Ukindia Bollywood DVDs Page 6


Some movies Pardes , Dil Se , HAHK have had all the song lyrics translated , check the Ukindia Lyrics Page..DVDs to avoid..DVDs Recommended..Home Page
Page 5-Arzoo..Mahabharta..Chandni..Mehndi..Points of View..Kaun..Chaalbaaz Sahib bibi aur gulam , Anarkali..Music Box..Mr Natwarlal..Dil , Lamhe , Mera Gaon Mera Desh
Shantaram's Classical Songs..Shaheed e Mohabbat..

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam..EBDM..YEH VAADA RAHA..Rajaji..Biwi No. 1..Quality of DVDs..Daag-the fire..Trimurti..Anarkali , Sahib Bibi aur Gulam ,Umrao Jaan
V Shantaram's classical songs

Daba Digital , 103mins , Dolby 2ch mono , USA made No subtitles
Picture quality -excellent , glorious full screen
Sound-excellent

Must have disc for some of the lesser well known classical songs from 50s and 60s movies . The sound quality is great and its good to hear the Indian instruments as they are meant to be played .

I dont like this somebody else's idea of hit songs .Would have preferred all the songs from say 3 movies on one DVD and that way one can collect all the songs ever sung for the movies without missing any . One good thing I liked is that the Daba Digital logo goes off after about 30 secs into each song . All others should do the same . The movies featured are

Do Ankhen barah hath . Navrang , Jhanak jhanka payal baje , Sehra , Parchhain , Jal Bin Machali , Subah ka tara , Geet Gaya pahtrom ne , Stree , Boond Jo nan gaye noti , Toofan aur deeya , Pinjra

And there also trailers of 6 other movies . Shaheed e Mohabbat

Shaheed-e -Mohabbat 1999 3 hrs Punjabi

English subtitles , Gurdass Mann and Diviya Dutt.
Picture quality - Excellent , Sound- Excellent

Story of a Sikh man who marries a Muslim girl and then loses her in the partition and goes to look for her in Pakistan.

Must have DVD for the 10m Punjabis outside the subcontinent because it has English subtitles and will be a great learning disc for their children . One of the songs is subtitled . Pity they should all have that .

Will add a comment later when I have seen it all . The titles have Punjabi script as well and so would be a refresher course . Punjabi script is very close to Hindi except they dont have half letters so it looks a bit more tidy.

It would be a good idea to have a Roman script for the Indian languages using only the small letters but having all the sounds . So the first line would read k -- g-- n . Two more letters would have to be invented to fill the -- spaces for the kh and gh sounds to make it truly phonetic . If someone else wont do it , I might do it myself and become famous..


Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam

The hddc dvd is a welldone movie mastered by super digital.it's not the best hindi dvd i've ever seen but it does a very very good job compared to the other craps we have all seen.the 5.1 audio is topnotch and is a pleasure to listen to.the disc is dual layered so there is no sign of any kind of artifacts.the original aspect ration haven't been preserved but it still is pretty good,the picture don't look streched at all like some of super digital's previous releases.If you liked the movie then this dvd is definitely worth buying..IH


Story of a man who gets married to a woman who tells him she loves someone else so he takes her off to 'Italy' to find her ex boyfriend.
ENGLISH BABU DESI MEM (1996) EROS/DEI.

160 minutes. English subtitles on dialogue. Starring Shah Rukh Khan and Sonali Bendre. Video quality is superb, probably taken from the original film negative. The digital transfer done by DEI is sharp, colorful and richly textured, and free of digital artifacts. Audio is very clear 2 channel mono.

EBDM contains an excellent 8-song soundtrack by Nikhil-Vijay, and features some provacative dancing by Sonali in "Abhi Abhi Solah Baras Ki" and "Phir Kya Hau." "Nacho Re Guari," the first song in the movie, is a nicely picturized tune with a mustachioed Shah Rukh. The excellent latin-influenced "Main Tera Deewan" is the film's best moment. This most interesting tune features an excellent, repeating guitar riff throughout the song and some inspired directing, as SRK and Sonali do some nicely, choreagraphed latin dance steps amid colorful background shots.

Unfortunately, the scenes between the musical segments drag the movie down. The plot is a poorly constructed, convoluted mess about a rich English-raised Vikram (Shah Rukh Khan), going back to India to bring back his late brother's child, who was reared by an exotic dancer (Sonali). Still, the dvd is worth having for the fine video quality and the repeat-viewing value of the excellent songs. Recommended.

-- Irwin -- http://indiandvdreviews.findhere.com


YEH VAADA RAHA (1982)

Starring Rishi Kapoor, Sarika, Shammi Kapoor. Released by Baba Traders. Full Screen. 137 minutes. English subtitles. The memorable music is by R.D. Burman. Video has good definition and color, although the print used is not of mint condition, and digital artifacts appear from time to time throughout the film. Audio is clear 2 channel mono.

The main menu has a special section of scenes from films by V. Shantaram and rare trailers from some of their DVDS. The trailer from "Don" is fascinating with its clips of Amitabh and his female co-star karate fighting. Reminded me of Austin Powers.

Yeh Vaada Raha is a very entertaining, though highly implausible love story between Vikram (Rishi) and Sunita, whose lives are complicated by Vikram's disapproving upper-class parents and by tragedy. The musical score by R.D. Burman is first-rate, particularly "Aisa Kabhi Hua Nahin Jo Bhi Hua," and especially the title song, which is repeated during the film.

Rishi Kapoor gives his usual good performance as the likeable, unlucky Vikram. While Shammi Kapoor steals the movie as the caring plastic surgeon who figures prominently in the future happiness of the young couple. Recommended..Irwin Marin


DVD reviews page 5
Rajaji

Vimal Kumar who has worked with Govinda in nearly all of his social drama films as director, inculding the excellent 'Karz Chukana Hai' , has return with a small comedy 'Rajaji'. It does have the feeling of deja vu after Govinda other classic 'Dulhe Raja', but this film has the touch of Vimal Kumar. A Nice film but with gilitches.

This is another class print from MDI who had given us 'rangeela' on DVD. The colour is outstanding, not one artifact nor cross colour interfrence. Well done MDI who have reedeem themselves after the awful 'hero no 1 dvd print'.

Even though the film is single sided and runs over time, MDI manged to lower the transfer bit rate without affecting or cutting the film. (I hope the DVD authorer of Biwi No 1 is taking notes) The average bit rate is between 3Mbit/sec to 6.7Mbit/sec.

The picture is sharp as well as detailed, you can even read notice boards and calender's on the wall like reading a book next to your face.

The film which had dolby sr surround has been transffered exaclty like it was heard in the film. The sound might not have excellent surround set pieces, but this could be the fault of the audiography of the film, who does not how to convey excellent stereo surround sound on a film, well there are many like that in bollywood. But it won't let you down..Sunny

Biwi No. 1

Currently the biggest hit of the year, we'd expect an excellent dvd version of the film, especally as the mastering of the film was over looked by the producer.

But unforturnatly this does not not happen. If you thought dil to pagal hain was bad, wait till you see this. The film which is presented in its original aspect ratio has been transfered on a single layed disc which means that the transfer rate has to be very low between 2Mbit/sec to 4Mbit/sec, but that does not matter as video-sound and super digital whose last release 'sooravansham' which was one of the best dvd's ever was done on a single layed disc.

Plus it had 5.1 DD, but why does this disc stinks? Maybe its because the authorer was too lazy, or because the people, who made so much out of this film, couldn't put some back in this dvd? who knows? The picture average transfer rate is 3Mbit/sec and 5Mbit/sec. There are many pixalation and cross colour interference as well (at times it looks as bad as a VCD print)

The sound, makes your ears srceech, e.g. listen to when Salman is talking on his mobile behing his wife (chp 4). At least DTPH DVD had excellent sound. The box is ugly, considering the beautifully poster designs they had, oh well. The menu is ugly, but simple. and where the hell is the 5.1 sound that video-sound promised on the ad in their website?

Overall: Do not buy this disc, even if you loved the film. This dvd is the second worst disc I have seen, after DTPH. Instead go buy DVD new releases, Shakespare in love, or rajaji which I = have reviewed or the excellent sooravansham.. Sunny, s.audit@virgin.net


Quality of DVDs

My post shows up under DVD review of Sarfrosh. Even I had a hard time finding it. I am therefore posting it under an independent heading for everyboy's info.

I encourage every one to publicize both good and bad quality DVD's. That is the only way to stop the bastardization of good movies by the distributors and encourage them to produce film quality, (picture, sound and aspect ratio) DVDs. I don't know what the directors would say about how their movies have been mutilated.

PICTURE AND SOUND QUALITY:

There is no reason to copy films from video tape and transfer them to DVDs. It appears that some producers may have rights to video tapes and by transferring them to DVDs are sticking them to us, the consumers, by assuming that most of the customers don't care and would buy/rent the shitty stuff in any case. I have, in a number of cases, found unauthorized DVDs to have better quality than the originals. The authorized DVD manufactures have no right to pass their garbage to us in the name of an authorized print.

That goes for lousy DTPH print by Yashraj & Co. In most cases including the DTPH, the unauthorized DVDs have better picture quality and the authorized ones have better sound! This leaves us, the customer, in a very frustrating situation realizing that both good picture and good sound are possible but not available when we, the customer, are ready and willing to pay for good quality.

ASPECT RATIO:

I understand, most of us have a difficulty understanding that the original ratio cannot be displayed in 4:3 format without the black bands. I had great difficulty explaining lots of people that the black bands do not mean that the picture has been cut but the reverse is true. For those who still wish to watch the movie in 4:3, I suggest that the DVDs contain both formats. There is ample room for both as some of the unauthorized manufacturers have demonstrated. (For example Kuch Kuch HH DVD has it except the aspect ratio is still 16:9 or less and not the 2.35:1)

ANOMORHIC RECORDING

Based on the quality of DVDs manufactured, I suspect that the manufacturers have not heard of Anamorphic DVDs. For those who want to know, anomorphic DVDS use all horizontal lines available in 4:3 format to record the video source, which is then compressed to 16:9 by the display device (TV, Projector etc.) resulting in a 33% better (sharper) picture quality.

SUB TITLES:

For those of us with children who don't understand all hindi/native language words and for those who don't know hindi/native language, subtitles need to be created by an individual who has good command of both the native language and English so that we are not subject to hilarious english translations of the native language.

I therefore suggest the following standards for DVDs:

Minimum Requirements:

1. DVD produced from original print, in the case of older movies unscratched if available.

2. Use one side of the DVD for the original aspect ratio with anomorphic recording with automatic compression, the other for 4:3.

3. Sound quality to be clearly displayed. Older films require some digital processing to improve the sound. New movies to have same sound specifications as the original print.

Preferred Options:

1. Subtitles created and proof read by knowledgeable individuals.
Now we can have some good A/V experience!.. Ashwani Dhalwala


Daag

This dvd is excellent with two exceptions. One of the hits of 1999, this action/drama film is directed by Raj = Kanwar, who is one of the underrrated directors we have. His impressive = CV, which includes deewana, judaai, jaan, kartavya, itihaas, laadla, = jeet and many more, has helped many actors and actress establish = themselves in this tough business.

This inculdes, Shahrukh Khan, Ajay = devgan, Twinnkle Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Anil kapoor, Sridevi and with = this film it has estabhilsed once again the careers of Chandrachur Singh = and Sanjay Dutt as actors.

However the film itself is a little = dissapointing to some, with over the top court room scenes and = unrealistic acting, e.g Raj Babber in the cilmax of the film puts a gun = in the face of his grandaughter, however one could argue that this is = what bollywood is made of, escapism AND THIS IS WHAT I LIKE.=20

This dvd is excellent with two exceptions. Firstly, the film recorded = sound track, which was 5.1, has been turned into a mono 2ch dolby sound = due to expense. Apparently it cost =A350,000 pounds just to have a 5.1 = sound on the DVD, ouch! Secondly, the disc menu design is just shite, = though it is easy to understand and to use.

The picture on the over hand is at is best. With an avarage bit rate of = 6Mbit/sec peaking to 9Mbit/sec the picture is crisp and very clear. all = the details on the print can be seen without the need to strain out your = eyes. The pictue is also grain free and there is no digital artifact to = be seen. I suspect the reason for this is because the picture is = permently pressed on the disc as an anmorpheric widescreen print, which = super digital sometime does. Therefore at least 30% of information can = be seen more clearly on the print of the film. Its not a nessacary thing = though people with a 16X9 tv will like it.

So if you have a widescreen tv, you will have to uncompress the picture = yourself to see it in its original aspect ratio, which this film is = presented in. How you do that is simple, if you have a zoom mode go = though it manually untill the picture to you looks uncompress or normal = like it should. It can be a long period before you can find it on your = tv but when you do, welcome to the world of true DVD quality. If you = don't have a widescreen tv (aka 4:3) then you will have to watch the = film compressed, but still the picture looks absolutly superb however = everyone in the film will look very very slim.

The sound of the film on this DVD is mono which is a shame as the film = had a decent 5.1 sound, when seen on cinema. It seems to me we can't = have every thing these days. The mono sound is however above average.

Overall view: Buy this disc if you love this film because any other = release of this film on DVD (via india) won't beat this Disk, in the = terms of picture quallity only. Beside I don't any Indian company = release films with dolby 5.1 or dts 5.1, come to think of it I don't see = any DVD from india released in stereo at all!! But who knows I could be = wrong?

Movie highlight: The songs, which are nice and the comedian Johnny Lever = (see end of chap:14).. Sunny Audit


Trimurti

This film had many stories behind it. The disputes between director and = producer, Sanjay dutt's role was given to Anil Kapoor as he was in = prison, the production costs of the film went overboard, and the female = cast wasn't decided upon till the last minute.

However when you wacth = the film you will be mesmerised by the excellent production values which = match the likes of any hollywood film, and on this DVD they even look = better then most film that are coming out to this date. Shame about the = lack of screenplay which was one of the reason why this film became the = biggest flop in bollywood ever, losing 5 million rupees.

Still the = performance of Anil Kapoor and the villian 'KOOKA' played by Mohan Aghse = which won awards, was good. The females can enjoy Shah Rukh Khan who is = seen nearly thoughout the total film playing a romantic part.

This DVD is just out of this world. The picture is so sharp and so clear = it qualifies for the best DVD ever awards. The average bit rate is that = of 5Mbit/sec to around 6.5Mbit/sec. However, every detail seen on this = print can seen, even in the dark scenes, which the majority of this film = has, is clear.

One thing you must understand is that if you have a small = tv then you will not understand what I mean, as you miss out the = greatness of the DVD disc. This disc does full justices to those who = like me have a big 55 inch as no grain and no artifact can be seen at = all. If you do have a small tv then the dark scenes could be a little = too dark unless your DVD hardware can cope with it. The sound is also = extremely good as it is present in its original format. But the bass can = be too loud during the songs but we mustn't forget that this is one of = the first films to have introduced Dolby SR so the experience of it was = very new.

It can even be heard on this disc as at times the mixing of = the speechs can be either too echo-e- or too hollow. But one thing I can = say is that this disc is persented exactlly as the films was seen in the = cinema. Just make sure you room is completly dark when you watch this = film as the director uses natural lighting not artifical lighting which = all bollywood films uses to enhance the setting of the scenes so that = the audience could understand..Sunny


Anarkali - ? 1940s - no subtitles -Parag int 
Picture quality -okay 
Sound - excellent Dolby 2 channel 
From www.indiaplaza.com and others 
	It is obvious that they are wearing fabulous costumes in
this historical drama but being black and white one cant
really appreciate the rich colors - a good reason to remake
these movies keeping the stupendous music as it was . 
	Maybe non South Asians like Richard , Irwin and Singrah and
others can shed some light on this subject . Why does the
music from these old classics sound so good ?. Is it that
the high notes were not truncated , or that it was a live
recording so that all the instruments were at a correct
distance and volume or is it because when the lyrics are
being sung there is only one instrument in the backround
unlike the cacophony in modern songs where you cant hear the
words clearly ?. 
	Of course they may prefer modern  Indian music -ARR type
-well I dont ! The actors are Pardeep Kumar , Bina Rai ,
Noorjehan but sadly the playback singers are not mentioned .
Whoever the female is , she is wonderful and I think the
male is KL Saigal but I dont know . 
	The story which I think was the same in Mughal-e Azam but
with a different ending is of Emperor Akbar's son - Jehangir
. A court dancer falls in love with him thinking he is a
soldier , the Emperor warns her off him until he takes the
ultimate step . 
	The picture is grainy , the Parag logo is put in glowing
yellow annoyingly in the most prominent place at the bottom
right and its permanent and the sound is crackly and often
the movie will jump back to the menu without warning but who
cares ? Its an old classic and worth having . Would advise
rental first . 
	There is a kind of rosetta stone at the beginning - the 'all
the characters in this ..' at the beginning are in English ,
Urdu and Hindi and with the still step one can easily learn
different languages with great ease . 
	The number of Bollywood DVDs is now approaching 400 and at
this rate all will be out within a couple of years -after
that hopefully there will be platinum editions with
excellent quality . Another thing they can do is to have
commentaries on the songs and the movies on the DVD at the
end or on the other side .
	Chote Sarkar -Govinda and Shilpa another of my top films is
out on DVD and as a side issue wasnt the music by Pandit
Shiv Sharma and his son on the santoor in Saregama
absolutely great ?! People have asked me if they should buy Anarkali . The
answer I think is probably no . The print quality could be
better -some black and white movie I have seen even on VHS
have been perfect eg Barsat ki rat . So rent this one..

Umrao Jaan

Umrao Jan - 1981 -no subtitles -Media Digital 
Picture quality - good
Sound quality - excellent Dolby AC3-2 channel 
	A 10 year old girl from a Nawabi family of Lucknow gets
kidnapped and sold into a house of ill repute with dancing
girls to entertain the rich men . She grows up to be the
very beautiful Rekha -who won a national award for this
role- singing some immortal songs on the way 'dil cheez hai
kya , jaan li jiye ' . Great mujras .
	She had been very close to her younger brother and when they
meet again 15 years later does he accept her back in the
family or does he disown her ? Leave you to find out . Must
have disc for the music and Aisha's great singing.Rekha is still as delicious as ever as anybody who saw her
classic dance performance in Qila last year will tell you..
The song 'In ankhin ki masti ' by ? Aisha must be one of the
best ones ever in Hindi movies and is beautifully picturized
with Rekha in a gorgeous white dancing girls outfit ,and by
itself provides justification for a  DVD player . 
	Here are the lyrics of the song - the Urdu is a bit beyond
my capabilities so maybe somebody else could provide a
translation..
from 
http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~navin/india/songs/isongs/indexes/film/umrao_jaan..html

 Contributor:  
% Transliterator: Anurag Shankar (anurag@astro.indiana.edu)
 Credits: Anuranjan Gulati (agulati@csd4.csd.uwm.edu)
         Jasjit Singh (jasjit@cc.gatech.edu)
   Himanshu Gupta (gupta@grinch.csl.uiuc.edu)
 Editor:  Anurag Shankar (anurag@astro.indiana.edu)

in A.Nkho.n kI mastii ke mastAne hazAro.n hai.n 
in A.Nkho.n se vaabastaa afasaane hazaaro.n hai.n
in A.nkho.n... 

ik tum hii nahii.n tanhaa, ulafat me.n merii rusavaa
is shahar me.n tum jaise dIvAne hazAro.n hai.n 
in A.nkho.n... 

ik sirf ham hI may ko A.Nkho.n se pilAte hai.n 
kahane ko to duniyaa me.n mayakhAne hazAro.n hai.n 
in A.nkho.n... 

is shamm-e-farozA ko A.ndhI se Daraate ho 
is shamm-e-farozaa ke paravAne hazAro.n hai.n 
in A.nkho.n... 
South Asian songs seem to have a varying beat - speeding up
or slowing down according to the lyrics and the mood -and
that is why I think they sound more interesting . 
	Western songs , ARR and most modern ones seem to have a
constant background beat and that is why South Asians find
them so hard to get used to , maybe . Just a thought ..


Sahib Bibi aur Gulam -Sai Digital - no subtitles -?1960
Picture quality -OK 
Sound -not good .
	A classic black and white , havent seen it myself and not
likely to on this rented DVD . The sound volume varies quite
annoyingly . 
	There is an 'auido only ' song menu . The idea is OK with
just a still picture on the screen but it would make more
sense if the recording for this was done from CD rather than
the movie so that one wouldnt have the dog barking , doors
opening . 
	There are also trailers of six other movies , one of which
is Jai Santoshi ma , a superhit movie of all time . The
three primary goddesses of the heavens get jealous when a
new one 'Santoshi ma' is dreamt up by humans . This DVD
which I have reviewed before is the worst Hindi DVD of all
time - it was I think made from two VHS tapes at the same
time to give the out of focus look Dont even rent 'Jai
santoshi ma ' on DVD .