I think all lovers of Indian films interested in the long term improvement of Indian DVD quality must buy the Lagaan (Columbia) and Asoka (Metrodome) DVDs. Not only because they are both good films and great DVDs but also to encourage these companies to release more Indian films. Therefore I suggest everyone buy a copy for themselves and also encourage our friends and family also to buy them. We would all be doing ourselves a big favor.



Edited By Sanjay on Feb. 06 2002 at 11:20

And stop buying DDLJ!!!

Sanjay, you beat me to this post by a few hours. This is exactly what I was going to post, as soon as I had a few minutes to spare.

It is well known, market is flooded with illegal copies of Lagaan DVD. I don’t think, CT tolerates any piracy of their products, no matter how much it costs to enforce it. Removal of illegal Lagaan DVDs will also result in more CT Lagaan sales. I hope they find out about illegal Lagaan DVDs and take action to protect their product. The only way to get World Class Indian DVDs is to get Companies like, CT, Metrodome etc. to get involved in Indian DVDs.

High sales of Lagaan will also demonstrate how much clout South Asians customers have.

Rana

Ironical but the only two acceptable quality dvds are by two non Indian companies (CT and Metrodome). I hope the other Indian dvd companies wake up and challenge the quality of Lagaan and Asoka. I know it is highly unlikely but just a thought...

more sad and shameful than ironic

not only should full support be given to lagaan and asoka dvds but also we should buy from established region 1 stores to send them a clear message that more indian dvd are wanted. i'm sure i read somewhere together with ddlj dvd, lagaan has become the fastest selling indian dvd, can't find the link to the article but it was quoted from radio sargam so probably made up anyway :rolleyes:

amazon.com sales rank lagaan at 2,688 at the moment which is not bad considering bandit queen and the terrorist is in the 5000 and 12000 mark and have been out much longer

According to Yahoo Top Video/DVD Sales, Lagaan DVD is at #18. Weather that's good or bad news for CT to realize that potentials for making Indian DVDs, I have no clue? However, I've visited about 3 different Indian DVD stores within the last few days, and I've been told that the YRFs DDLJ DVD is thus far, selling more than the CT Lagaan DVD. Which is a shame, because the Lagaan CT DVD much superior.

Just wanted to bump up this topic since I feel it is an important issue. Therefore the more exposure it gets, the better for us all Indian film fans. Might I even suggest this topic be a 'sticky' (pinned) atleast for a little while.



Edited By Sanjay on Feb. 12 2002 at 22:50

DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND DON’T BUY FIRST LOOK ASOKA.

Why??

Looks like First Look is pulling a fast one on us in North America. A DVD converted from Film to PAL video and then to NTSC video for an official DVD release by a Hollywood company is unprecedented. This should never be accepted. Audio may be OK, but the video will be terrible. By buying this sub-standard product you will be sending a message that this is acceptable. I heard that this version is selling for over $35 Cdn ($ 20 US). This is a Daylight robbery. Even pirates have better prints and their prices are low, compatible with quality.

Metrodome ASOKA rates as one of the best and First Look ASOKA rates as one of the worst Official Indian DVDs.


Rana

P.S.
It is possible that the present First Look DVD, really is a pirate and the real First Look ASOKA DVD is to appear later with a direct Film to NTSC transfer.



Edited By rana on Feb. 12 2002 at 19:41

Only time will tell if another Asoka DVD makes an appearance. You might want to check this thread out;

http://www.zulm.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.c ... ;f=1;t=717

First Look didn’t out right deny it the Asoka DVD on release now is from them. Also worth nothing is First Look can hardly be considered proper Hollywood company (not that it makes much of a difference). First Look sounds like a 2-bit outfit specialising in foreign and B-Grade movies – and they are not renowned for their DVD output.

I’ve been checking both Asoka DVDs out and there is little between them. Video is far from terrible, actually it beat most Indian DVDs – I’ll do a review soon with a image comparison. Still Metrodome DVD is better is every respect but this NTSC Asoka DVD is not all that bad.

It very hard to tell if its a pirate or not. Like Arsh mentioned its got proper barcode prints on cover, cover is high quality with First Look printed on the inside rim of the disc too. If someone pirated this – they did a very good job. On the other hand the burnt in subtitles, fuller uncut running time (it was advertised as the international cut version on R1 sites and on the cover) and the fact that most R1 stores are still are not shipping the DVD – makes it a bit dubious. First Look response didn’t help to clear the matter.

Ali

As Michael pointed out in another thread:
DO NOT DO FORMAT CONVERSION from PAL to NTSC, NTSC to PAL, HD to PAL/NTSC which compromises the original film frames and INTRODUCES MOTION ARTEFACTS during playback. If you do the film look is lost and it looks like video, even if everything else is done optimally.

Converting from Film to PAL and then to NTSC, correct 2:3 pulldown is lost and correct progressive film frames can not be reconstructed by progressive DVD players or external video processors. Moreover, 4% faster speed is also carried over to NTSC.

To avoid quality degradation due to format transfer, major TV programs intended for International release are shot on Film. Then Film is used for direct Film to PAL or Film to NTSC or Film to SECAM etc. Here, in the case of ASOKA, Film already exists and hence there is no excuse for PAL to NTSC or any other unnecessary conversion.

Rana

Well! i am skeptical with FL tactics, that viewers ant waiters will get the SAME OLD WINE IN NEW BOTTLE packed by FL!! time will tell!! we will all wait with u guys!! Let the HOPE be ALIVE!!

But I am GLAD I got the full version along with QUALITY reasonably vey GOOD!! I learned my LESSON expecting too much from CT in form of LAGAAN was the BIGGEST LETDOWN for me!! ???

Got to keep the pressure up and continue to demand quality. Although Indian DVD's are still in their infancy these folks if really want to can put a decent product. For DEI,YRF and others for every 10 crappy DVD's they put out they can try to put out aleast 2 decent ones. I'm glad CT has put out Lagaan and hopefully these mega hollywood companies will continue to see the profitable desi market and will continue to release Indian titles but this is not a solution as for them to have a profitable business they need a huge library which unfortunately is with YRF,DEI,EROS and others so got to keep the pressure up and continue to demand quality from those who have a large selection of titles.

lakeshore

If I am not mistaken, Universal has entered the audio market in India and has acquired the entire catalogue of RPG and MIL. By the same regard, Universal can form an offshoot which will distribute Hindi movies in the west, namely UK and North America... This will have two drastic effects :-

1.) Piracy will can be addressed more vigorously then, as then the local pirates have to compete with UNIVERSAL who have the clout to close their shop.

2.) Not to mention and in-house DVD manufacturing will significantly improve the DVd quality....

I think this is what is going to happen. Maybe that will sound the death-knell of all these shady Desi companies like EROS ,Yashraj and Videosound(Bloody F*****S....rather M***********S) ...

is it likely that the region 2 lagaan will be identical to the region 1,this is the only reason ive put off buying it