Any India "Bollywood" DVD's like Moulin Rouge to recommend? (1 Viewer)

I have seen some clips of India's "Bollywood" type musicals.
I loved the big final musical number in Moulin Rouge and I
am very happy we can see it uncut on the 2nd disc.
Are there any recommendations for musicals from India that
are considered their classics much like our "Signin'in the Rain"?
I would like to see a lot of great dancing and music.
With a romance as the foundation of all great musicals.
I am fine with having to read the subtitle, I am sure
the music alone can be enjoyed, even with the language gap.
A region 1 or 0 NTSC would be great but I can play all regions and PAL to NTSC on my APEX if I must.
A recommendation also for a US source would be great.
I found a web site;
Link Removed
But I don't have a clue what to get?
Thanks for any help!
Enrique B Chamorro

have you seen the opening to Ghost World?

first off, do not buy from indiaplaza. you are sure to get ripped off, on both price and service.

go to indiaweekly.com

or cdguru.com

and see who's prices you like better.

however, you should know that the indian dvd market is a joke. The people who have the rights to these films release the dvds on the same weekend the movie comes out. THey use this ridiculous "Oh, it's because of the pirates" excuse to put out terrible quality dvds.

Blurry picture, no detail, pseudo 5.1 mixes, compression artifacts galore, the list goes on and on.

On top pf that, saying that 99% of these movies are crap would be an understatement. And I'm a huge movie fan. Unfortunately, bollywod is in its doldrum age right now. THe classics come out (maybe) once a year.

I strongly suggest you buy Lagaan, released by Columbia Tristar.

THe movie itself is an absolute classic. It's a four hour piece o excellence in filmmaking. You are sure to be entertained, especially if you enjoy the song and dance numbers. After watching Indian movies for 18 years, THis flick landed in my top 5. I can't tell you how good it is..

And when you watch the dvd, know that it's probably among the top 2 Indian dvds quality wise.

ALthough, I sorely wish COlumbia released this on two discs with a DTS track. This is one flick that deserves the uber-bit treatment.

and if you do decide to go after other indian dvds, the only company the dvd should be by is DEI. Although their quality has been getting murkier with recent releases, they are still far and away the best among the bolywood dvd makers.

Hope this was helpful...

I have not seen Ghost World, but I will get it with my

10% Best Buy coupon this weekend.

Ghost World sounds right up my alley, I love Rushmore

and The Big Lebowski, so a quirky comedy that opens

with a clip of an Indian musical sounds great.

I have heard great things about Lagaan and will get it.

Any other recommendations for the studio DEI?

Excellent and very informative post Talal, thank you. I bought Lagaan and really enjoyed the music and dancing. I echo your staements on the two disk release as this one is cramped and it does affect the quality of the video. What other titles would you recommend?

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

Hum Dil De Chuke Sanaam

Dil Se

Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai

are considered the last few classics to have. I recommend the first 3.

DEI is the only label I'd trust out of the lot.

The current BO draw KB3 (in short) - the follow-up to KKHH.

Hope it gets a decent DVD release (Universal is handling international theatrical).

If you want real cinema - try EARTH 1947 by Deepa Mehta.

the kuch kuch hota hai dvd is non-anamorphic letterboxed(1:2.35)

I personally don't enjoy the movie, but people are crazy about it. It has been released by yash raj films. When it comes to newer yash raj film, expect high production value with typical storylines, exemplified by it's latest release, kabhi khushie kabhie ghum. this was utter waste of screen time.

dil se is good, but the dvd sucks big time in the picture department. it has an awesome dd5.1 mix though (featuring the awesome music by a.r. rahman).

kaho na pyar hai was made purely to introduce te director's son a movie star. waste of time, although the dvd is among the best in desiland.

hum dil de chuke sanam has a good dvd by DEI (not the one by video sound), and the movie is good for the first half, but the second half falls flat on its face.

although dei are the best of the lot, understand that they are still not as good as dvds you're used to saying. dei is infamous for its "squashing problem", where a 1:2.40 frame is squashed in an anamorphically enhanced 1:2.35.

also, excessive dvnr is a problem...

and a word of strong advice, never get an Eros/B4U dvd.

DEi used to master earlier releases of eros, but not anymore. eros/b4u are utter crap. they squash 1:1.85 images onto 1:2.35 frames that are anamorphically enhanced. i.e, if you anamorphically play it on a 4:3 tv, it looks right. and yet the movie's aspect ratio is 1:2.35 in the first place.

another good release by DEI is Rangeela(but make sure you get the DEI version).

and i second the earth- 1947 comment, but unfortunately, no dvd.

i'll add some more thoughts later...

THey show Indian films every Saturday on a local PBS station. #1 thing that drives me nuts is that they never subtitle the songs! Since that's 80% of the movie, it drives me nuts! OK, the movies are awful as well, but that's beside the point. I will definately check out Lagaan

The subtitles over the songs bring up a very important point.

Do the four films listed by Cris have English subtitles for the songs?

Does Lagaan have an accurate translation in Englsih of the songs?

Thanks

ayaaa,

Subtitles...someone was high?

Lagaan is the only properly presented Hindi DVD out so far.

Only real glitch was the missing narration halfway through, which you can actually read anyway.

Weird bit was the English singing duet. very unusual and strange sounding.

Universal, Columbia can do everyone a service by putting out more.

What's up with plans to release Lagaan theatrically later this year in the US?

Try 'TAAL', personally one of my favorites. It's got ALL great songs, a decent love story, and one of my favorite Indian actresses - Aishwarya Rai!!!
Lots of problems with the EROS DVD though - pretty fuzzy picture, 2.35 blown up to 1.85 (non-anamorphic),lots of dirt, specks, and scratches, 5.1 sound but mixed too loud for most of the movie especially in the rears, but, I haven't seen much better Indian DVDs out there. It is subtitled in english and is dual layered.
It comes with a six page booklet in which Andrew Lloyd Webber claims that he 'thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it'.
There are some great staged songs and dances, and despite the DVD's faults, I highly recommend it.
(oh, and did I mention that Aishwarya Rai's in it?)

Have you guys seen Asoka?? This is the only Bollywood film I saw last year, and it was an insane three hours of bloody fighting, song and dance numbers, and Kareena Kapoor dancing under a waterfall. :drool:
Mongrel Media has it under distribution in Canada, and it played at three theaters (Granville, Delta Cinemas and Station Square) so I know it's a big one over in India. Sadly it didn't do much over here.
Jason

yeah,

we only watch it to drool! lol.

time some of those actresses crossed over.

let's see:

Nandita Das

Ash Rai

Kajol

Sush Sen

anyone else?

I'll second the recommendation of Lagaan, I just finished watching it yesterday - it does have subtitles on the songs (most do not).
For those who are unaware, note that a short Indian film is 2:40 and typically they are 3:30-4:00. Lagaan is 3:45.
Amazingly, no one has mentioned the universally acknowledged all-time classic, Sholay, which stars the world's most famous actor, Amitabh (aka "The Big B" ; he does the narration for Lagaan).
Dil Se is excellent; one of the best films of the 90's for cinematography and soundtrack.
I think Kuch Kuch Kota Hai is excellent. Like many Indian films, the plot is very sentimental and not particularly 'significant', but the story is compelling and everything is very well done - very good songs, and excellent dancing.
Although I have not yet seen Taal, if you are a male, anything with Miss World Aishwarya Rai is worthwhile. A particularly good one is Kandukondain, Kandukondain which is a film from Southern India, and is based on a Jane Austen novel, and thus the story is a little more substantial than most Indian films. Rai is at her most radiant in this film - you can see how beauty is not only genetics, but is also a skill.
If you don't mind family values, one of the most famous and popular Indian films is Hum Aapke Hain Koun.
My favorite online store is: www.indiancdstore.com which is in sales-tax-free Oregon.
Lots more information is available at the Indian equivalent of Home Theater Forum, namely www.zulm.net .
Lastly, you can rent these DVDs from the aforementioned indiaweekly.com or godesigo.com or desifilms.com and Netflix carries many of them.

the problem with indian dvds is that the best movies have crappy presentations on the medium. THat's why SHOLAY was never mentioned.

but, if you're just looking for amazing movies...

SHAKTI (terrible DVD by WEG, but what a movie), DEEWAR(good print for a film of its age, by DEI), AGNEEPATH(again, bad dvd) feature the best performances by the best of actors, Amitabh Bachan. THe first two really show off his inner-young-man-anger-phase skills, and the third represents in bollywood, who tony montana is to hollywood.

MUGHUL-E-AZAM IS ONE OF THE BEST LOVE STORIES EVER TOLD. It was made in the 60's, and is simply a classic.

Taal, in my opinion sucked. BUt i understand that foreigners like it... it's just too typical for me. The songs on the other hand, are amazing, courtesy of A.R. Rahman. there is an anamorphic version out, but it looks worse than a barely respectable letterboxed dvd.

the company yash raj films has rights to some of the best movies ever, but their dvds are mucho crappy. movies like mera naam joker and devdas are CLASSICS.

too many to list...

ask and i'll try to answer.

I just watched Lagaan over the weekend. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the music was great. It would be nice if some studio such as Columbia/Tri-Star would pick up Sholay and re-master it for video / dvd. I understand that film is of the same quality as Lagaan.

Laagan is a great movie, and to my suprise i ended up with a small working knowledge of cricket to boot. Ain't cinema great.

I'm just gonna put it out there...

Lagaan WILL win the best foreign film oscar...