It may be WAY too early to know, but I figured someone may have some information on this.

I enjoy Bollywood movies every so often, and wanted to know if any of the production companies in India have announced when or IF they are going with the next DVD format.

Does anyone know or have info?

UPDATE: It now seems that they are coming out with Blu-ray versions of Bollywood movies now!

It may be WAY too early to know, but I figured someone may have some information on this.

I enjoy Bollywood movies every so often, and wanted to know if any of the production companies in India have announced when or IF they are going with the next DVD format.

Does anyone know or have info?

There was an announcement for EROS titles on yet another system. Sony has 2 titles which will be BR of course (Lagaan, Mission Kashmir).

There was a news item I saw sometime back which said Sony is buying up a lot of old classics ...

There was an announcement for EROS titles on yet another system. Sony has 2 titles which will be BR of course (Lagaan, Mission Kashmir).

Hmmm, okay! I checked on Eros Entertainment's website, and under press releases I have not seen any anouncements. I went ahead and emailed them to see if they have any answers on which format they will be supporting, if not both.

I guess this may be a good idea for all the major Bollywood dvd makers, to email them also!

There was a news item I saw sometime back which said Sony is buying up a lot of old classics ...

I was interested in the newer Bollywood movies, which of course are still currently being made!

I was interested in the newer Bollywood movies, which of course are still currently being made!
Yes, newer ones are much more colorful and scenic than oldies..

Some newer bollywood movies are awsome to show off your HT system!

cool to here that. im gonna pick up one and surprise my gf. is there an eta on release?

cool to here that. im gonna pick up one and surprise my gf. is there an eta on release?

An ETA on the release of what? Bollywood movies are already out on normal DVD, but I am trying to get information if they have decided which next generation DVD format they will support.

I was interested in the newer Bollywood movies, which of course are still currently being made!

Sure. But I'm really looking forward to HD releases of classics since all the classic releases todate on DVD are awful.

Ofcourse the problem with Bollywood is that it is so fragmented, I don't know how it will work - whether the producer / studios (who number in dozens instead of a handful) will decide or they will just leave to their current distributor like B4U, Eros, UTV, Yash Raj or T-Series - well even those are a large number.

The most expensive Bollywood films now have digital intermediates So the HD is coming from this source and should be very good quality. As long as this HD is used and well compressed HD discs will look very good.

An ETA on the release of what? Bollywood movies are already out on normal DVD, but I am trying to get information if they have decided which next generation DVD format they will support.

i know bollywood's already out. she's indian and has been watching them for i dont know how long. i was askin if there was an eta on blu ray bollywood films

i know bollywood's already out. she's indian and has been watching them for i dont know how long. i was askin if there was an eta on blu ray bollywood films

LOL, that has been MY question for this post. I am trying to find out if any Bollywood films have been anounced for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.......and if so, when are they going to be available!

I'd love some HD bollywood titles.

But with DVDs so typically poor in quality (ie, much lower quality than the DVD format can deliver)... I'm not hopeful for much better in HD.

There was an announcement for EROS titles on yet another system. Sony has 2 titles which will be BR of course (Lagaan, Mission Kashmir).


Bollywood's going HD????

I thought I'd never see the day, considering how crappy Bollywood DVD's are to begin with.

I can't wait for Lagaan in HD, I hope that one's done right.

Sony/Columbia released the SD DVD of lagaan so I wonder if they'll be handling it on Blu-ray?

I'd love some HD bollywood titles.

But with DVDs so typically poor in quality (ie, much lower quality than the DVD format can deliver)... I'm not hopeful for much better in HD.

Well, I have some of the newer bollywood sd-dvd's that I have purchased and rented, and I would say they compare very well in quality to standard hollywood sd-dvd's that are produced here in North America. I have also seen some bollywood movies here locally in a theater, and again, they compare very well with hollywood movies produced here in North America.

The quality of the movies is there, I am just wondering when they will start releasing movies in either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, or both.

The quality of the movies is there, I am just wondering when they will start releasing movies in either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, or both.

The problem comes in catalog DVDs. They are very bad - some of them seemed to be just VCD videos turned into DVDs. Most of them made basically for the PAL market and then converted to NTSC resulting in real bad motion artifacts (or so someone wrote here sometime back).

The actual film on A grade movies should be no worse than Hollywood movies. Its purely a digitizing and mastering problem.

Yes, but those same "mastering" problems will show up in HD media as well. We've always known it wasn't the source print that was the problem...it was cheapo-mastering houses cranking out bollywood DVD titles who just don't care about PQ. Would they change their protocol with HD discs?

Yes, but those same "mastering" problems will show up in HD media as well. We've always known it wasn't the source print that was the problem...it was cheapo-mastering houses cranking out bollywood DVD titles who just don't care about PQ. Would they change their protocol with HD discs?

Hardly. As I said expect good quality from films that had a DI and HD tape made from it and for the rest pray to Krishna, Lakshmi and Hanuman. :D

Would they change their protocol with HD discs?

I don't know .... I can just hope that fewer people will be doing HD mastering / authoring which probably won't include absolutely cheapo bad post houses. Ofcouse if they master to 24p for both PAL and NTSC areas - that would be great too.

good point. HD mastering might "pre filter" out lots of cheapo-mastering houses who don't really care about pq.

BTW, did you see in the PAL/24fps thread that the major BD studios have announced plans to master all titles for PAL regions in 1080p24 with no speedup?

BTW, did you see in the PAL/24fps thread that the major BD studios have announced plans to master all titles for PAL regions in 1080p24 with no speedup?

Yep, thats what gives me hope for better BWood movies on HD.

I'm esp. looking forward to music discs with lossless audio :)

Me too! :D

Any updates on this from anyone?

Still looking to find out if Bollywood will be going with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

Any updates on this from anyone?

Still looking to find out if Bollywood will be going with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

I know about 2 top films being prepared for release. Can't reveal the titles. The format decision has not yet been made. It depends on 50GB discs availability at mastering time later this year.

Still looking to find out if Bollywood will be going with HD-DVD or Blu-Ray?

"Bollywood" isn't a studio so "Bollywood" won't go for either BD or HD DVD necessarily... there are a host of studios that can independently decide what they may do.

I know about 2 top films being prepared for release. Can't reveal the titles. The format decision has not yet been made. It depends on 50GB discs availability at mastering time later this year.

Interesting. If any movies need longer play times - that would be the bollywood movies ;)

Any updates on this from anyone?

DVDs first appeared in the US in 1997. First Bollywood DVDs were released in 1998, IIRC. So, if history repeats itself, I'd expect some movies to start appearing next year :)

BTW, there are no Indian music titles in SACD/DVD-A at all (except for waterlily SACDs) ...

Bump for this thread, any news?

Do most of the movies seem to be coming out on Blueray? That could sway my decision (current in the HD-DVD camp).

Can't wait to see DDLJ, KKHH, K3G on Blur-ray :D

Interesting. If any movies need longer play times - that would be the bollywood movies ;)



DVDs first appeared in the US in 1997. First Bollywood DVDs were released in 1998, IIRC. So, if history repeats itself, I'd expect some movies to start appearing next year :)

BTW, there are no Indian music titles in SACD/DVD-A at all (except for waterlily SACDs) ...


India's first DVD-A release is Dhoom-2 (in 11/06).

I'd love some HD bollywood titles.

But with DVDs so typically poor in quality (ie, much lower quality than the DVD format can deliver)... I'm not hopeful for much better in HD.

This is true because most hindi movies are pirated.

It may be WAY too early to know, but I figured someone may have some information on this.

I enjoy Bollywood movies every so often, and wanted to know if any of the production companies in India have announced when or IF they are going with the next DVD format.

Does anyone know or have info?
BOLLYWOOD at this point is HD DVD.

Toshiba just launched an HD DVD player there last month and is ramping up production of HD DVD versions of Bolliwood movies. This was discussed in the HD DVD forum in length last month.

http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=19920

Toshiba plans Hindi films in HD DVD format

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toshiba to launch HD DVD player next month; plans to approach Bollywood production houses for introduction of Hindi movies in HD DVDs


NEW DELHI: Toshiba India Pvt. Ltd plans to approach production houses in Bollywood to introduce Hindi movies in the HD DVD format.

The firm expects its second generation, high-end HD DVD player to hit the Indian market next month.

"This (plan to approach production houses) is part of our plans after we launch our product in India," said Pranab Mohanty, head IT, quality expert, Toshiba. "This is a high quality digital video format, which offers crystal clear picture quality for best entertainment."

Hollywood studios like Warner, Universal and Paramount have supported Toshiba's HD-DVD and Disney has backed the Sony's Blu-ray DVD format. However, it is yet to be decided which format is superior, but industry experts say that both products promise higher storage capacity, superior image quality and stronger anti-piracy protection.

Toshiba's second-generation player supports CDs as well as the current DVDs. With the advent of new technology in India, the production houses are likely to undergo a sea change in the production of DVDs and CDs.

"As we launch this product in India, we are planning to hold road shows to bring about awareness among the consumers as well as the production houses," Mohanty said.

On the firm's expectation from the Indian market, Mohanty said, "the consumers always want a better technology, which is up-to-date and can offer the best quality image. We are hopeful that the market will gain momentum soon."

The company would target customers opting for 37 and 42 inch LCDs. However, the company declined to reveal the price of the product but indicated that it would be in the high-end segment.

According to statistics, the global market sales for DVD players and recorders is 370 million units at the end of December 2005 and in Japan, the penetration ratio of DVD players and recorders reached 49 per cent of household at the end of March 2005.

Toshiba commercialized the world's first DVD players in the Japanese market in November 1996 and brought its first products to the US market in March 1997.

The most popular Indian Channel in NA is SET (Sony Entertainment TV) so they do have a big stake. Who knows though.

The most popular Indian Channel in NA is SET (Sony Entertainment TV) so they do have a big stake. Who knows though.

I would like to own Devdas in HD.

There is no Bollywood HD-DVD or BR announced so far. Market is small and mastering costs high. And Hollywood quality HD masters of Bollywood films you can count on ten fingers. :)

The most popular Indian Channel in NA is SET (Sony Entertainment TV) so they do have a big stake. Who knows though.


How about SET or B4U Music in HD over satellite? Wishful thinking perhaps.

Dharm is first bollywood movie shot in HD. Hopefully it will come out on either blu-ray or hd dvd some day.


http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/indiancinema/news/article_1301180.php/Second-hand_equipment_but_Dharm_goes_to_Cannes

Bollywood and HD yea right! not any time soon. Bollywood studios should first focus on eliminating piracy. Even here in the U.S 95% of the dvds are pirated. If piracy was reduced, movies would make more money, and better movies would be produced beacase of bigger budgets.

Cool! Glad to hear there is at least some news coming out of India as far as next-gen dvd's. I will start keeping watch for more news also.

There's some British company who got contracts by 6 major movie distributors from India for releasing HD content on VMDs. VMDs are red-laser multilayer DVDs. Those 6 distributors must be idiots. Anyways, there's be an announcement for Saawariya to be released on Bluray: http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=791

That's because Saawariya was produced by Sony. I saw Dil Chahta Hai on bluray/hddvd somewhere, but I lost the link.

Bollywood and HD yea right! not any time soon. Bollywood studios should first focus on eliminating piracy. Even here in the U.S 95% of the dvds are pirated. If piracy was reduced, movies would make more money, and better movies would be produced beacase of bigger budgets.

Bollywood should also focus on their plagiarism. I know everyone copies everyone these days, but Bollywood needs to buy the rights and give proper credit. Hollywood does remakes and copies too, but they buy the copyrights most of the time. And Hollywood's remakes are given proper attention to detail. Majority of the plagiarized Bollywood movies are horrible in acting and story.

Nothing is happening there buddy. It's the same old VCDs and pirated DVDs that is remaining to plague the market. People don't care about quality. Do you think that with the Internet Connection speeds and the power fluctuation / supply problems would we be able to at least do a firmware upgrade in the HD players ? The companies are looting money with their unrealistic pricing as usual. A 40" X series BRAVIA costs a whooping $4000. Recently I found out that the Sony PS3 is being sold for nearly $980 with Region C/3 for Blu-ray and Region 5 for SD DVD. Where on earth can we find Region C/3 BDs ? Toshiba has only launched Regza LCD HDTVs in some parts of the country and the models they are selling is already outdated.

Samsung is the only manufacturer that is doing well in India with reasonable pricing.

The Indians pay more than the Americans and the Japanese to buy most of the stuffs. What a shame.
Currently the Indian market for things like HD, PS3/Xbox360, and almost any electronic entertainment is relatively small compared to the east Asian countries, Europe, and North America. There's probably only 3 millions Indians in India that would be wealthy enough to buy the latest in technology.

There has been a tremendous rise in the middle class families, and an increase in wealth, but it will probably take another 5 years before they start using electronics for entertainment.

Pff you think Bollywood would take the time to make HD films? They just put out, and Indians are just happy with it (which is sad).

Well, glad to see this thread is still getting some action.


Yeah, I did realize that parts of INdia were not as technologically advanced, and it still make take another couple of years for HDM to take off there.

Now with the latest announcements going on, it sounds like possibly sometime in the future everything will be Blu-Ray anyway!

You'll have better luck getting Bollywood movies on HD VMD soon.

http://nmestore.com/index.php?cPath=2_8_9

You'll have better luck getting Bollywood movies on HD VMD soon.

http://nmestore.com/index.php?cPath=2_8_9

I would be very surprised if this format has any future or any of these planned releases are more than upsampled digibeta. We'll see.

BTW, there are no Indian music titles in SACD/DVD-A at all (except for waterlily SACDs) ...Four DVD-A titles that I know of, all from the Yash Raj banner. Each title has DD and DTS versions, so you can hear them in surround on regular DVD (i.e., non-DVD-A) players.

Their on-line store (http://www.yashrajfilms.com/OnlineStore/MainLandingHtml.aspx) is having a sale ($2.99 for DVD-A). Go to the site, click on music and do a search on the "Audio DVD" format.

I've been picking them up as they came out. The surround mixes are more subtle than gimmicky, so it sounds like a really wide soundstage wrapped around the front hemisphere rather than music flying around your head.

Sanjay

Pff you think Bollywood would take the time to make HD films? They just put out, and Indians are just happy with it (which is sad).

They're already "HD" (well 35mm) they just need to be mastered in HD and released on Blu-ray

You'll have better luck getting Bollywood movies on HD VMD soon.

http://nmestore.com/index.php?cPath=2_8_9

I see they have the first Bollywood movie I ever saw - Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya

I bought the DVD and the soundtrack! I also have a good handful of Bollywood movies!

Yeah, I see the info on EngadgetHD (http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/12/05/vmd-gets-bollywood-pack-in-titles-for-january-07-launch/):

VMD gets Bollywood pack-in titles for January '07 launch

Everyone's favorite third high definition disc format got a boost today as it announced deals with six Indian film distributors. When the first HD VMD player launches in January of next year, it will be available with a bundle of 10 high definition Bollywood movies for $299 through various Indian retailers. New Medium Enterprises has already secured deals for content in Germany and China, now with the addition of the booming Indian film market VMD hopes to provide high definition content at prices HD DVD and Blu-ray won't be able to match.



I guess I will just wait and "hope" that they will come to their senses sometime and go with Blu-Ray! I don't want to have to purchase any additional hardware!

Om shanti OM Blu Ray Pre Order available at Amazon for 22nd Jan release....

Thanks for the info, I just pre-orded Om Shanti Om from Amazon.

Is that really a Blu-ray of 'Om Shanti Om'? Seems to be the same price as the DVD. Guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks (pre-ordered it).

Sanjay

Amazon has it for $17.45 now... I just pre-ordered to lock in ... Should be interesting to see the quality.

New Medium Enterprises has already secured deals for content in Germany and China, now with the addition of the booming Indian film market VMD hopes to provide high definition content at prices HD DVD and Blu-ray won't be able to match.
!
I'm sure BR won't be able to match the image quality as well. Can't go that low. :D

Is that really a Blu-ray of 'Om Shanti Om'? Seems to be the same price as the DVD. Guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks (pre-ordered it).

Sanjay

I was skeptical too when I saw the price. However, it lis isted on the blu-ray consortuim site as future release.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?show=comingsoon

^^^Thanx Gatorfan, that's a little more re-assuring.

Sanjay

Sony will be bringing Saawariya on Blu-ray.


Sony Pictures | 2007 | 142 mins | Rated PG | Mar 11, 2008

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=664

niice,i would love to see some bollywood films in hd...my bollywood dvd collection is starting to look blah...*sighs* high def spoils you lol

btw i just pre-ordered om shanti om

In for Bolly titles... at the very least Monsoon and Salam

niice,i would love to see some bollywood films in hd...my bollywood dvd collection is starting to look blah...*sighs* high def spoils you lol

btw i just pre-ordered om shanti om

Exactly! And with alot of Bollywood movies having great colors and wardrobe....and especially the soundtrack.....they are just BEGGING for HD!

Great news for all Bollywood movie fans that Sony is bringing out the first HD title. I hope that someday all classic Bollywood movies like KKHH, DDLJ, Sholay and KKKG will come out on Blu-ray.

Great news for all Bollywood movie fans that Sony is bringing out the first HD title. I hope that someday all classic Bollywood movies like KKHH, DDLJ, Sholay and KKKG will come out on Blu-ray.

I could deal without Kuch Kuch Hota Hai... imo, while it was immensely popular there are so many more quality Bollywood movies that would be better served on a BD.

I could deal without Kuch Kuch Hota Hai... imo, while it was immensely popular there are so many more quality Bollywood movies that would be better served on a BD.

The more movies the better :). I can assure you that no one will force you to buy movies that you don't like :p

Great news for all Bollywood movie fans that Sony is bringing out the first HD title. I hope that someday all classic Bollywood movies like KKHH, DDLJ, Sholay and KKKG will come out on Blu-ray.

Which one is Sony bringing? I know Om Shanti Om is the first Blu-Ray and is by EROS International. Hope they surprise us with good quality.

^yea,if kkkg comes out on blu-ray i getting that first day and sholay would look really nice with a hd transfer and new audio

Which one is Sony bringing?Saawariya (http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=664)

Sanjay

Except for few Bolly titles, what's the point in buying and watching notoriously plagiarized contents.
if you like it, you like it. If you don't, you don't. :) The rest we can leave to the lawyers.

I was skeptical too when I saw the price. However, it lis isted on the blu-ray consortuim site as future release.

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?show=comingsoon

Looks like some goof up:

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showpost.php?p=641268&postcount=17

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=667 mentions "No Release Date"

And amazon.com says: "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

aww...i was looking forward to my first bollywood hd movie :(
i wouldn't mind purchasing my favorites again in high-def...b/c lord some of these transfers I have are god awful bad, and they are the originals!!!
they already cram 3 hours into a single dvd, i welcome blu-ray or hd-dvd (i like hd-dvd better b/c its smaller size and can remove/edit extra stuff so i can put it on my server!) ;)

Looks like some goof up:

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showpost.php?p=641268&postcount=17

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=667 mentions "No Release Date"

And amazon.com says: "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

what the hell,i just checked amazon and its not avaliable...somethings wrong

I just got an e-mail from Amazon telling they can not ship Om Shanti Om. Hopefully, somebody will find out what the problem is.

Only Lallu can pull something like this :-)

Let's hope they can still release it early enough to make it the first Bolly Blu-Ray. Eros partnered with Sony on some movie related business so we can expect Eros to be Blu-Ray exclusive. Yash Raj is expected to partner with Disney to make movies in India. So, they might take BD side as well.

i was reading a forum site and someone there said they spoke to an eros representative and that it will definately come,maybe sometime next week..im keeping my fingers crossed

NExt week is better than next summer.... uff.....

I was so looking forward to this... I hope it ships soon.

Hoping 'Om Shanti Om' still shows up soon. If not, there's always 'Saawariya' in a couple of months.

Sanjay

^^yeah i have that on pre-order

I'm still holding on to my preorder on amazon back on 1/8. Still seems like they are maintaining the same price for now. Really looking forward to this movie on blu!!

A post on another forum today:

I can confirm that a blu-ray version of this film is currently being done. From what I heard (through a very realiable source) the blu-ray is being done in LA from the film's original source. I don't know if that means the 4k DI file, or a 35mm Negative made from a DI.

No release date is set.

^man i hope it comes out within the next two weeks or so

blue all the way!

I read on another site that February 12, 2008 is supposedly the new release date for Om Shanti Om. However, I haven't been able to confirm that anywhere.

A post on another forum today:
I can confirm that a blu-ray version of this film is currently being done. From what I heard (through a very realiable source) the blu-ray is being done in LA from the film's original source. I don't know if that means the 4k DI file, or a 35mm Negative made from a DI.
No release date is set.
4K DI? Bollywood is 2K DI. If we are very lucky the HD is from the DI. I doubt it, though.

Ayngaran does better much job than Eros in terms of creating DI.
Neither of these do DIs. DIs are done before the film is released to theaters by post production houses. Eros and Ayngaran are distributors.

4K DI? Bollywood is 2K DI. If we are very lucky the HD is from the DI. I doubt it, though.

Welcome Mike;)

Bollywood just got on DVD. Give them some time.

Are you sure ? I heard from an insider in zulm.net that Ayngaran has created DI for many films ? :confused:
I think you mean HD or SD transfers. Ayngaran do not run a post production house, do they?
http://www.ayngaran.com/Ayngaran/Ayngaran_Home.html?id=aboutus
mentions no such activity. In all likelihood they give the technical work for the transfers to some specialised post production or DVD mastering house. For DIs they have no use as long as they don't produce films themselves. If there is a DI for a film they get it from the producer if he's willing to give access.

Ayngaran recently entered film production and has been doing re-mastering for DVDs.
An insider in zulm.net mentioned that Ayngaran is also involved in film-to-video transfer process. He also mentioned that they have plans to release movies on HD VMD or Blu-ray.
At present few Indian movies are available on HD VMD released by NME.

The biggest problem with Ayngaran is they don't update their web-site properly.

Ayngaran recently entered film production and has been doing re-mastering for DVDs.
An insider in zulm.net mentioned that Ayngaran is also involved in film-to-video transfer process.

What does 'involved' exactly mean here?

If there is a DI for a film they get it from the producer if he's willing to give access.

This must and will be the case with any South Indian movies. DIs are very expensive and doesn't work out for the market Tamil DVDs have. Lot of south Indian movies have DIs these days because of extensive graphic works they having these days. They are done as pre-production work and are paid by producer.

There are reports that Eros has officially denied that Om Shanti Om will be released on Blu-ray in despite of informal confirmations from Eros. Some people have phoned Eros and they have said that Blu-ray aurhoring of OSO is in progress (http://zulm.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9908&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30) . However, Eros has at least informed blu-ray.com, highdef forum and india weekly that they have no plans to release OSO on blu-ray. Amazon.com also indicates that it is not in stock.

This is disappointing. Reasons could be of commercial nature. Anyone know about this?

There are reports that Eros has officially denied that Om Shanti Om will be released on Blu-ray in despite of informal confirmations from Eros. Some people have phoned Eros and they have said that Blu-ray aurhoring of OSO is in progress (http://zulm.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9908&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30) . However, Eros has at least informed blu-ray.com, highdef forum and india weekly that they have no plans to release OSO on blu-ray. Amazon.com also indicates that it is not in stock.

This is disappointing. Reasons could be of commercial nature. Anyone know about this?
once zeros has exhausted their SD trash, then they will come after your pockets with blu trash!:D I hate these guys!

Well, now that Bollywood has Blu-ray, would imports to the United States be affected by region coding? How would that come to pass? Are they even gonna be re-encoded for American players in the process of subtitling?

In case of Bollywood movies, produced by major studios, the DVDs aren't region coded. The DVDs are originally produced with subtitles for the world-wide market.

Hope that this practice will continue for Blu-ray movies.

Well, now that Bollywood has Blu-ray, would imports to the United States be affected by region coding? How would that come to pass? Are they even gonna be re-encoded for American players in the process of subtitling?

I doubt that!!except a couple by CT/SONY

One of the things that I do not like that I have seen on some of the handful of bollywood movies that I have.......is that they have the film company's logo in one of the corners of the screen.

Some are there for the entire movie, and some will come up every so often, then go off!

It would be nice if they removed all of these when bringing them over to Blu-Ray!

Bad news: Saawariya (http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Street_Date_Changes/Sony/Sony_Sets_Specs,_New_Date_for_Saawariya_Blu-ray/1504) release date pushed back 2 months.

Sanjay

One of the things that I do not like that I have seen on some of the handful of bollywood movies that I have.......is that they have the film company's logo in one of the corners of the screen.

Some are there for the entire movie, and some will come up every so often, then go off!

It would be nice if they removed all of these when bringing them over to Blu-Ray!

brother! u r lucky! not see much more junk subjected to viewers in the form of bollyood dvds:mad:

As long as it comes to Blu-ray the right way, I can wait 2 months no problem.

Lossless audio!!! Please!!!

I know about 2 top films being prepared for release. Can't reveal the titles. The format decision has not yet been made. It depends on 50GB discs availability at mastering time later this year.

let me guess one of them....DEVDAS....right?

Can't wait to see DDLJ, KKHH, K3G on Blur-ray :D

K3G and KKHH for me. ;)

Instead of releasing lackluster titles like Saa-wari-yaa Bolly studios can concentrate on releasing their better titles.

Saawariya is from Sony and that is the reason, I think, that it would be the first Bollywood Blu-ray release. Thanks to Sony. Sony may release Lagaan on Blu-ray as well.

The outstanding classics such as Devdas. K3G, KKHH and DDLJ are from Yash Raj and Eros. It appears that these studios are not very keen on releasing these classics on Blu-ray. The reasons could be commercial. May be there is no sufficient encouragement from Sony for these studios to embrace Blu-ray.

Eros recently announced that the latest hit Om Shanti Om will not be released on Blu-ray at this time. Perhaps they are waiting for some encouragement from Sony.

If Sony is not careful, Bollywood may go for HD-VMD and there would be no other choice other tan purchasing a HD-VMD player to watch Bollywood in HD. IMO HD-VMD is an inferior technology. This would be a really sad outcome and should be avoided if possible.

Anyone knows the real story?

Best regards.

My apologies, Eros and YRF are hugely incompetent and has failed miserable to make standard dvds right! unfortunately, still after these years while they make millions worldwide from these movies/dvds.

My apologies, Eros and YRF are hugely incompetent and has failed miserable to make standard dvds right! unfortunately, still after these years while they make millions worldwide from these movies/dvds.

This appears to be true.

The best Bollywood DVD transfer that I have seen is Parineeta from UTV. All DVDs from YRF and Eros are inferior to this. I really do not understand the reasons. Are they spending more money on the packaging than the DVD-transfer which is most important when making a DVD out of a movie

They cannot possibly be that incompetent as they make good movies.

hey cannot possibly be that incompetent as they make good movies.

Hmm! I doubt that!:confused:

India is a country with a wonderful history and culture. I would like to be able to enjoy some of this history and culture put on film if only they could drop those damn silly dance and song number.

But "those damn silly dance and song numbers" ARE their culture, at least on film. That would be like wanting to watch Chinese films, but only they dropped those damn silly fight scenes that take place in mid air.

Sanjay

Grab your culture on BLURAY as HEYY BABY released by ZEROS on BLURAY for nominal $25

How can someone in the USA order the Heyy Babyy on BD? Is there a website?

India is a country with a wonderful history and culture. I would like to be able to enjoy some of this history and culture put on film if only they could drop those damn silly dance and song number.

As sdurani said, that's part of our culture, at least our cinematic culture. And while some are "silly," quite a few are wonderfully choreographed, beautifully sung sequences that add an extra dimension to the film not present in most Western films. At times, they're used to forward the ever-persistent love story, or show camaraderie between friends, or simply to entertain. And if you know anything about us Indians, we love our stars to a degree Hollywood fanatics can't even fathom, and their very presence in the musical numbers can actually elevate or sully the rest of the film. The dynamic just doesn't exist here in the West.

That said, there are many terrific Indian films that DON'T have a single song in them. If you'd like a short list of the better ones, just ask and I'll be happy to recommend some. :)

How can someone in the USA order the Heyy Babyy on BD? Is there a website?

go to www.erosentertainment.com

go to www.erosentertainment.com

go baby go blu

It appears that Om Shanti Om would be released in late March. This is very good news that Bollywood is going for Blu-ray (not HD-VMD).

http://www.zulm.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10130&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

"Someone has phoned Eros Australia and found out that Om Shanti Om will be released in about 3 weeks. So OSO will be the second Bollywood release on Blu-ray."

I ordered Heyy Babyy last night on bluray and I will order OSO once it's out.

Please post a review of Heyy Babyy BD once you see it. And by review, I mean PQ and AQ. We already know the movie is a rip off of Three Men and a Baby.

We already know the movie is a rip off of Three Men and a Baby.Which itself is a taken from the French film 'Trois Hommes et un Couffin' (Three Men and a Cradle).

Sanjay

Hi gdeep,

I wish to find out whether the subtitles are on black bars. If so, whether they can be moved out of black bars using blu-ray subtitle repositioning function.

Thanks.

I'm glad we finally have official word on a Hindi film releasing on Blu-Ray. I hope to God that the studios and directors take the time to master their films with as much care as most of the studios here do. And I also hope we won't see some of the underhanded crap I've witnessed with some of the DVDs I've rented from Indian stores. For instance, I've seen discs that were clearly VHS copies burned to DVD, of all things. Obviously, part of the problem there is that burning of multiple copies from the original is rampant at a lot of local Indian stores. They often buy one then make several extra copies so they'll have enough to rent out. Moving to Blu-Ray should reduce this problem.

But it all begins with the studios themselves. If they only produce DVD or upconverted DVD quality releases on Blu-Ray, it'll be a waste. Indian films tend to have such rich color palettes and elaborately detailed clothing and sets that they deserve the full HD treatment.

My wife and I disliked Heyy Babyy but I'm rooting for the Blu-Ray release to be a good one. And that goes double for Om Shanti Om, which we both loved. :)

Hi gdeep,

I wish to find out whether the subtitles are on black bars. If so, whether they can be moved out of black bars using blu-ray subtitle repositioning function.

Thanks.

I will let you guys know the pq and aq and subtitles display once i get the movie.

I'm glad we finally have official word on a Hindi film releasing on Blu-Ray. I hope to God that the studios and directors take the time to master their films with as much care as most of the studios here do. And I also hope we won't see some of the underhanded crap I've witnessed with some of the DVDs I've rented from Indian stores. For instance, I've seen discs that were clearly VHS copies burned to DVD, of all things. Obviously, part of the problem there is that burning of multiple copies from the original is rampant at a lot of local Indian stores. They often buy one then make several extra copies so they'll have enough to rent out. Moving to Blu-Ray should reduce this problem.

But it all begins with the studios themselves. If they only produce DVD or upconverted DVD quality releases on Blu-Ray, it'll be a waste. Indian films tend to have such rich color palettes and elaborately detailed clothing and sets that they deserve the full HD treatment.

My wife and I disliked Heyy Babyy but I'm rooting for the Blu-Ray release to be a good one. And that goes double for Om Shanti Om, which we both loved. :)


The worst quality DVDs are pirated versions. In most cases these appalling quality DVDs are available in Indian grocery stores well before the official DVD is released. In some cases this happens while the movie is still running in its first few weeks!

Please, please stay away from such pirated versions. I refuse to watch such DVDs.

Fortunately, it will be hard, if not impossible to pirate blu-ray quality movies. This is like god-given to Asian movie industry which is plagued by piracy.

End to piracy means more money to make better movies.:)

Do you think the people in India and China are ready to buy movies for $20+ ? Even the rich people out there try to get pirated copy of the movies. Only very few movie lovers actually buy genuine copy of the movies. Moreover the packaging and the quality sux for the price. Rentals are the only means these high def formats can survive in countries like India and China. Perhaps if they price around $10-$15 people may consider buying them.

The Asians who live in developed countries know the big picture of HDM due to excellent market exposure. Educating the J6P in the developing countries is a herculean task.

These are valid points. However, in my mind piracy cannot be excused. May be Bollywood content is over priced. Perhaps addressing this issue might discourage piracy.

I never rent hindi movies from my local indian movies stores as all of them rent pirated dvds. I usually get my hindi movies from netflix or zdag.com

That's the most shameful aspect of the Asian mindset. The biggest problem is the product pricing, availability, lack of knowledge and general lack of interest.

For instance, Sony BDP-S300 costs $700 in India. Other CEs are yet to launch their Blu-ray players. The entire world is paying the subsidy for lower cost of product in the U.S.

In addition to the above Region Coding will be another big stumbling block for Blu penetration in Asian and E.U countries who wholeheartedly hate REGION CODING.

In addition to the above Region Coding will be another big stumbling block for Blu penetration in Asian and E.U countries who wholeheartedly hate REGION CODING.

Region coding segregates world community and makes some countries 2nd class by forcing to watch a movie after others have watched it. This is totally unacceptable. It also used to create monopolies and stop competition from overseas. I believe this type of segregation and anti-competitive behaviour should be stopped by legislation.

Region Coding + Piracy = Chicken Egg problem.

But "those damn silly dance and song numbers" ARE their culture, at least on film. That would be like wanting to watch Chinese films, but only they dropped those damn silly fight scenes that take place in mid air.

Sanjay

But not all movie need to be culturally based. You don't hear country music nor see cowboy in every US made movie. You don't see kung fu in every chinesse movie either contrary to what you may believe. If you make a movie on the subject of the indo-pakistani war do you have to put a song and dance number in it? Did you see a square dance number in Saving Private Ryan?

Come on. Song and dance are their culture in real life. It's not necesseraly a part of the story telling.

As sdurani said, that's part of our culture, at least our cinematic culture. And while some are "silly," quite a few are wonderfully choreographed, beautifully sung sequences that add an extra dimension to the film not present in most Western films. At times, they're used to forward the ever-persistent love story, or show camaraderie between friends, or simply to entertain. And if you know anything about us Indians, we love our stars to a degree Hollywood fanatics can't even fathom, and their very presence in the musical numbers can actually elevate or sully the rest of the film. The dynamic just doesn't exist here in the West.

That said, there are many terrific Indian films that DON'T have a single song in them. If you'd like a short list of the better ones, just ask and I'll be happy to recommend some. :)

Yes I would like that.

You can add OSO bluray on blockbuster.com to your que and the status says coming soon. Saawariya bluray is listed but says NA for right now. Heyy babyy isn't listed for bluray or regular dvd.

The worst quality DVDs are pirated versions. In most cases these appalling quality DVDs are available in Indian grocery stores well before the official DVD is released. In some cases this happens while the movie is still running in its first few weeks!

Please, please stay away from such pirated versions. I refuse to watch such DVDs.

Fortunately, it will be hard, if not impossible to pirate blu-ray quality movies. This is like god-given to Asian movie industry which is plagued by piracy.

End to piracy means more money to make better movies.:)

That's exactly the point I was making. ;) My wife and I try to rent Hindi films from Netflix as much as possible, but their collection is by no means complete, nor do they always get every new release as soon as it's available. I just wish there was more oversight on Indian films and that the studios would show as much enthusiasm and dedication to making HIGH QUALITY discs as the knowledgeable fans do when it comes to watching them.

When I look at the majority of Hollywood (and non-Hollywood, for that matter) DVD releases and then look over at the Indian DVD industry, it saddens me that many of my people who work in the film business there don't show the same interest in producing discs with even *good* PQ, let alone reference-grade material. For the biggest and most vibrant film industry in the world, this is a travesty, IMO.

That's why I hope Eros -- a company not known for making quality *DVDs* of their films -- has made that mental adjustment necessary to mastering these movies the way they should be. If they haven't, all they'll be doing is putting the same old crappy transfers on a new medium.

MOST, I SAY! MOST HINDI/INDIAN DVDS available tod ate, specially supposedly ORIGINAL, from MEGA BUCK manufacturers are 3rd gen VHS transfered to dvd disc, most WS are cropped and DD 5.1 goes to mono 5, aka pseudo 5.

The ones that are not VHS based are PAL to NTSC converted inferior transfers, cropped at time, plagued with compression artifacts, color sharpness anomalies! and these are movies, MEGA BLOCKBUSTERS, NEW FILMS, being sold for $25 a piece!with BAD sound! 3-4 hours long film, plus extras dumped on single dvd 9.( COVER SAYS "MASTERED FROM HD MASTER..lol)

I refuse to pay even $2 for this level of quality even for rental. While most movie lovers who just want a disc are happy with compressed dvd 5s of orig being sold for $3 or lower.

No doubt with this level of competency, bluray from hindi dvd manufacturers wont be any thing else besides upscaled, standard bad audio/video quality SD.

No doubt with this level of competency, bluray from hindi dvd manufacturers wont be any thing else besides upscaled, standard bad audio/video quality SD.

Hit the nail right on the head there, my friend, and that echoes my concern exactly. Unless the attitudes of the disc manufacturers change, and they start to take some pride in their craft and want to produce high-quality releases, there's no reason to think we'll get Blu-Ray discs with anything near the PQ and AQ of Hollywood films. But I'll reserve judgment until after the first few Indian films come out.

We are eagerly waiting for gdeep's review on Heyy babyy blu-ray PQ, AQ, subtitles etc. I am optimistic and let’s see how it will pan out. I am worried that I might be wrong. Can’t wait for that review.

We are eagerly waiting for gdeep's review on Heyy babyy blu-ray PQ, AQ, subtitles etc. I am optimistic and let’s see how it will pan out. I am worried that I might be wrong. Can’t wait for that review.

I ordered my copy from erosentertainment.com on tuesday and as of right now the order still says out of stock. I even sent them email about why it says out of stock but no reply from them. I will try to call them on Monday.

Song and dance are their culture in real life.It's part of the movie culture, not real life (people don't break out in song and dance on the streets of Bombay). It's not necesseraly a part of the story telling.The filmmakers seem to think it is necessary, otherwise they wouldn't put songs in almost all Indian movies, irrespective of genre (war, sci-fi, horror, etc).

Sanjay

Saawariya box art (courtesy of TheManRoom)

http://dvd.themanroom.com/images/covers/bluray/large/4163.jpg

We are eagerly waiting for gdeep's review on Heyy babyy blu-ray PQ, AQ, subtitles etc. I am optimistic and let’s see how it will pan out. I am worried that I might be wrong. Can’t wait for that review.

Imho, their regular SD for couple bucks, upscaled 1080p with reon processor containing player, will be better than 720p crap bluray.

Do you know whether Saawariya is 720p or 1080p?

Saawaraiya is a Sony release so we can expect the specs to remain intact. I don't think Sony will do anything that is disastrous to Blu.

The Indian film fraternity comprising the directors,producers and actors should be ashamed of not promoting the video industry properly. They think too much and act like a bunch of high ego brats. They are always too busy to give interviews and sit together with the distribution studios for bonus contents. The worst part is plagiarizing stuffs and taking pride.

Imho, their regular SD for couple bucks, upscaled 1080p with reon processor containing player, will be better than 720p crap bluray.
I don't think so. The BD comes most likely from the same master as the DVD. Even if the master were 480p the BD would have less compression artifacts. With a 720p master there is no comparison. The BD can't be this bad. On the other hand, this is (Z)Ero(e)s we are talking about so anything is possible. :D

Mhafner -> You would have heard from Shahran in zulm.net forums regarding the upcoming Ayngaran schedule on Blu-ray. If you have more info please keep us updated.

Do you know whether Saawariya is 720p or 1080p?

blu-ray.com lists both Saawariya and Heyy Babyy as 1080p. Hope this is correct. :confused:

Imho, their regular SD for couple bucks, upscaled 1080p with reon processor containing player, will be better than 720p crap bluray.

This is impossible unless 720p transfer is bad. No upscaler in the word would upscale 480 to 1080 to deliver a better quality than 720p master. ;)

blu-ray.com lists both Saawariya and Heyy Babyy as 1080p. Hope this is correct. :confused:

Let me put it this way.

Heyy Babyy !! Saawariya is 1080p.

Let me put it this way.

Heyy Babyy !! Saawariya is 1080p.

Saawariya might be! HB, OSO, I'll be skeptical myself!

I have not been EXCITED with 720 P myself

This is impossible unless 720p transfer is bad. No upscaler in the word would upscale 480 to 1080 to deliver a better quality than 720p master. ;)

Zoro might be exaggerating a bit, but I think that's exactly what he was implying: the source could be as pristine as possible, but if their *transfer* is as shoddy as their DVD releases have been, it won't matter how good the master is. It'll look better than DVD, probably, but that's not saying much. We want it to look as good as we know true high definition looks. We don't want a Blu Ray release with PQ no better than an upscaled DVD.

Zoro might be exaggerating a bit, but I think that's exactly what he was implying: the source could be as pristine as possible, but if their *transfer* is as shoddy as their DVD releases have been, it won't matter how good the master is. It'll look better than DVD, probably, but that's not saying much. We want it to look as good as we know true high definition looks. We don't want a Blu Ray release with PQ no better than an upscaled DVD.

affirmative! jedi master! bluray, should be bluray, a grayray or any thing less is UNACCEPTABLE!

But I do not like 720P myself!

Is it confirmed that Heyy Babyy is 720p? In general, are there many 720p blu-ray disks?

No and no.

Rip off GB! £23 including delivery for Heyy Babyy :(

No and no.

Did you see it?

I got a email back from CSR and the bluray movie for heyy babyy should ship this week.

Did you see it?
No, but it's not confirmed 720p.

I got a email back from CSR and the bluray movie for heyy babyy should ship this week.

Good news.

It is still not available in Australia. Eros has different pages for Australia and could not see it on their website unless I go through a US web proxy. Strange!

So,, has anyone got their hands on a Bollywood Blu-Ray yet? Wasn't Heyy Babyy released last week?

So,, has anyone got their hands on a Bollywood Blu-Ray yet? Wasn't Heyy Babyy released last week?

In another forum someone posted that their copy has been shipped. So we will start seeing reviews shortly.

http://www.zulm.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10130&p=86246#p86246

I ordered my copy last tuesday and for some reason they cancelled my order. I asked them to ship me a copy asap. Let's hope they really ship it asap.

I ordered my copy last tuesday and for some reason they cancelled my order. I asked them to ship me a copy asap. Let's hope they really ship it asap.

What a bummer. Hope you will get it soon.

how/where can we order this BD?

I Got Hey baby from Eros, and am so excited, but i was watching Fly boys last nite, i will put on Hey baby in morning. On box it doesn't say 720p, so i think it is 1080p, will post first thing morning

Igans there are a lot of rich indians in U.S and England that will buy this blur ray lol. Half the hotels in America are owned by Indians, check out AAHOA, Asian Hoteliars Association stats, the richest man in Great Britian is Inidan Laxmitant Mittal, worth over $59 billion U.S, so there are a lot of rich indians that will buy blue ray. Indian itelf is changing , the middle class in India is said in the next ten years to surpass the entire population of the U.S. India is not the same country. I was shocked when i visited last

how/where can we order this BD?

www.erosentertainment.com

I Got Hey baby from Eros, and am so excited, but i was watching Fly boys last nite, i will put on Hey baby in morning. On box it doesn't say 720p, so i think it is 1080p, will post first thing morning

Igans there are a lot of rich indians in U.S and England that will buy this blur ray lol. Half the hotels in America are owned by Indians, chech of AAHOA, Asian Hoteliars Association stats, the richest man in Great Britian is Inidan Laxmitant Mittal, worth over $59 billion U.S, so there are a lot of rich indians that will buy blue ray. Indian itelf is changing , the middle class in India is said in the next ten years to surpass the entire population of the U.S. India is not the same country. I was shocked when i visited last

Nice....Let us know how it looks. Also it would be awesome if you can post some pictures.

I just put in the disc, and i almost spilit my tea. What a treat to FINALLY see a Bollywood movie on Blue ray. It is so sharp, so resolute, colors so definitive and exact, it is like having Akshay kumar in you living room. I have always felt so discrimiinated have about 30 blue ray movies , and 100 hd dvds but always have to watch my desi movies in SD on my 65 inch. Today is a day i shall behold in memory , my first blue ray movie

It is 1080p in every definition, it looks better than Xmen last stand i watched earlier this week. It is just so clear like looking outside a window

The only negative is there is no song menu, shame on you eros, i just want to rewatch Ankhon me mohobat likhle, and Hey Baby songs again and again that makes it hard.

it is like having Akshay kumar in you living roomWell, that's certainly safer than having Salman Khan in my living room. He's liable to run me over.

BTW, thanx for the review, I'm going to order it. Now the long wait for the Blu-ray of 'Saawariya'.

Sanjay

I just put in the disc, and i almost spilit my tea. What a treat to FINALLY see a Bollywood movie on Blue ray. It is so sharp, so resolute, colors so definitive and exact, it is like having Akshay kumar in you living room. I have always felt so discrimiinated have about 30 blue ray movies , and 100 hd dvds but always have to watch my desi movies in SD on my 65 inch. Today is a day i shall behold in memory , my first blue ray movie

It is 1080p in every definition, it looks better than Xmen last stand i watched earlier this week. It is just so clear like looking outside a window

The only negative is there is no song menu, shame on you eros, i just want to rewatch Ankhon me mohobat likhle, and Hey Baby songs again and again that makes it hard.

Thanks for the review. I can't wait to watch my copy and many more that will come in near future.... Can you post some pictures?

The picture quality on this blur ray is top notch, i would say tier 1 among the best of all blue ray's i have seen. I thought this movie would be very boring, but it has a lot of outdoor scenary and lot of " hot larkis" in bikinis chasing after Ritesh and Akshay, and just in general, so lots of eye candy that really shows of dubai, the movie is shot in Australia so the backgrounds are geougeous. Lots of beach scenes and colorful clothes, hot babes in eye catching bikinis- not your traditional saris and traditional bollywood movie,

the color palette is so visually stunning, in typical bollywood fashion, something that is lacking in hollywood movies. Now if this was Jodhaa Akbar, i would die to see it, but still a very good iniitiial b ollywood release. I just cant get over the sharpness, there is a scene where they show Akhsha close youc can see every pore in his skin, even a small blemish on the bottom of his nose, it is truly scary. They look older then in sd countrpart.

Only disappointing is the sound, no dts hd, no dolby hd, only 5.1. I am using analogs from my denon 3800, 7.1 anolog outs and it sounds superb very high bitrate.


Truly if you love bollywood movies get this , spectacular transfer. When you see a bollywood mirchi item girl in 1080p, get ready to call 911. For all my non indian friends, you will like the catchy songs in this movie , it will dive you and make you love our bollywood films, which we love ever so passionately. Go bollywood, bring out the blue rays. I so want to see Aishwariya, Priyanka on blue ray and yes the guys too Hrithik Roshan etc.

I am glad to see lots of desis in a blue ray forum.

PLese guys lets keep posting so we know when dON, jODHAA aKBAR, dEVDAS AND OTHERS COME OUT, CAN'T WAIT

I heart Sanjay that Om Shanti om should be out in less than three weeks, it is delayed from the original January 20th date, it is ready very soon to be distibuted. It is listed on amazon, not available yet, but it is still listed

Shahrukh- King Khan and Deepika - got she will look ravishing in blue ray.

I hope UTV releases Jodha Akbar, i hope it is not only eros and Sony, cause we will be limited to their production.

Thanks a ton calikarim JI for posting your first impressions. There is no denying of the fact that the Indian Color Palette is one among the best.

Thanks calikarim.

Could you please check whether subtitles are on black bars. If so check whether they can be moved up, out of the black bars. There is a function in blu-ray to do this (if it is implemented in s/w).

Thanks.

I heart Sanjay that Om Shanti om should be out in less than three weeks, it is delayed from the original January 20th date, it is ready very soon to be distibuted.It was mentioned earlier in this thread that OSO on Blu-ray had been cancelled. It was one of my fave movies from last year, so here's hoping that you're right and the Blu-ray is released in a few weeks. I hope UTV releases Jodha AkbarI read that UTV has been using digital intermediates for some of their films (Laakshya, Don, etc), so those titles are ripe for release on Blu-ray. BTW, just saw Jodha Akbar last week at the Laemmle theatre in West Hills (not too far from you). Pretty slow moving in the begining (hello, editor!) but impressive nonetheless.

Sanjay

IMHO, both SAAWARIYA and HEYY BABY are simply pathetic films. I wont spend more than $5 each.

It was mentioned earlier in this thread that OSO on Blu-ray had been cancelled. It was one of my fave movies from last year, so here's hoping that you're right and the Blu-ray is released in a few weeks. I read that UTV has been using digital intermediates for some of their films (Laakshya, Don, etc), so those titles are ripe for release on Blu-ray. BTW, just saw Jodha Akbar last week at the Laemmle theatre in West Hills (not too far from you). Pretty slow moving in the begining (hello, editor!) but impressive nonetheless.

Sanjay

I have read in few places that OSO would be released later in this month. According to blu-ray.com it is 1080p. Lets hope for the best.

I could believe that UTV uses DI for DVDs, Parineeta (UTV) is the best DVD I have seen.

I could believe that UTV uses DI for DVDs, Parineeta (UTV) is the best DVD I have seen.
One of the best Bollywood DVDs for sure. If it had no aliasing it would be solid Hollywood quality.

It was mentioned earlier in this thread that OSO on Blu-ray had been cancelled. It was one of my fave movies from last year, so here's hoping that you're right and the Blu-ray is released in a few weeks. I read that UTV has been using digital intermediates for some of their films (Laakshya, Don, etc), so those titles are ripe for release on Blu-ray.
Sanjay
Don has a nice HD master from DI. Lakshya has no DI. It was tossed. The HD is from duplicate negative and substandard. There will never be a good HD of Lakshya unless they go back to the camera negative and retransfer. Will not be done since the sfx would have to be redone too.

The picture quality on this blur ray is top notch, i would say tier 1 among the best of all blue ray's i have seen.
What equipment are you watching on? Is the disk free of edge enhancement and noise reduction? What are the bitrates for image and sound? Codecs?

One of the best Bollywood DVDs for sure. If it had no aliasing it would be solid Hollywood quality.

I couldn't see any common aliasing art-effects in the Parineeta original that I have. It's clarity/detail and colours are the best as well.:)

I couldn't see any common aliasing art-effects in the Parineeta original that I have. It's clarity/detail and colours are the best as well.:)
It has aliasing in some shots (the stairs in the house is one).

It has aliasing in some shots (the stairs in the house is one).

Thanks. I will check this.

anyone one mind post some screenshots heyy babyy? and does the movie have the eros logo in the top left corner?

I just put in the disc, and i almost spilit my tea. What a treat to FINALLY see a Bollywood movie on Blue ray. It is so sharp, so resolute, colors so definitive and exact, it is like having Akshay kumar in you living room. I have always felt so discrimiinated have about 30 blue ray movies , and 100 hd dvds but always have to watch my desi movies in SD on my 65 inch. Today is a day i shall behold in memory , my first blue ray movie

It is 1080p in every definition, it looks better than Xmen last stand i watched earlier this week. It is just so clear like looking outside a window

The only negative is there is no song menu, shame on you eros, i just want to rewatch Ankhon me mohobat likhle, and Hey Baby songs again and again that makes it hard.

Calikarim mere yaar! You've gotten me so damn excited that I'm willing to purchase that crappy film just to FINALLY witness a Bollywood movie disc that does justice to the theatrical PQ. :D Now I can't wait to see OSO (which my wife and I LOVE) in Blu-Ray. Man, the thought of that hottie Deepika in HD... *trails off, drooling like Homer Simpson* lol

Thanks for the review. If you could post some screenshots of the film in action, that would be great, even if photos of material on TV aren't always reliable indicators of quality.

anyone one mind post some screenshots heyy babyy? and does the movie have the eros logo in the top left corner?

Somebody posted pics on highdefdigest:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=48940

Somebody posted pics on highdefdigest:
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=48940Those are pics of the packaging. Do you know if anyone has posted screenshots?

Sanjay

Those are pics of the packaging. Do you know if anyone has posted screenshots?

Sanjay

I'm getting my bluray copy on monday and I will post some pics then.

I'm getting my bluray copy on monday and I will post some pics then.
Thanks! Atrocious film, not worth my pennies lol.:rolleyes:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094137/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0806088/
So they are both rated the same...

Better to stay away from Bolly films and watch the offbeat ones.

No offense, but I disagree with this. There are always a few really good "mainstream" or masala films every year. You have to keep in mind that India produces far more content than Hollywood, so the sheer volume of substandard films makes it seem like there just aren't any good major studio releases. You'll miss out on some nice films with this mentality.

And conversely, investing solely in offbeat material doesn't guarantee you'll only see quality films. My wife and I watch quite a variety and we've been as bored and/or annoyed at the so-called "art house" fare as we've been with some of the mainstream films. The truth is, you can find gems and duds on both sides, just like any other film industry.

No offense, but I disagree with this. There are always a few really good "mainstream" or masala films every year. You have to keep in mind that India produces far more content than Hollywood, so the sheer volume of substandard films makes it seem like there just aren't any good major studio releases. You'll miss out on some nice films with this mentality.

And conversely, investing solely in offbeat material doesn't guarantee you'll only see quality films. My wife and I watch quite a variety and we've been as bored and/or annoyed at the so-called "art house" fare as we've been with some of the mainstream films. The truth is, you can find gems and duds on both sides, just like any other film industry.

My apolgy but both of these movies are trash left from masala use lol.

My apolgy but both of these movies are trash left from masala use lol.

You do realize I wasn't talking about Heyy Babyy or any specific film, but responding to lgans' comment in general, right? I already mentioned how atrocious Heyy Babyy is.

Does anyone know if utv is going to be releasing on blue ray. I would love Jodhaa Akbar, and especially Don, i love that movie it would be amazing.

I wouldn't mind posting screeenshots but avs has limitations on pic file size, i will try on imageshack never done it. Trust me the pic is amazing, better than many of the hollywood blue ray's.

I am watching on a $2000 Ouch denon blue ray 3800 player, and on a 65 inch Mitsubishi isf calibrated crt, gives an amazing pic better than any digital display out there , It is like being in the theatre.

Anyone dissing bollywood films hasnt seen them. Our stars are worshipped and idolated more than any hollywood stars, cause they know how to act, the films are intense with passion, love, emotions, dancing. Hollywood movies lack emotion, they have special effects, and cgi, watch a bollywood move and you will see.

It is a culture that is 3000 years old , so rich with history, mystery intrigue, and culture, and it reflectss in the films. Even is some of the movies are copies they blow away the hollywood orginals. Lets see george clooney compete with shahrukh khan, in a dance melody, no competition. ( igans in reply to your post)


l

Does anyone know if utv is going to be releasing on blue ray. I would love Jodhaa Akbar, and especially Don, i love that movie it would be amazing.


Anyone dissing bollywood films hasnt seen them. Our stars are worshipped and idolated more than any hollywood stars, cause they know how to act, the films are intense with passion, love, emotions, dancing. Hollywood movies lack emotion, they have special effects, and cgi, watch a bollywood move and you will see.
l

Agree. We watch Bollywood lot more than Hollywood. Traditional Bollywood movies (e.g. Devdas) are full of passion and emotions which cannot be easily found in Hollywood. Yes they know how act and get all those emotions out. Due to this reason lot more people that I know of watch Bollywood than Hollywood. However, when Bollywood try to imitate Hollywood with some action movies they fail miserably, IMO. We normally avoid these.

By the way, Heyy Babyy is not a bad movie IMO (although it is an imitation). It is not the best either. However, it is the first Bollywood blu-ray. Due to this reason we think we should have it.

Billions around the globe love Bollywood - There should be some reason for that.

Anyone dissing bollywood films hasnt seen them. Our stars are worshipped and idolated more than any hollywood stars, cause they know how to act, the films are intense with passion, love, emotions, dancing. Hollywood movies lack emotion, they have special effects, and cgi, watch a bollywood move and you will see.

That propaganda is a stupid as the inverse one (all Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films). Please. :rolleyes:

That propaganda is a stupid as the inverse one (all Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films). Please. :rolleyes:
people are stupid if they think that. not every movie is a copy of a hollywood movie. and not all hollywood movies are original, but that doesn't make either of them mindless ripoffs. also their isn't singing and dancing in every movie, sometimes the songs are used as background music like in hollywood movies.

dude ur stupid if u think that. not every movie is a copy of a hollywood movie. and not all hollywood movies are original, but that doesn't make either of them mindless ripoffs. also their isn't singing and dancing in every movie, sometimes the songs are used as background music like in hollywood movies. so get ur facts straight before making stupid comments.
Can you read? Did I not explicitly say that the inverse propaganda is EQUALLY stupid? (Hint: The inverse propaganda is: All Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films.)

Wow, let's not take this thread from a meaningful one to a flaming session guys! We all have our opinions and let's leave it at that. I'm looking forward to getting OSO on Blu ray, as cheesy and over the top as it might have been.

Jodha Akbar would also look great on Blu ray especially with its vivid color palette, pity they still make battle sequences look like kid's school play though(referring to the first battle scenes). Only place where bollywood ever got battle sequences right was Lakshya IMHO.

Can you read? Did I not explicitly say that the inverse propaganda is EQUALLY stupid? (Hint: The inverse propaganda is: All Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films.)

my bad i edited my post, i was just getting annoyed with all the people talkin crap about bollywood films that all i paid attention to in your post was the "All Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films" part. again sry and i edited my post.

my bad i edited my post, i was just getting annoyed with all the people talkin crap about bollywood films that all i paid attention to in your post was the "All Bollywood movies suck and are mindless all song and dance ripoffs of Western films" part. again sry and i edited my post.
most of it is right though, unfortunately.

It would be nice to see some Satyajit Ray films, like the Apu trilogy, on Blu Ray. With Ravi Shankar's soundtrack in uncompressed PCM...

It would be nice to see some Satyajit Ray films, like the Apu trilogy, on Blu Ray. With Ravi Shankar's soundtrack in uncompressed PCM...
Ghatak and Guru Dutt, please! And some Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

An interview with Ken Naz (CEO, EROS) and Sajid Khan is now on avstv.com regarding Heyy Babyy blu-ray.

Sajid claims that the blu-ray audio is almost better than the movie. Ken talks about high quality standards of blu-ray.

http://www.avstv.com/tv/single.php?c=245

An interview with Ken Naz (CEO, EROS) and Sajid Khan is now on avstv.com regarding Heyy Babyy blu-ray.

Sajid claims that the blu-ray audio is almost better than the movie. Ken talks about high quality standards of blu-ray.

http://www.avstv.com/tv/single.php?c=245

If it is same DD 5.1 soundtrack that was on SD? it was really really bad!imho!

IMHO, both SAAWARIYA and HEYY BABY are simply pathetic films. I wont spend more than $5 each.

I agree, especially Heyy Baby. I really regret buying this one. It is very crude and tasteless. Highly inappropriate for family viewing.

Billions around the globe love Bollywood - There should be some reason for that.

Maybe because there are billions of Indians?:D

I would love to see Asoka in HD.:)

Maybe because there are billions of Indians?:D

I would love to see Asoka in HD.:)

There actually aren't billion of Indians...yet.

Seriously though, besides the US, there are plenty of markets where non-Indians love Bollywood. I've heard it said that Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest movie star in the world in terms of numbers of fans, and that's not all indians.

The thing is, bollywood has yet to click in America. My wife who is as white/caucasian as you can get, loves Bollywood and has an obsession with Hrithik Roshan.

She thinks these bollywood masala movies would qualify as chick flicks here and thinks white women in america would love it if exposed (unless they are closed-minded to the subtitles issues). In fact, she thinks the next step for Bollywood in the US is to get Oprah to watch some of the classics of this decade and the 90's: DDLJ, K3G, Kal Ho Naa Ho. She thinks Oprah will simply love it to death and promote the hell out of it to her audience (White women).

I agree, especially Heyy Baby. I really regret buying this one. It is very crude and tasteless. Highly inappropriate for family viewing.

Anyone heard if Yash Raj Films will go blu ray for releases in america? I'd love to see them fix up DDLJ and K3G to a proper 1080p BD release.

There actually aren't billion of Indians...yet.


According to the CIA, as of July 2007, the population of India is 1,129,866,154 and according the Official Indian Population clock, as of March 26, 2008, the population of India is 1,130,751,296. It's amazing how they can figure these things out to the last person.:)

Maybe because there are billions of Indians?:D

I would love to see Asoka in HD.:)

me too! even a flop film, is way better.SD was pretty good too, R2.

IMHO, 99.9% BW films are not worth buying, and 90% not worth watching. But movie goers who love to watch new film/weekend, it will be lucrative bussiness for distributors, selling trash to masses.

There actually aren't billion of Indians...yet.

Seriously though, besides the US, there are plenty of markets where non-Indians love Bollywood. I've heard it said that Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest movie star in the world in terms of numbers of fans, and that's not all indians.

The thing is, bollywood has yet to click in America. My wife who is as white/caucasian as you can get, loves Bollywood and has an obsession with Hrithik Roshan.

She thinks these bollywood masala movies would qualify as chick flicks here and thinks white women in america would love it if exposed (unless they are closed-minded to the subtitles issues). In fact, she thinks the next step for Bollywood in the US is to get Oprah to watch some of the classics of this decade and the 90's: DDLJ, K3G, Kal Ho Naa Ho. She thinks Oprah will simply love it to death and promote the hell out of it to her audience (White women).


I agree with this. Even without this type of exposure, Bollywood movies get into UK and US top 10. IMO, Bollywood's potential has not been fully released yet.

Anyone heard if Yash Raj Films will go blu ray for releases in america? I'd love to see them fix up DDLJ and K3G to a proper 1080p BD release.

I searched on Yash Raj blu-ray but couldn't find any pointers. They have a number of timeless classics that I love to see on blu-ray. If anyone knows any info on this, please post.

I searched on Yash Raj blu-ray but couldn't find any pointers. They have a number of timeless classics that I love to see on blu-ray. If anyone knows any info on this, please post.
Let me tell you the secret! Indian/Bollywood film makers, just want to make millions for their crap but not reciprocate with quality products for their naive film goers unfortunately.

In all these 10000s of SD released by BOLLYWOOD dvd makers, 90% are VHS transfered to dvd, rest may be you all know. Only on film was REMASTERED in history of bollywood dvds, MPK by DEI/EROS and cost deferred the future remasters.

Making a TRUE/GOOD BLURAY is no cheap either, so all these greedy film makers will sit on the fence till they find a cheap way to upscale SD and transfer to BR disc, when $1 and then voila! We have all their library on BR:eek:

Let me tell you the secret! Indian/Bollywood film makers, just want to make millions for their crap but not reciprocate with quality products for their naive film goers unfortunately.

In all these 10000s of SD released by BOLLYWOOD dvd makers, 90% are VHS transfered to dvd, rest may be you all know. Only on film was REMASTERED in history of bollywood dvds, MPK by DEI/EROS and cost deferred the future remasters.

Making a TRUE/GOOD BLURAY is no cheap either, so all these greedy film makers will sit on the fence till they find a cheap way to upscale SD and transfer to BR disc, when $1 and then voila! We have all their library on BR:eek:

Thanks. Some good points are given.

It is unfortunate that most Bollywood DVDs are sub-standard. Only a few good DVDs are around. However, I hope for the best and expect a change with blu-ray.

I think Bollywood's full potential has not been released yet. I think that Bollywood has a long way to catch up with Hollywood and blu-ray can be used as the vehicle to achieve that goal. Hopefully Bollywood studios will realise this.

It appears that the PQ quality of Heyy Babyy is good and I hope that this trend would continue. Eros CEO Ken Naz on avstv.com talked about quality standards etc, regarding blu-ray. Obviously they understand that how important is the level of video/audio quality when movies are released on blu-ray.

Any news about Yash Raj?

JUST heard HEYY BABYY was not mastered from HD MASTER, but from print to BLURAY! There you go, QUALITY goes down the drain.

JUST heard HEYY BABYY was not mastered from HD MASTER, but from print to BLURAY! There you go, QUALITY goes down the drain.HD masters are made from film prints. You can't go directly from print to Blu-ray. The film has to be transferred to digital video first. Are you saying it wasn't transferred to HD video? Or that it was upconverted from standard def video?

Sanjay

JUST heard HEYY BABYY was not mastered from HD MASTER, but from print to BLURAY! There you go, QUALITY goes down the drain.
They should have used the DI and not any film elements made from it. :mad:

Bluray movie still looked way better then SD version....

Bluray movie still looked way better then SD version....
no doubt abt dat! an upscaled SD would look better Indeed.:D

If they got a new print from the film for blu-ray, it is unlikely that they upscaled SD.

There are loads of people at work who love watching BW movies. All non-Indian - heck ... I'm non-Indian myself and I love BW movies.

One of my colleagues organised a film night for valentines - he showed Cheeni Kum - was a huge hit with the crowd that showed up!

Anyway - I don't agree with Zoro - I think such a berating generalization is not fair at all. There are so many good BW movies around - such a great industry with a load of interesting storied that can't be told in Hollywood. I love Guru Dutt, Bimil Roy ... no other directors anywhere have matched the magic they can create on screen. Anyway - I'm looking forwards to Om Shanti On on BD ... I gave Heyy Babyy a miss - bad movie.

If they got a new print from the film for blu-ray, it is unlikely that they upscaled SD.

How can you make BLURAY from PRINT? I guess the same way they have been making SD from VHS( 3rd generation down)

There are loads of people at work who love watching BW movies. All non-Indian - heck ... I'm non-Indian myself and I love BW movies.

One of my colleagues organised a film night for valentines - he showed Cheeni Kum - was a huge hit with the crowd that showed up!

Anyway - I don't agree with Zoro - I think such a berating generalization is not fair at all. There are so many good BW movies around - such a great industry with a load of interesting storied that can't be told in Hollywood. I love Guru Dutt, Bimil Roy ... no other directors anywhere have matched the magic they can create on screen. Anyway - I'm looking forwards to Om Shanti On on BD ... I gave Heyy Babyy a miss - bad movie.

Thanks for your patronizing. Please do give me a count of some good original bollywood movies here, if you can? Let me see how many you can count. Hollywood remakes , thats what most are wont count for me.

"Blu-ray Disc" with SD encoding?
On eBay, I got an alleged Blu-ray Disc of the recent Japanese movie Sukiyaki Western Django. It appears to be NOT a Blu-ray Disc, but in trying to determine this, I've grown confused about the definitions.

The official Japanese Blu-ray release is, according to the only source I could find, an "AVC/MPEG-4" encode. This disc is MPEG-2.

If I turn off the upscaling on my PS3, the TV says the input is 720x480.
The disc plays in my Oppo DVD player.

The box -- a standard DVD case -- says "Blu-ray Disc" and has the blue swoosh logo...but it also says "DVD video", "DVD-9," and "Hi-Bit Edition." The DVD case comes within a slipcase, which includes an explanation of "Hi-Bit DVD" as what sounds like "SuperBit."

I'm now assuming that this is a bootleg, and that it's not, in any meaningful way, a "Blu-ray Disc." But, as I was looking through the big Blu-ray FAQ, it seemed as though there are things defined as, in the broad sense Blu-ray, with this SD output. And that there are DVD-9s that are in some way "Blu-ray."

In any case, this sure as hell isn't a "high definition transfer." And I'm ticked. But, before I raise hell with the vendor, I'm wondering whether it's somehow legal for this sort of release to be called a "Blu-ray disc.":eek:

How can you make BLURAY from PRINT? I guess the same way they have been making SD from VHS( 3rd generation down)

Prints are trasnfered to digital during telecine scanning. That's how all BDs are made from final film elements (some films use DI - digital intermedites - which can be used directly since they are usualy "2K")

Thanks for your patronizing. Please do give me a count of some good original bollywood movies here, if you can? Let me see how many you can count. Hollywood remakes , thats what most are wont count for me.

I'll give you my faves list - must see movies (in no particular order):

Dil Se, Pakeezah, Sahab Bibi Aur Ghulam, Amrapali, Madhumati, Dil Chahta Hai, Amar, Aah, Andaz, Mother India, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mughal-E-Azam, Footpath, Choker Bali, Umrao Jan (Muzaffar Ali), Sujatha, Pukar (Sorab Modhi), Sikandar-E-Azam, Gangster, Bandini, Duniya Na Mane, Navrang, Aaja Nachle, Jewel Thief, Guide, Hum Dono, Waqt ... I could go on and on.

Now tell me - which ones of these were copies of H'wood movies? I could go through my DVD collection (some 1000+ Indian movies and counting) and not find even one H'wood re-make! Perhaps you need to try to explore a little more? Just like I try to aviod the trashy H'wood movies I do the same with B'wood and give a lot of respect to visionary film-makers. Like in all industry there is bad and there is good - my point is that you seem to be going to every forum I have read trashing B'wood films without giving credit where it is due. I am just re-dressing the balance. Heyy Babyy isn't a good marker of a good movie - it's an insult to label this trash with something like 'Pyaasa (Guru Dutt)'

Anyhow - to each their own - that's all I have to say on the matter.

Everyone knows that there are thousands of original Bollywood movies, no need to list them. East is very good at story writing and has thousands of years history on this.

I'll give you my faves list - must see movies (in no particular order):

Dil Se, Pakeezah, Sahab Bibi Aur Ghulam, Amrapali, Madhumati, Dil Chahta Hai, Amar, Aah, Andaz, Mother India, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mughal-E-Azam, Footpath, Choker Bali, Umrao Jan (Muzaffar Ali), Sujatha, Pukar (Sorab Modhi), Sikandar-E-Azam, Gangster, Bandini, Duniya Na Mane, Navrang, Aaja Nachle, Jewel Thief, Guide, Hum Dono, Waqt ... I could go on and on.

Now tell me - which ones of these were copies of H'wood movies? I could go through my DVD collection (some 1000+ Indian movies and counting) and not find even one H'wood re-make! Perhaps you need to try to explore a little more? Just like I try to aviod the trashy H'wood movies I do the same with B'wood and give a lot of respect to visionary film-makers. Like in all industry there is bad and there is good - my point is that you seem to be going to every forum I have read trashing B'wood films without giving credit where it is due. I am just re-dressing the balance. Heyy Babyy isn't a good marker of a good movie - it's an insult to label this trash with something like 'Pyaasa (Guru Dutt)'

Anyhow - to each their own - that's all I have to say on the matter.
+1 Very well said. Both hollywood and bollywood have their share of great and crappy movies. One just cannot generalize all the movies based on few crappy ones.

Everyone knows that there are thousands of original Bollywood movies, no need to list them. East is very good at story writing and has thousands of years history on this.
East INDIA was very good in story writing but not any more! From his list, DILSE, AAJA NACHLE, only made to his long list of modern master pieces, and both were flops, even though I did like both of them too, lol.

Those old golds will be VHS to BR lol.and only account to 1000s in millions, making it to 10% quota!

BTW the good story writers are OUT OF BUSINESS now! B-WOOD uses TRANSLATORS to do the honors these days.

+1 Very well said. Both hollywood and bollywood have their share of great and crappy movies. One just cannot generalize all the movies based on few crappy ones.
Daman! I agree to your point wholeheartedly. All Hollywood films are not good either, they do make tons of bad films. But imho, now a days MOST BWOOD CHURNS IS CRAP.

Daman! I agree to your point wholeheartedly. All Hollywood films are not good either, they do make tons of bad films. But imho, now a days MOST BWOOD CHURNS IS CRAP. Yes i agree 80% of the new stuff isn't very good. There are still a few very original movies produced these days.. how about Lakshya, Rang de basanti, Black, Swades, Taare Zameen par etc. Heck i even enjoy goofy comedies like Hera Pheri, Malaamaal weekly etc.

Yes i agree 80% of the new stuff isn't very good. There are still a few very original movies produced these days.. how about Lakshya, Rang de basanti, Black, Swades, Taare Zameen par etc. Heck i even enjoy goofy comedies like Hera Pheri, Malaamaal weekly etc.

BLACK was NOT ORIG though.

BLACK was NOT ORIG though.Yes, but it was still a very well made film. And i take it that you do agree about the other's i mentioned then :D

Yes i agree 80% of the new stuff isn't very good. There are still a few very original movies produced these days.. how about Lakshya, Rang de basanti, Black, Swades, Taare Zameen par etc. Heck i even enjoy goofy comedies like Hera Pheri, Malaamaal weekly etc.

+1 to you sir. I agree with your list and yes Swades, RDB, Lakshya etc etc were all great movies.

To summarize compare the class of Aishwariya Rai, 17,000 websites after her, her acting poise and Lindsey Lohan, drunk on sunset on a saturday nite clubbing.

Bollywood is the BIGGEST movie industry in the world, bigger than Hollywood. Sony has given $100 million to eros, DIsney is partnering with UTV and has a major equity stake in Utv and growing it. , Johnny Dep is making a co venture hollywood and bollywood, and is about to go to india to start filming.

India and bollywood have a good future. At this point in America everything foreign is in , consider our next president Barrack Husain Obama, he beat 9 white americans for the democratic nomination _ hilary is almost out-. The world in changing diversity is in and growing, and its healthy. Poeple want something outside the box and new and fresh.

Oh I want something different too. I just don't want a dancing and singing number in the middle of a war movie :-)

Oh I want something different too. I just don't want a dancing and singing number in the middle of a war movie :-)

Amen!I prefer Elizbeth the golden age, over Yodha Akbar any days! Gandhi over umpteen churned out on icon, by his own people, but miserables.

he beat 9 white americansWow, sounds like Amitabh's warehouse fight scene from 'Deewar'.

Sanjay

Oh I want something different too. I just don't want a dancing and singing number in the middle of a war movie :-)

Okay. Fair enough.

However, entertainment has become part of war in real life situations. Entertainment is needed to boost the morale amongst soldiers. This was done in various forms in different eras. In recent times, musicians and entertainers have donated their time to entertain US military personnel engaged in overseas missions.

I am not saying that this should warrant singing and dancing in a middle of a war movie. However, singing and dancing can be integrated into a war movie without distracting the main focus.

Okay. Fair enough.

However, entertainment has become part of war in real life situations. Entertainment is needed to boost the morale amongst soldiers. This was done in various forms in different eras. In recent times, musicians and entertainers have donated their time to entertain US military personnel engaged in overseas missions.

I am not saying that this should warrant singing and dancing in a middle of a war movie. However, singing and dancing can be integrated into a war movie without distracting the main focus.

+1 - watch Haqeeqat to see a great war movie with songs in it. No dancing just songs that enhance the emotion of the moment.

Music is a lot stronger than the spoken word. Even silent movies were released with musical scores to draw the audience in to what the director was conveying.

Okay. Fair enough.

However, entertainment has become part of war in real life situations. Entertainment is needed to boost the morale amongst soldiers. This was done in various forms in different eras. In recent times, musicians and entertainers have donated their time to entertain US military personnel engaged in overseas missions.

I am not saying that this should warrant singing and dancing in a middle of a war movie. However, singing and dancing can be integrated into a war movie without distracting the main focus.

another +1. Another good example of a war movie that tells a great story is Lakshya. I showed it to a friend at work who had never seen bollywood movies before and he loved it, including the songs. He said it reminded him of musicals of hollywood and the songs didn't feel awkward at all. I've since given him quite a few other movies to watch.

another +1. Another good example of a war movie that tells a great story is Lakshya. I showed it to a friend at work who had never seen bollywood movies before and he loved it, including the songs. He said it reminded him of musicals of hollywood and the songs didn't feel awkward at all. I've since given him quite a few other movies to watch.

Yes, Lakshya is one of the great movies.

SS I saw of ORIG HEYY BABBY BLU RAY appear more pathtic than my already low expectations. I cant wait to see a professional review by some one, who is not only watching and reviewing bollywood dvds, as it might be not a valid comparison, to already rotten tomatoes lol:D

To summarize compare the class of Aishwariya Rai, 17,000 websites after her, her acting poise and Lindsey Lohan, drunk on sunset on a saturday nite clubbing.

Selective examples. Let's talk about Fardeen's coke case, Salman's deer and drive over case or Sanjay's arms case. Classy? Mafia connections, mafia hits, extortion, casting couch...

Bollywood is the BIGGEST movie industry in the world, bigger than Hollywood.

Big as in numbers of films. Nigeria makes probably even more films. That says little about economic weight. One Hollywood blockbuster makes more money than 10 Bollywood blockbusters. Top star salaries are ten times higher as well and so are ticket prices and income of typical consumers of the product (ballpark numbers, but you get the idea). Bollywood is not (yet) major league internationally compared to the American film industry.

Economic weight is not everything. This depends on the value of money in different countries and it is based on broader factors than cinema and art. IMO, what matters is the number of eyeballs watching these movies. Even this is normalised for the population of Asia and west, I feel that Bollywood could easily win over Hollywood.

Monday, October 29, 2007
Mukesh Ambani becomes world's richest man - $63.2 billion net worth
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani today became the richest person in the world, overtaking American software czar Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and famous investment guru Warren Buffett, courtesy the bull run in the stock market.

(While this article is a few months old, it has not changed, Ambani is 1,2 or 3 depending on this list, and mittal also indian is the Richest Man in Great Britain. Shahrukh Khan is worth over $250 million , worth more than most hollywood stars. He is india's hottest star. India has changed a lot, and is poised to be a superpower very soon. ) A handful of bollywood stars are worth more than $100 million.
















The benchmark Sensex zoomed past the 20,000-point level during trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange, taking 10 sessions to cover the last 1,000 points, on funds buying in heavy-weight stocks led by Reliance Industries. Sensex had crossed 19,000 mark on October 15. It had crossed 10,000 mark on February 6, 2006 and 15,000 mark on July 6, 2007.

The net worth of Mukesh Ambani rose to $63.2 billion (Rs 2,49,108 crore).

The current rankings of the five richest people in the world with their net worth:

1. Mukesh Ambani ($63.2 billion)

2. Carlos Slim Helu ($62.2993 billion)

3. William (Bill) Gates ($62.29 billion)

4. Warren Buffett ($55.9 billion)

5. Lakshmi Mittal ($50.9 billion)

Economic weight is not everything. This depends on the value of money in different countries and it is based on broader factors than cinema and art. IMO, what matters is the number of eyeballs watching these movies. Even this is normalised for the population of Asia and west, I feel that Bollywood could easily win over Hollywood.
Maybe, although I have never seen well researched statistics here instead of claims. Eyeballs that don't pay/buy or pay little or to the wrong party (pirates) do nothing for the health of the industry, though.

Bollywood's (including Tollywood, Lollywood) highest paid stars -
=>Rajnikanth - Rs 40 crore (400 million) per film
=>Hrithik Roshan - Rs 12 crore (120 million) per film
=>Aamir Khan - Rs 10 crore (100 million) per film
Bollywood endorsement of brands only for lakhs and crores ...
(per year rates for 2004)
=>John Abraham - Rs 60 lakh
=>Preity Zinta - Rs 75 - 80 lakh
=>Rani Mukherjee - Rs 75 - 80 lakh
=>Aishwarya Rai - Rs 1 crore
=>Saif Ali Khan - Rs 1 crore
=>Shahrukh Khan - Rs 4 - 5 crore
=>Amitabh Bachchan - Rs 5 crore
=>Aamir Khan - Rs 5 - 6 crore


You do the math $1 is 40 rupees

example Roshan is making 3 million per film,

Eyeballs that don't pay/buy or pay little or to the wrong party (pirates) do nothing for the health of the industry, though.

Of course , piracy is a major issue in Asia. If piracy can be prevented more money will be available to make better movies, provided movies are sold at realistic price points. Blu-ray might be able to help stop piracy and take Bollywood to the next level, globally. This could be the god-given technology for Bollywood.

...This could be the god-given technology for Bollywood.

ummm, actually man-given, man-made. Neither DVD production, nor blu-ray technology (or any other form of lasing) is a natural phenomenon - totally man-made!

Any updates on other forthcoming Bollywood blu-rays?

Of course , piracy is a major issue in Asia. If piracy can be prevented more money will be available to make better movies, provided movies are sold at realistic price points. Blu-ray might be able to help stop piracy and take Bollywood to the next level, globally. This could be the god-given technology for Bollywood.
piracy or not! it is not happening from dat land! sorry!

Who cares like they don't have piracy here for hollywood movies....Just freaking enjoy the bluray movies and let the prodution companies deal with the piracy.

ummm, actually man-given, man-made. Neither DVD production, nor blu-ray technology (or any other form of lasing) is a natural phenomenon - totally man-made!

ummm.... man-made - okay ......

Any updates on other forthcoming Bollywood blu-rays?

You may already know that Saawariya is planned to be released on 6 May 08. Eros has spoken about Om Shanti Om release but dates are not finalised yet. Wish to get an update on OSO soon.

There is a blu-ray survey on Yash Raj Films site. It appears that they are trying to assess the interest on blu-ray. This can be considered as a good sign.

http://www.yashrajfilms.com/bluraysurvey/bluray.aspx

There is a blu-ray survey on Yash Raj Films site. It appears that they are trying to assess the interest on blu-ray. This can be considered as a good sign.

http://www.yashrajfilms.com/bluraysurvey/bluray.aspx

Thanks! I went ahead and filled this out!

I have seen a handful of those movies:

Dhoom
Dhoom 2
Salaam Namaste
Bunty Aur Bubli
Kal Ho Na Ho