When did the Excel DVD release? I obtained a 'copy' of what appears to be exactly the same disc earlier this year (I think in February) - including the 'smart' subtitle options.

it's likely that you have a copy of the emerging pictures dvd available in the US, which appears to be the same as Excel. See the quote below:

Meanwhile, looks like the devis dvd is a pirated product -- sengh_15 may have landed up with a pirated dvd -- his screenshots and scan of the cover are the same as the in-all-likelihood-pirated dvd available from the link in the qote below:

i've been holding OUT for the excel version - still hasn't arrived yet and i haven't watched the film yet either...

alas, i'm very saddened again that it is 4:3...don't tell me it's interlaced as well?

The Excel DVD has a non-anamorphic 16:9 cropped video presentation. The 4:3 on the cover is incorrectly stated. As far as the actual picture is concerned, to me it looks like Excel got a 4x3 transfer of the original 16:9 film, which they have further cropped from top/bottom to recreate a 16:9 aspect ratio. Atleast on two occasions in the film, the speaking character is almost completely off the screen to the right. This DVD reminded me of another shoddy DVD from Excel, that of 'Khamosh Paani'. Not that this DVD is as bad as that one, but still it is a very shoddy effort by Excel.

There you go, and we want UTV to REFUND or SWAP!

zoran, the excel dvd is 1.85:1 non-anamorphic.
excel have mentioned "presentation type: fullscreen ; presentation size: 4x3" -- they haven't claimed anamorphic anywhere, and i think they've mentioned "presentation type: fullscreen" to imply that it's non-anamorphic. they didn't get it exactly right, but looks like they wanted to try

i hope u remember excel were more than willing to refund for banaras as well as khamosh pani...


sanjay, look up the comparison shots of the excel and devis dvds -- do you really think excel is cropped?

I am basing my comments on what I saw while actually viewing the movie. There are atleast two occasions when a pretty long shot had the speaking character chopped of almost 70-80% to the right of the frame. There is no way on earth that the director and cinematographer could have done that intentionally and/or it could have skipped their attention. While you can see parts of the speaking characters body and the others in the frame looking at that person, you cannot see the face of the person speaking and this is not a short scene but rather a reasonably long monologue delivered by the person not completely in the frame.

It is quite possible that Excel may have gotten the same transfer that was used in the devis dvd and they simply did not wish to spend money for a new transfer. Personally, even looking at the screenshots posted by you, I think that both of them are cropped. The framing does not seem to be right and the two characters on the extreme left and right of the frame definately look like they are being cutoff. Infact, quite clearly there is another character on the right side of the screen who is totally getting cutout in these frames. You can easily tell by the fact that Amu's (Kaju) Maama & Maami are adressing someone on the right side but outside the DVD frame.

excel is not based on devis -- devis is pirated i think. excel may be based on the emerging pictures dvd discussed here -- http://www.molodezhnaja.ch/amu.htm -- is that cropped too in your opinion?

sanjay, have you watched the dvd on ur tv -- does it have overscan? can you try watching the same scene on your PC?

btw imdb says the AR of amu is 1.85:1 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414713/

Well, maybe it's based on the Emerging Pictures DVD but the issues remain the same. The debate is not over the 1.85:1 ratio but rather, that it seems to me that originally a 4x3 transfer to video was made, which has then been cropped to recreate a 16:9 ratio. This is the only rational explanation I can think of to explain the rather very poor framing of numerous scenes in the movie.

have written to excel and they've promised to investigate and have also offered apologies for any typos on the dvd case.

meanwhile, given that all three dvds show the same kind of framing and the same kind of picture info, it is quite possible that the film producers themselves may have force matted or cropped the original 4x3 shoot to create a forced widescreen for theatrical exhibition and it is this same force-matted material that would have been made available to dvd authors...

How about any explanations for why the DVD is not anamorphic. Also the overall quality otherwise also is quite poor.

you may also want to write to them with your thoughts. I am sure they'll respond... they always have