Khoya Khoya Chand (Lost Moon)

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 manages to capture the essence of the time, almost every frame reminds of a certain classic 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 Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor to Waheeda Rehman and Meena Kumari. He also got 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. However the film is not just an empty tribute alone 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. The only drawbacks are that music doesn't live up to great music of the era and its running time of over two and half hours. Never-the-less the film should interest both the fans of Bollywood films and beyond. YRCinema's coverage of Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles.