bothanspy

title says it all. I've been hearing good things about Gadar and Lagan but I haven't gotten to those yet. Personally, I miss the films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Dilwale Dulhunia from the Bollywood surge some years back.

SPY

huzefa

Try lagaan and major saab. Lagaan is very good. Dvd quality is acceptable compared to other region 1 ultimate edition dvd's.

carnifern

There was a DVD of a Hindi horror film on eBay recently. I missed out on the bidding but I can't remember the title. I don't remember the story but it's supposedly one of the most f'ed up gruesome movies to ever come out of India. I think it was late 70's or early 80's. Not much to go on but anyone remember the title?

CrumpsBrother

I recently saw the US-produced "Ghost World" and it opened with a scene from a terrific Indian musical. Sort of got my interest going...

Cananybody recommend some Region 1 releases of Hindi musicals?

HepDude

For pre-2000 Hindi films:

www.netflix.com

For information on Hindi films:

www.zulm.net

The shorthand is just about anything with Amitabh is good, and the universally acknowledged classic is Sholay.

HepDude

This is an odd statement, since Lagaan is not yet out on DVD !

darius25

Here's some films you might like:

Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai
Dil Se
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Namak Halal
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
Hum Aapke Hain Koun
Satya
Border


All of these movies are available to buy online. Check www.indiaweekly.com for some of the best prices.

Trigger

he obtained a bootleg... I searched around and found that there is a bootleg of it floating around - it surfaced a week before the film came out. I've never seen or heard of this film, but I think it's funny that it's called "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India" What's it about - what's it like?

huzefa

Actually i haven't 'obtained' a bootleg. I'm all for strict A/V standards when it comes to my DVDs. I was just speaking of movies to go watch. I really have no idea how long it takes for hindi movies to go from screen to DVD, so you should just disregard that part then. BTW, how long does it take to go from screen to dvd?

Trigger

Excuse my assumption - I just thought that since you've seen the DVD of that film and it's not yet out officially in any region, that you must have gotten one of the bootlegs that have been floating around since the film opened. I wasn't accusing you of doing something illegal.

huzefa

jeez, ishould be more clear then. I have not seen the DVD. I've only seen the movie in the theater. Besides, I do not buy bootlegs nor do I condone them. The only 'bootleg' i ever bought was the region 3 dvd of CTHD. Anyway, there has got to be an etailer with good prices on hindi dvd's somewhere. Anyone got any links?

dleedlee

I've used both indiaplaza.com and indiaweekly.com. No problems with
either one. You'd be better off sticking to discs made by DEI. Other distributors
seem to get dissed really badly for their disc presentations.

HepDude

Then why did you say: How can you talk about the "Dvd quality" of a film you haven't seen on DVD ?

That statement doesn't apply otherwise - if "Fifth Element" is 10 out of 10, then most Hindi DVDs run 4 to 7. Probably "Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai" is one of the better ones, perhaps 8 (it's one of the few anamorphic Hindi DVDs if you buy the right edition).

darius25

Lagaan is a pretty big hit in India and is basically a well-made sports film. It focuses on a group of farmers who are challenged to a cricket game by the ruling British Gov't (the film is set in the late 1800s). The villagers set out to learn the game and the latter half of the movie (almost 2 hours) focuses on the game itself. The film is entertaining and often exciting, but it is highly overrated in my opinion.

The other hit film of recent times, Gadar, is actually a much better film. It's a romance story between a Sikh man and a Muslim girl who get separated during the bloody partition of Pakistan from India. The girl gets sent back to Pakistan so the guy goes after her. The second half is just a one big chase ride with tonnes of gruesome over-the-top action and plenty of explosions. The film IS biased (somewhat) towards Muslims but people are making a whole lot of deals over its ideas unnecessarily (just my opinion). I just found the film entertaining and if you're not offended by some of the ideas, then you might think so aswell.


As for the transition from screen to DVD, it depends on the producers of the film and the rightholders. Gadar was released on DVD (in a mediocre yet watchable version with Eng Subs) a week after it came out in theatres while the rights of Lagaan are still under negotiations with various other companies.

Video Sound and Eros are two companies who release their films a couple of days after they are released but the downside to this is that the DVDs are often much inferior to Hollywood DVDs with many problems (quality and performance wise). They are getting better though and the films are still watchable. Other companies take longer to get their films out but the results are far more superior. DEI is the best company to release Indian DVDs but they rarely release new films and are more specialized in the older titles. However their DVD of the recent film Ek Rishta was released 5 days after the theatrical release and the results were comparable to the Hollywood offerings. Don't look for much extras though.

I highly recommend you check out http://www.zulm.net for reviews and previews of the latest releases. They also have previews of the older films which should help you guys with your decisions.

huzefa

More explanation is needed: dvd quality of hindi dvd's is usually acceptable compared to other region 1 dvd's. the question of the original post was 'anyone seen any good dvds lately?'

anyway, i'll repeat it again, i don't have any bootlegs.

HepDude

Everyone has different tastes, but I think that the majority at zulm.net find Lagaan to be a better film than Gadar.

But - see them both and make up your own mind.

Ashirg

Here's review of that movie -
www.mondo-digital.com/gumnaam.html

I'm trying to find it now to buy...

Basant Nanda

Columbia-Tristar's release of Lagaan is only in DD2.0 according to Amazon. I think I will wait for a proper Bollywood release from DEI or Eros in DD5.1 instead of buying this crappy release.

chaver

Lagaan does come in DD5.1. I saw a review from someone who found it at his local Best Buy. The only problem is that they put the almost-4-hours movie onto a DVD-9 disk. Not many extras also.

Basant Nanda

That's good news.

The only extras are some deleted scenes and some web-links. I am not sure if the trailer(s) are included.

I need some opinions on this movie. Will I like this movie if I don't have any interest in cricket? All my life in India, I have never been interested in cricket.

darius25

basant, I really have little interest in cricket but I liked the film. It's a good and exciting sports movie even if you don't know much about the sport (like me). Aamir Khan is a really good actor, and the songs were pretty decent so I liked the movie. It's not boring at the very least, and extremely funny at times.

Lokimok

I somehow downloaded a video of a song called Chaiyya Chaiyya. A friend of mine has become obsessed with it. I found out it's from a movie called Dil Se. I'm thinking about fairly blindly ordering it for her for her birthday. Do I have to worry about region codes or anything like that?

chaver

There are two versions of Dil Se out there - an Eros/DEI version and an inferior Eros/B4U. Both are Region 0, so you don't have to worry on that count. But try to get the DEI DVD. I think its available at www.indiancdstore.com for $9+shipping.

Lokimok

Hmm. I hadn't caught that. Thanks.

funkydjmcescher

I'm sure this is old info by now, but that movie is Gumnaam & it's on Eros/B4U as a P&S.
It's worth checking out, not only for that song but a few other "only in a Hindi film" aspects that I won't ruin for anyone.

Also, I have a question re: Lagaan.
On the Tri Star release, there is a VO narration that was not on the
DVD that I rented from my local Indian market.
Am I alone in thinking that the VO was added ?