Jab We Met BD Review – MoserBaer Version
Although I mentioned posting a review sometime early last week, I couldn’t manage enough time after writing the Wake Up Sid review. So here is my review of the Jab We Met MoserBaer BD.

The Movie
This movie had its share of publicity and hype for various reasons and it received maximum publicity and gossip for Kareena-Shahid breakup at the same time. Fortunately, there are many people who care about good movies and not gossip or fake media hype and Jab We Met proved to be one of the better films made in the last decade and people liked the movie for its content, storyteling, nice songs and good performances from the cast.

Imtiaz Ali has directed 3 films so far and he has proven that to make a good film you don’t need lavish sets, exotic locations and star power dominating the film. He has crafted a niche for himself in telling the same old love story in a way that appeals and creates a direct connection with the viewer. Ali’s strong points are – simplicity, honesty and most importantly believable storyline.

If Ali is the man behind the cameras, it is Kareena who steals your heart with a truly exemplary performance. I normally find Karena bit too loud for most roles she has played so far, but during the first half this actually worked for the film. She was able to portray the character of a young woman who is naive about the realities of the world we have made for ourselves, and she perfectly played the character with Ali’s vision of a girl who is pure, honest and full of life in her own ways. Shahid has done a great job as well and the supporting cast has put up a great performance. Shahid has matured as an actor and I think this film was the first one where he showed that he can act. Shahid and Kareena’s onscreen chemistry really worked and the warmth these two brought to the movie made the viewers feel for them as Aditya and Geet.

The soundtrack of this movie is great and the best score for me is Rashid Khan’s Aaoge Jab Tum. I really liked Ali’s idea of using this song when Shahid goes back to find about Kareena and not at the actual instance when they separated. It was quite subtle and paid off well. The rest of tracks are good as well. Pritam has a done a commendable job.

I have liked all movies made by Ali so far and I would rate JWM and Socha Na Tha above Love Aaj Kal. LAK is technically better than SNT or JWM (although zEros managed to ruin the BD for us ) but to me SNT and JWM has more soul and heart.

Overall, Jab We Met is a fine movie directed by a very promising and established director, has some great performance from the lead pair especially Kareena, supported by a good supporting cast and some really nice songs. We should have more movies like this than the usual romantic crap that comes out every year in bunches.

Blu-Ray Review
I haven’t purchased the BD and borrowed it from a friend. I was very sceptical about this MoserBaer version and wanted to try it out before buying.

Picture Quality
+ Points

1. No Black level issue (it is funny I am writing this )
2. The PQ is between average and good.
3. Color appears quite vibrant in most of scenes.
4. There is a punchy element to picture which many may like (my wife liked it)
5. Detail is good (although DNR ruined part of it)

- Points

1. DNR – The BD would have looked much better without DNR. I fail to understand why authoring houses are bent on applying DNR.
2. Although color looks good in most scenes, you can see a slight shift towards red. This is most noticeable with skin tones.
3. Some contrast blooming is visible in several daylight shots but not as bad as Bhagam Bhagh, Apaharan and some other titles I have seen recently.
4. Video like presentation again. Should have used a warmer color temp and reduced contrast to make it look better.
5. Some noise / artefact noticed in some dark scenes – kind of mosquito noise.
6. Some scenes display color posterization and separation – e.g. the scene where Aditya and Geet are on the bamboo perch over the lake. Noticed this in some other scenes as well.
7. The scene where Aditya and Geet are in the taxi – Ali used an artificial set for the shot. Not sure why but that sequence looks awful on BD. This is not a negative point as such for the BD as it was shot that way.

Audio Quality
Before commenting on this I must mention that perhaps by mistake I had Dynamic Volume engaged while watching this but can’t remember for sure.
As you guys know, Dynamic volume can impact the soundtrack and therefore review on audio may not be up to the mark. Since I have returned the BD, I was not able to check it again. Hence I will keep this short. I listened to the DTS HD MA track only.
+ Points

1. Dialogues are clear and directional.
2. The soundtrack is not as loud as most bolly BDs but it is nice to listen to.
3. Surround channels get a good workout during songs and some background music but the movie track is predominantly front heavy.

- Points

1. I found the bass slightly on the lower side and anaemic
2. I felt the track could have been slightly better overall at least for the songs

Conclusion:
To me, the PQ is between average and good (more towards good). It does look better than the DVD but fails short of my BD level expectations. Watching WUS after this must have affected my judgement but that is the point anyway - one should review / benchmark against some reference quality BDs to see how a BD holds up against good transfers. There are quite a few PQ issues that I have listed which could have been avoided during transfer.

I don't have a PC BD ROM to check but I heard that the BD size is below 40GB. I would like to request all authoring houses to use a much higher bit rate for the video to ensure better PQ.

The Audio was good for what it is (the movie never meant to have earth shattering sound quality) but a little more depth could have worked wonders. The bass could have been better (subjected to my Dynamic volume setting which I can’t remember)

Since this a title I'd like to collect, I will wait for the International version to see which one is better. Hopefully the International version will have better PQ

Use of Custom Presets
I have now created a couple of presets on my Projector for Indian BDs that suffer issues like

• Raised black level
• Blown contrast / dynamic range
• Video like presentation
• Wrong color temperature

While reviewing, I first use the default movie calibrated setting (the one I use for most BDs) and then on noticing issues, I switch to the corresponding preset to make it look better.

With the preset applied, the image appeared much better and all of us liked it. However, no preset can address issues like DNR and I hate to apply any sharpening to any content as it ruins the image.

Using presets is a personal thing and I’d rather like to have BDs authored properly instead of applying presets.
Many may find the BD acceptable but it does fall short of my expectations. MB needs to seriously consider better Quality control before churning out BDs.

Peace

Ani

My Rating
Movie: 4.0
Video: 3.25
Audio: 3.75 <<Rating subjected to my Dynamic volume setting. Will update later>>
Overall Quality Score: 3.5

Review done with
Display : Infocus IN82 Full HD DC3 DLP Projector
Screen: 90”
BD Player: Sony S350
Av Amp: Denon AVR 1910 7.1 AV Receiver
Speakers: Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 Surround

Screenshots : Credits: DDR

Very Nice review anibap. U have got some really good patience there to write down those details for a disreputable company like MB for BD. Seriously though, it serves as a good enough guide for me to decide on buying the disc. Just a couple of questions for my satisfaction:-

1) Are there Any kind of watermarks/advertisements/trailers at all in the BD?
2) The DVD had Mono sound artificially panned to 5.1. I know u have returned the disc now but Are u sure 100% that this is not the case with the BD?
3) Is the interval frame present or is chopped off like dvd?

Just for the love of the film, this is perhaps the only MB BD that I am as of now looking forward to buy for my collection, so answer to the above Qs will be of crucial importance to me. Thanks in advance

@anibap
Thanks for a grreat review.


Nope. None at all. In fact none of the Moser Baer Blu-rays released so far have any advertisements/watermarks/trailers.
The Blu-ray has discreet 5.1 channel sound and not any pseudo 5.1

Pseudo 5.1:)))))) inko keedre padaen lol

Chor chori se Jaey Hera pheri se na jaaey:(

Doom,s day for bluray! Iss ko bho nahi chodd a

I think you misunderstood my post. The Blu-ray has discreet 5.1 surround sound. It DOES NOT have pseudo 5.1 sound.

Hmm! I felt it was a second take on DDLJ though.

Btw I am sick and tired of SK in each and every film these days.

IMO poo was better in kurgan though:)

I on the other hand is liking SK in every new movie he is doing since JWM and Kaminey. He does have some stereotype mannerisms but he is getting rid of them slowly and he has also started a transition of not copying SRK and that is a great relief. One SRK is too much for me to handle...
Having said that SK is still immature as an actor but if he can pick good scripts and good directors he can go a long way.

I am getting sick and tired of SRK in every new film he is doing nowadays. To me his best till date was Swades and I will remember him as Mohan Bhargav played by Shah Rukh Khan.... I think he is just wasting his talent with cheesy and over dramatised movies with the YRF and KJo camp.

He should work with some of the new directors who although not sure if they want to work with him....

Not to start a debate but just sharing my own thoughts and to each his own....

Peace

Ani

^ Nice work mate on the review!

too much exposure will kill him pre mature! imho, he seems annoying now!

For leading actresses, they have short life span, so being selective for Katrina etc is suicide imho. So enjoy and work as long as it lasts.

on the other end u can see two seniors in ROBOT lol..Great for Shankar! and Southern audience! So we are complaining about SRK! lol

Watched this BD. It's very soft for a film that had a DI by Primefocus. Closer to SD than 1080p. Apart from that it looks nice.
(Oh yes, the model work was awful. What the heck... Tiny budget?)