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Staring: Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit, Karisma Kapoor and Akshay
Kumar
Director: Yash Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra
Music: Uttam Singh
Running time: 179 minutes
Format: NTSC
Video: 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen
Sound: Hindi Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Surround
Subtitles: English
Year: 1997 (cinema), 2000 (DVD)
DVD: Single sided dual layered
DVD author: Super Digital
DVD release by: Yash Raj Films
Synopsis
Yash Chopra has been bringing movie magic to the Indian cinema for over
30 years now with timeless classics as Deewar, Kabhi
Kabhie, Silsila and Lamhe. He continues
his extraordinary career of film making with the musical Dil To
Pagal Hai. When released in 1997 expectations for the film were
sky high with the earlier music launch breaking sales records - Yash Chopra
didn't disappoint with the film either. Technically the film is beautifully
made with dance sequences and songs choreographed with exquisite style.
As always with Yash Chopra films the cast is of enormous magnitude - bringing
together hero's and heroines at their peek stardom; Madhuri Dixit, Karishma
Kapoor, Sharukh Khan and Ashkay Kumar. But the story of Dil To Pagal
Hai nothing special - comprising of a love triangle situation
that rarely extends from the normal formulaic routine. The film went on
to win various awards including 3 National Awards and 7 Filmfare Awards.
Dil To Pagal Hai is delightfully put together though, and
is an entertaining watch for the performance from the cast and wonderful
music from Uttam Singh.
The DVD comes from Yash Raj Films and has been mastered by Super Digital
Inc.
Video
The transfer of Dil To Pagal Hai is from a good source but
there is a visible tear that constantly appears throughout the film on
the left hand side that can often distract from viewing. The video is
presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 albeit in a non-anamorphic
transfer. The video is reasonably sharp although not as sharp as it could
have been and possibly would have been even sharper and better defined
with an anamorphic video. Detail and colour is varying on this DVD with
some scenes coming out very well showing rich and lively colours that
make the shot shine. Other scenes unfortunately show sign of over contrast
and faded colours - although these are in the minority. They are few other
faults with this DVD mainly to do with the mastering and from digital
noise filtering i.e. the image is never as solid as it should be resulting
in trivial shimmering - but these are least off-putting. Overall the video
is pretty well done but (as always!) it could have been better. Video
rating: 6/10
Audio
Being a musical Dil To Pagal Hai has some of the best tunes
to offer and they are presented very well in a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.
The highlights are the songs and dance routines that are impeccably shot.
The channel separation is good delivering some dynamic and sparkling sounds.
Dil To Pagal Hai is also uniquely the only Indian DVD to
have dual audio track - not only do we get a Hindi Dolby Digital 5.1 track
but also a dubbed French Dolby Digital Surround track - that is pretty
well done and has to heard to be believed! Both tracks are without any
major problems of noise and break up. The only downside is the accompanying
subtitles, which are framed wrongly for wide screen televisions - i.e.
placed in the bottom black bars making them un-viewable on a wide screen
TV. Audio rating: 8/10
Extras
Yash Raj Film's collection is known for the extras and Dil To Pagal
Hai does not disappoint in that department either. Packaged with
the DVD is;
- Original theatrical trailer
- Making of Dil To Pagal Hai
- Filmfare awards scenes
- TV Promos
- Autographed collectors cards from the film
- 12-page Dil To Pagal Hai booklet
Web links
Internet Movie
Database page
Official Yash Raj
Films homepage
Summary
Dil To Pagal Hai is a simplistic love story told in supreme
style by the veteran maestro Yash Chopra. The DVD is a well-merited product
as a whole only marred by few video problems. The lack of chapter selection
and wrongly framed subtitles is definitely frustrating but it is one of
the better Yash Raj Films titles available on DVD.
Overall 'zulmi' rating:
7/10
Screen grabs:
'DVD main menu'
'DVD songs menu (no chapther selection)'
'Karishma in a bouncy colourful dance'
'mad as cat - Madhuri buys herself Valentines gifts!'
'Shahrukh & co do thumps on drinks'
'cool dude Shahrukh pestered by Hitler look-a-like!'
'hmm food -Madhuri is about to strike!'
'double trouble'
'reflection or rejection?'
'another brilliantly choreographed song'
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