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

[Ravi K]

If you're looking for the more outrageous pop dance wig-outs (Moulin Rouge was mentioned at the 2 year old start of this thread) you might like campy 60's fare like Gumnaam (the one sampled in Ghost World)

I rented "Gumnaam" a few years ago and found it to be fairly boring. The most exciting part is the Jaan Pehechaan Ho number featured in "Ghost World," and that comes at the beginning. The rest was some mediocre murder myster.

Guru Dutt was a good filmmaker from the 1950s, whose films featured some of the best photography I've seen in Indian films. Watch out for the DVD of "Kaagaz Ke Phool," which is cropped from the CinemaScope ratio. Of his films, "Pyaasa" is my favorite.

A recent film I recommend is "Meenaxi: A Tale of 3 Cities." Another good one I've heard of but haven't seen is "Maqbool," an adaptation of Macbeth.

 

[WillardK]

YES! Pyaasa! I was trying to think of the name of that one about the poet. They played it during a TCM Bollywood tribute recently. So far I think that one is my favorite Bollyfilm of any I've seen. It's beautiful and effectively melancholy. No Follies-like dancing that I remember though, which is what the original poster was looking for. There's another famous classic I'm looking for that has Burman songs and features a scene with a couple under an umbrella (I know, how unusual).

Gumnaam has it's boring stretches between musical numbers, and the plot meanders towards the climax. (for those who've never rented/bought them, Bollywood dvds have seperate chapter stops for just the songs). Those numbers are very entertaining though, and worth repeated viewings even if the whole film is not.

I'll search for those others you suggested.

 

[MatS]

ANDREW LLOYD WEBER PRESENTS:
SALAAM BOMBAY DREAMS
Available 5/18/04
In June 2002, London’s West End was taken by storm when Andrew Lloyd Webber presented a new musical phenomenon AR Rahman’s Bombay Dreams. This lavish and breathtaking production, which combines the glamour of the movies, heart-aching romance, and epic spectacle, won the acclaim of audiences and critics alike.
Salaam Bombay Dreams is an exclusive and exciting look behind the scenes of the musical and includes footage and interviews with the team behind this spectacular epic from Madras and Mumbai to London, you can follow the producer, the creative team and the cast as they bring together this lavish production. Glimpse into the world of phenomenal Indian composer AR Rahman, of magnificent sets, glittering costumes, inspirational choreography, superb script writing and brilliant lyrics.
http://eaglerockent.com/home.htm

 

[Lito]

i'm surprised that no one's mentioned "bollywood/hollywood" in this thread already.

although set in canada, much of the bollywood type song and dance.

the UK version of the dvd is anamorphic PAL and has a better transfer

than the two versions available here in region 1 (one version is 4:3 and

the mongrel media version is mislabeled as being anamorphic)

the other western film that i've seen recently w/ bollywood song and dance

is 'bend it like beckham'.

 

[Alistair_M]

Hi all
I'm pretty keen to get a few Bollywood films. I've only ever seen one film (I was dragged to the cinema by my girlfriend of the time) and it was called Koyla.
I thought the songs were excellent and the babe in the film very fetching too (Madhuri Dixit). The actiing and story was rubbish mind.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136352/
I'd certainly recommend a rental for Koyla.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Some recent good films from 'Bollywood':

1) Pinjar (Based on the partition of India)

2) Munnabhai MBBS

3) Ek Hasina Thi (no songs)

4) Kal Ho Na Ho

5) Maqbool (adapted from Shakespear's MacBeth)

6) Main Hoon Na

7) Charas

Another great film (a personal favorite of mine) ia 'Dil Chahta Hai'. It's a male bonding, coming of age film, which is not really a genre touched upon by Bollywood before. For those of you who have seen 'Lagaan', this film has the same leading actor, 'Amir Khan', in a role that is in total contrast to the one he played so well in Lagaan.

 

[Jon Martin]

I'd say anything directed by Ramgopal Varma is worth getting, the Scorsese of Bollywood. His horror film BHOOT was from last year and is quite good, no musical numbers though. SATYA is his GOODFELLAS, COMPANY is his GODFATHER.
RANGEELA is his best musical, probably the best introduction to the genre out there. DAUD is a fun one.
Check out www.indiaweekly.com the best retailer for Bollywood DVDS. You can find many for $5 or so. Qualitywise, Indian DVDs are all over the place. Some great transfers, some awful. But, most of them are anamorphic if you can believe it. They will have these faded, scratchy transfers, but anamorphic.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Bollywood film "Lakshya" is now on DVD.

Review here:

us.imdb.com/title/tt0323013/dvd

 

[Daman]

Lakshya is an awesome movie, i saw it in a theater at Cambridge last month and have been waiting ever since for its DVD release. Its the second movie by the young director Farhaan Akhtar whoose first film 'Dil Chahta Hai(the heart desires)' was a total blast The cinematography of Lakhsya is brilliant- the movie is set in himalayan region of Ladakh which has the highest motorable roads in the world(over and above 17000 feet ) and the whole beauty of the region has been captured maginificiently in the movie. I visited ladakh last year and know first hand what it looks like. The movie follows a young college going guy who is totally confused as to what to do in his life till the time he becomes a strong willed man who has the lakshya(aim) set for him. From the comic scenes in college to the hard war being fought between India and Pakistan in Kargil, the movie is very enjoyable. The best acting ive ever seen from Hrithik Roshan(whos the lead). The songs are also very nice with one particular songs dance moves choregraphed comically and brilliantly. I would strongly recommend a viewing!

 

[Michel_Hafner]

#The songs are also very nice with one particular songs dance #moves choregraphed comically and brilliantly. I would #strongly recommend a viewing!

Are you talking about the first or second song?

The second is one of my top Bollywood songs/choreographies

of all times. It's fantastic. The moves are so right for

the characters and the lyrics. Hollywood has nothing

comparable to offer. They used to decades ago ("West Side Story") but no more.

The first song is amazing as well with its stylization

and some very difficult dance steps. I know no Hollywood

star that could do this. It would require a professional

dancer, but these are usually not actors and don't have star

charisma on screen. The whole package comes only from

Bollywood these days.

 

[lakshmant]

nice to see a bollywood thread on HTF anyway try a film called anupama starring dharmendra one of the best uses of background score in any film i have seen and the use of light and shadow is like Guru Dutt movies wonderful .

Also in telugu tollywood try out films like swathimuthyam ,swarnakamalam, sankarabharnam very good DVD's and superb films with lovely music.

 

[Daman]

Are you talking about the first or second song?

Michel, Im talking about the song which is done in black and white called Main Aisa Kyun Hun(why i am like this) I guess its the same one you are also referring to as well, probably the second one,the song comes in the flashback to his college days.

Hrithik(The lead guy) has really come of age in this movie,when hes standing alone in the mountains after most of his friends die and Priety(the female lead) stops by.. the guys is not able to express his anger with words and fumbles and stutters for words for his emotion.. that scene was my favourite in the movie..brilliantly done by him. I have been trying to lay my hands on this DVD for more than a week now but whereever i go its either sold out or out of stock, even in online stores its not available.. my local indian store guy has started charging 30 bucks instead of the actual 23 bucks for this movie now!!

 

[Michel_Hafner]

The film has many great moments. All scenes between father

and son are memorable, especially the phone call and the

family origin scene.

Yes, Mr. Roshan has apparently left the phase with fluffy to crappy films behind and is going the Aamir Khan way.

Good for him and us.

The DVD shortage is temporary. Be patient. Do not buy any

direct digital pirate copies (these will be around in

great numbers, like 2 in 1 versions). The original has 2 discs and very nice packaging.

 

[Daman]

Oh yes, how did i forget, that phone call scene is great too, shows how much love the father has for him despite him cursing him all along.. speaking of Mr Roshan, i really liked him in Mission Kashmir as well.. the guys talent is growing day by day. Regarding Aamir Khan his next big movie is due soon, its again a period movie called "Mangal Pandey" which is named after the guy who actually started the Indian Revolt against British Rule in 1857. Should be a good movie.
I am definetly waiting for the original disc, have seen the movie so am in no rush to buy the pirated one. I think the print is anapmorphic right? Hows the sound track? It should look good on the projector setup i have

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Check out "Fiza" (DEI version) if you haven't already.

Lakshya DVD is anamorphic with very good sound.

 

[Daman]

I have seen Fiza but on theater, will check out the DVD surely.And thanks for the updates on the Lakshya DVD as well Michel

 

[Daman]

Hey Michel, Finally managed to lay my hands on the 2 disc DVD you were talking about, watched around half the movie yesterday, the print is very good and sound track is nice too, also the packaging is very neat, nicely done overall.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

Great thread, but I was surprised to not see http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0083081
If anyone has seen this DVD could you share your comments here?
Thanks!

 

[Daman]

Nils , Sisila is a great movie, it was one of the bolder movies of India society at the time it was released which was in late 70's or early 80's i think. The film explores the concept of extra marital affair and Indian society as such is very conservative so this was an unconventional movie. I have seen it many times and really like it. One of Amitabh's greatest movies. If you want to buy/rent it ill suggest check out an Indian store near you, they would surely have it in stock.

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Concerning Silsila you might check out zulm.net.

They usually have a comment on a disc or even screenshots

or full reviews.

Concerning Lakshya: Daman, you are not seeing a print.

The revolutionary aspect here is that you are seeing a

transformed/filtered version of a digital scan of the

camera negative. No prints involved anymore. Hence the

ultra stable and very clean look. DVDs from HD from digital

intermediates are the future, in US, India and the rest

of the world. In Hollywood it's somewhat common now, in

India they have just started.