience to figure out who was who from the Guru Dutts and Raj Kapoors to Waheeda Rehmans and the Meena Kumaris. Mishra sets the perfect cast in Soha Ali Khan and Shiney Ahuja in the leads, both of them recall stars such as Sharmila Tagore and Saira Banu to Manoj Kumar and Dharmendra. The film stands as a tribute, but also points out the drama behind the scenes and the price most of the stars paid for their fame and success. The art direction and cinematography are stunning and better than most of the films of the era. Despite the fact that the music doesn’t live up to great music of the era, and that the film’s running time is marathon-like, this should interest a wide range of Bollywood fans.

Yama Rahimi: How did you choose this project?
Sudhir Mishra:  I always wanted to make a  film as tribute to the 50’s and 60’s cinema of India. The film was released in India  and a lot of people liked it but not many got it what I tried to do with the stereo types. You got a typical story from one of those films but everybody react against the stereo types where the hero is not heroic but has a lot shades, the heroine is not virginal, the vamp is compassionate and there’s the hero best friend wants refused to be the friend but wants to be the hero, the comedian is not a buffoon but intelligent. I wanted to make a film taking those stereotypes and make a critique as well.

YR: I enjoyed the film a lot and wondered you didn’t use any of those original music of those times?
SM: Well I didn’t want to mimic anybody particular who were great but pretend that my characters  existed along those great actors of those days.

YR: What do you think of the Bollywood cinema coming together with the art cinema since you are not a typical Bollywood director?
SM: India is a big country and a lot of direct schools of thoughts and films. The Bollywood formula is running its course. How many of those song and dance films can you make? So it’s natural to expand and explore new grounds. I think Bollywood is moving from what I call the “home sickness” market so there’s good future for our kind of films.