i know this isnt a old movie from 20/30 yrs ago
but it diserves to be available in good shape, its a true indian family masala movie with good songs

hum aapke hai kaun (full version)

when ever i look at my eros 2 disc set it looks worse then most of the old movies available

The Ultra HAHK is just as bad as the Zeros DVD.

the dei/eros one is bad to but its not the full version, plus rajshri only took main prem ki diwanni hoon out on dvd and thats over 3/4yrs now and they were supposed to take out a 4 disk verion ( i think) of that movie but i9t never happend

I still haven't had the projected costings for the restoration, however, I will post later this weekend or early next week a proposal for restoration of at least 5 films (out of a group of 10), with the intent that they are restored on film and than used for digital exhibition. The level of restoration will depend on three fundamentals:

(1) Quality of exisiting master prints, colour seps and negatives.

(2) Level of restoration needed to view the film as it should be viewed.

(3) Financing available.


Again, those interested should get in touch with me. I have to say that the level of interest has been poor and whilst I am not sure why, I guess it must because of prempted difficulties in obtaining rights, etc.

SANGAM and MERA NAAM JOKER full restoring is my choice.

For more info/ discussion on these two films see following zulm threads:

viewtopic.php?t=3033&start=15


viewtopic.php?t=4457&start=30

I have a 228 min version Mera Naam Joker VHS (adverts etc accounted for).

pyaasa, lekin, naseeb, aandhi( plus/minus)

While the intentions expressed here are laudable reality is different. You can simply forget about restoring Indian films by private initiative unless your name is Mittal and you have some million $ for starters to invest without any need to make a profit or even break even or make any money back. That does not mean Indian films will not be restored. Some will, some have been. The main problems are
- getting the rights from the copyright holders. Why would anybody give you rights? An unknown with no track record? And if they do, they want to see money, quite some.
- getting film masters worth restoring. Worn out negatives, scratched prints etc. are all problematic masters to work from. Good results means digital restoration at 2K or more. Be prepared to invest quite some (100000$ and probably much more).
- selling the restoration to the public. You want to make money, not feed pirates and subsidize the Indian public's endless appetite for cheap versions from illegal sources. How do you market your restoration with profit??

I simply do not see a merket for this at the moment. It would require a bigger audience willing to pay for it and buying original product, ignoring pirates. Maybe in some years it's more feasible.

The points that mhafner makes are valid, but he makes several assumptions and perhaps he ought to re-read my posts again. I have never suggested for once that the proposed project will prove feasible but this should not stop us from trying. Furthermore, what makes you think I am an unknown, with no track record? I have never to date talked about my background or abilities, and the whole project is moot unless we have enough people participating in trrying to bring it to fruitation.

In fact, the minimum cost of restoration will be at least $200,000 per film. As regards mhafners comments about selling the restotation to the public and not feeding the pirates, etc. perhaps he ought to wait and see what I propose before jumping the gun. Why should the proposed project be not feasible now and yet somehow be possible in the future "in some years" ? What will change? If DVD has not changed the consumers attitude towards expecting high quality end-product, will HD-DVD and Blu-ray? There is no such thing as a good time and the only thing we can do, in my opinion, is to do what we can now. Cannot wait for tomorrows lest we see a repeat of what happened with cheap and nasty dvds. In addition, the films are deteriorating and waiting will only increase the cost of restoration.

I also feel mhafner is unduly negative about people and perhaps, if they were presented with a well thought out and feasible proposal, they would be willing.

I reiterate, this project needs at leat ten people to work together for no other reason other than for the love of cinema. I am a filmmaker and a film buff and I will be committed if the project gets off the ground.

I intend to make a realistic project proposal but perhaps, in light of mhafners post, we ought to see if we can get the bodies before I even bother!

The people usually posting here. If you are an industry insider and can get something achieved all the power to do. But if you are you know how difficult it is.

Several reasons:

- costs for digital restoration goes down. Indian labs are routinely dealing with digital intermediates and produce good quality. Digital distribution in India is more widespread (-> restoration can be 'cheaply' distributed to hundreds of cinemas, no expensive prints required)

- middle class in India has grown some more, Bollywood market outside India may have grown some more as well with many customers used to pay Western prices for good product while ignoring pirates

- Globalisation more progressed. Western companies might see a profit chance picking up some important films and restore them. World wide solid marketing is rquired to justify that kind of investment.

- Maybe better law enforcement in India concerning pirates (dubious though)


Do you have anything solid so far concerning financial support? Any kind of offer? If not, what would the 10 people be able to do about it?

I'm not the problem. The general situation is. I'm a bit puzzled that you bring it up here if you are dead serious. Why do you think zulm is the place to go? Should you not talk to major producers in India, Pune film archive, Indian television, Shabana Azmi and other politicians with film background, and the Indian billionaires one of which might have a heart beating for Indian cinema?

I'm sure zoom zoom sees this project as feasible. Let's hear his proposal.

I sure would like to see max content for a film. i.e. whatever best material can be collected/ restored, even if it's just audio/ broken audio/ broken audio-video, should be included.

My purpose for raising the issue on Zulm is that there seem to be many of you that claim to be peeved about the quality of dvds as I am, and in my opinion the problem extends further to ensuring the existence of films that I and many others love. It isn't simply a question of waiting for things to improve in India as you seem to think.


[/quote]Western companies might see a profit chance picking up some important films and restore them. World wide solid marketing is rquired to justify that kind of investment.

Why would I have something solid as far as financing is concerned? I have only recently mooted the idea and am still seking information and inviting suggestions. If you mean to ask as to how I intend to raise financing, I have some good ideas and good contacts. However, this is all premature as my posts over the last three days explain. As to what 10 people would do about it, I could not in all honesty manage something like this by myself and would require assistance from like-minded enthusiasts to assist me with research, information gathering, contacting people, etc. Like most people, I have daily work so something like this would have to be done in my spare time. As regards your other comments, I am not of the Indian film industry and I work mainly in the U.K. and Europe. My film work has no relationship with the Indian film industry.

Michael, I sense irritation on your part and if you do not agree with what I and others would hope to achieve all you have to do is ignore us. I have brought up the matter at Zulm because I hoped that other like minded people felt as I did and would like to do something about it. Does that bug you somehow? In the end if no one wishes to participate, it isn't going to bother me as I can only do what I can and at least I am trying to do something about an issue that I feel strongly about. I am not ready to leave the matter to "Indian billionaires" just yet.

i dont think mhafner is bieng negative..just realistic..judging by the past history of the shamble known as the indian dvd industry..

i would also love to see films like sholay,ddlj,don etc presented in the ultimate form but its a bit hard to think it would ever happen without knowing what exactly is to be done..

Not really. I'm merely trying to avoid that you get terribly disappointed and disillusioned some time in the future after you have invested a lot of time and effort (if not money) into this and hit the proverbial wall we all have been hitting for many years (on a much more modest level) when we were trying to improve Indian DVD quality by writing to labels, writing reviews to educate the public, post in fora etc.. only to realise that it was all for nothing. When things changed it was not because of us but because the bigger picture changed which we had no influence on. Things such as digital intermediates and HD arriving in India bypassing crappy video mastering houses when the DVD was due (now from the HD) or some Western TV channels picking up films for airing and rejecting substandard transfers thereby forcing producers to make better video masters. Basically the effects of globalisation. The only way to really make something happen is spend a lot of money YOURSELF and call the shots. Be prepared to lose a lot of money doing it and be happy with the warm fuzzy feeling that you saved a film/some films and made them available in great quality to the public. For now. In 5 years it might look somewhat different.

Michael, I agree and it would not be the first time. As you are aware making films is in itself fraught with disappointment and the proverbial "hitting a wall". Only last year a two million pound project of mine got nixed just because the producers did not wish to make a £150,000 advance to the main particpant in the project out of principle when, in my opinion, the request was not only reasonable but would have shown goodwill. I have thought a great deal about what you say and I would respond that why don't you join me in trying to see if there is some way we can make this project feasible. I sincerely feel that if we can save five films at the end of this, it will be five more than we have at present. This will not be a money making proposition but as long as the project pays for itself, I would be content. In any case, it would only get off the ground if we can get the requisite permissions and are given the license to "exploit" the film for a period of five years. By this I mean that in return for the restoration and royalties we are allowed to use the restoration for exhibition and sell through purposes. Any monies made would go back ito funding additional restorations.

The first restoration will be the most difficult but it will get progressively easier. I reiterate that all this is moot unless we get copyright holders to agree in the first instance.

Anyone know how the Merchant Ivory Foundation went about restoring Satyajit Ray's films?