|
Staring: Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Smita Patil,
Amrish Puri and Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Director: Ramesh Sippy
Producer: Babboo Mehra
Screenplay: Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan
Music: R. D. Burman
Running time: 178 minutes
Format: NTSC
Video: 1.85:1 non-anaphormic widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English
Year: 1982 (cinema), 1999 (DVD)
DVD: Single sided dual layered
DVD Release by: Worldwide Entertainment Group (WEG)
Synopsis
Seven years after Ramesh Sippy with writers Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan
emblazed the Indian cinema scene with Sholay (1975 - Dharmendra
and Amitabh Bachchan) the trio returned in 1982 with Shakti.
The film brought together two of the biggest and most well know stars
of the Indian cinema ever, Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan. Although
not a commercial success, Shakti won critical acclaim for
over empowering performances from both lead stars - every scene with Dilip
and Amitabh are exhilarating to watch. The film went on to win four Filmfare
awards in 1983 for best film, best actor (Dilip Kumar), best screenplay
and best sound recordist. Even today the film remains one for the best
cinema epics ever made.
The DVD has been to us by Worldwide Entertainment Group (WEG) who has
also released other Amitabh Bachchan classics such as Suhaag
(1979), Toofan (1989), Ajooba (1991) and
Agneepath (1990).
Video
The video is shown in 1.85:1 aspect ratio in a non-anaphormic wide screen
format. The film transfer used is in pretty bad shape - there are notable
dust and speckles throughout the movie. Also the picture never looks lively
bar a few scenes where colour and sharpness is good but on the whole it's
a grainy dirty DVD transfer. This is mainly due to the bad film used for
the DVD transfer but for movie that is 18 years old is probably hard finding
a good film print of Shakti. Having said that other older movies from
rival DVD authors have been digitally re-mastered and this should have
certainly been the case for Shakti as a film of still statue requires
a prime DVD release. One of most criminal things about this DVD is that
it has embedded the subtitles in the letter boxing black bars of the screen
(see screen shot below) - when viewed on wide screen television the subtitles
are not viewable - WEG have totally missing the whole point of wide screen
movies. It's unfair to single out WEG for doing this as other non-anamorphic
titles from DEI, Eros and many Hollywood studios have made the same mistake.
The video is bad for a DVD release but it is still the most superlative
version of the movie I've have seen on any medium.Video rating:
5/10
Audio
The sound is allegedly a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix but you'll be hard pressed
to find any channel separation evidence. This is a shame as one of the
Filmfare awards was for to best sound recordist but your left to wonder
'what for?' having heard the audio on this DVD. The speech dialogues are
clear enough but background music and songs lack the dynamic vibrancy.
Better time spent mixing would have been a great credit to this DVD. Overall,
it's 'just OK' and nothing trilling. Audio rating: 5/10
Extras
No extras relating to Shakti - just 2 other WEG title trailers
of Dil Hi Dil Mein and Devi.
Web links
Internet Movie
Database admission for Shakti
Javedakhtar.com
- dedicated to great screenplay writer - contains some information on
Shakti
Summary
The DVD is lacking in all departments of video, audio and extras. Maybe
one day we might well see an anaphormic edition of Shakti with proper
mixed Dobly Digital sound. Until then if you want see a piece of movie
making history with exceptional performances and riveting story this is
still the definite format to watch it on.
Overall 'zulmi' rating:
5/10
Screen grabs:
'DVD main menu'
'DVD songs menu'
'DVD scene selection'
'kill him! i don't care'
'mercy'
'first encounter'
'presumed guilty - mum pleads'
'rare scene - Amitabh smiles'
'consolidation'
'subtitling flaw - there not viewable on WS TV!'
|
