Tried zulm search and was surprised to see no thread on this film.

Film was released in 1967.

Was it the First Indian/ Bollywood Film released on 70mm prints (only 4 prints were 70mm, remaining prints were 35mm) ?? IMDB implies that.

Shemaroo DVD is a few sec less than 120 min. (125 min film time considering 4% speed up)

Appolo Video/ Main Video Vancouver DVD is 151 min. (157 min film time considering 4% speed up)

Shemaroo DVD shows a "Re-Certification" CC from March 14, 1978, indicating 35 mm film gage, 4836 meters which is 176 min. ( CC expiry date is March 13, 1978, one day before it's issued. )

Esquire VHS is/ was 164 min (171 min film time, assuming a PAL to NTSC transfer ??)

IMDB states film length at 178 min. It's perhaps correct: See 2nd portion of the post.

Missing: There may be different segments missing in the two different DVDs, that may add to the avail content.
One scene for sure missing in both DVDs is the prelude to the song "Yeh Moong Yeh Masoor Ki Daal".
Other scene that could be missing is the "Water Fountain Dance" that was highly advertized but audiences found it too long and boring and hence might have been cut altogether or somewhat (Appolo has 2 min 50 sec Water Dance, Esq VHS has 3 min 50 sec; I haven't checked Shemaroo DVD yet)??

Water Dance/ Musical Fountain: It used to be a major Niagara Falls Tourist Attraction and a Niagara Falls Fixture. Some time in late 80s or in the 90s or perhaps even later, greed took over and the land was redeveloped into a hotel. Shame!

- Shemaroo DVD is not great quality, although a tad better than Appolo Video version.

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IMDB states:


India's First 70mm film ?? and Stereophonic sound and no decent DVD. Appalling.

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Notes:

1) Note that IMDB states the film length to be 4836 meters (35mm), same as in 1978 CC and yet it states run time at 178 min. I have been calculating run time assuming 90 ft per min (co-relating film length vs run time from other sources). I wonder, what is correct ??
May be, 70mm prints ran 2 min longer and might have some 70mm format publicity material ??

2) Also note that IMDB states negative to be 70mm with 2.2:1 AR. Does it mean, 35mm prints (1.33:1) contain only half the picture ??

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It was a big budget film but failed to live up to it's expectations only because by that time Raj Kapoor did not fit the role of a young hero any more, specially in color film format. Overlooking that, it was an excellent film. And in 70mm film format at 2.2:1 AR and 6 track stereophonic sound, VOW! As you can recall, it had excellent Shankar Jaikishan music.

'Around The World' was indeed the first 70MM Indian movie. I was not aware of it being released with 6 track sound though.

So Sholay was the second one?

Sholay was shot on 35mm and blown up to 70mm.

I've never heard of this film. Is it any good?

Bhaii I meant was 6 channels?

I seriously doubt that 'Around The World' was released with 'six' channel audio. Specially considering the fact that 'Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli (1971)' was the first Indian movie to have all it's songs recorded in stereophonic sound.

But, I do remember the tag line from it's adverts about 70mm and 6 track sound. In 1967, I had no idea what stereo meant and for 70mm I thought it to be the biggest screen and nothing more than that (did not know that it's a much bigger film negative/ positive and the screen size may or may not be bigger than other theatres screening 35mm films).

BTW, of nostalgia, I was among the crowd waiting to see a glimpse of the stars on it's premiere in Delhi (Connaught Place). I even remember police Laathi Charge to control the crowd and one respectable gentleman beaten by police and loosing his wrist watch (he claimed, Police took it off from him) in the scuffle. Yes, those were the days when more than one month salary was needed to buy a wrist watch.



In 1967 it was a big thing, a film giving you a grand tour of all the tourist attractions of the world. A remarkable feat in the days when foreign exchange was not easily obtainable. An Indian traveler was able to purchase just Eight Dollars in Foreign Exchange for the trip. That's the logic behind the title, title song and advertisements "AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHT DOLLARS".

Not much of a story but the film sure lived to it's promise showing you most of the attractions in the world. Shankar Jaikishan's Music of course was excellent. The plot goes like this:
Raj is given a plane ticket by his host to meet him in Japan. When he reaches Japan, he has missed his host (perhaps baggage stolen as well ??) and Raj is stuck in Japan without any money. He finds a job in a ship that's going to his next destination where his host has gone. Of course, it's the villain who will not let him meet with the host. This cylcle keeps on. Finally, when Raj gets to Canada, host's home, courtship with the host's daughter brings in more opportunity to show tourist attractions. (India-Japan-Hawaii-US-Canada-Europe, not sure if any African sites are in there ??). The film climax has another opportunity to show ski chases in Canada/ Europe ??

So was Sholay in 6 channel stereophonic sound?
According to DEI original owner he claimed so when they re released in Dolby surround?

Checked my Esq VHS and revised the opening post, reflecting VHS info.



Shemaroo DVD is cut by almost one full hour out of 3 hrs full time. Esq VHS is almost complete (just 6-8 min un-accounted for). And, I was very frustrated in the VHS days, about VHS tape's a split second cut in starting the song, "Yeh Moong Masoor Ki Daal". This cut in VHS was due to poor choice of commercial insert, where after the commercial, the resume recording missed the beginning of that song, which actually was continuation of the previous dialog.

Producer Paachhi: I think he was famous for cinematography ?? Don't know if he is still alive ?? I think, his sons or close relatives are still active in Bollywood.

I would like to see a decent, full 176-178 min DVD/ Blu Ray from it's 70mm 6 track print.

I don't mean to doubt you or your memory, but considering that the first stereo Hindi movie songs were not recorded until four years after the release of "Around The World", does it mean that the songs in "Around The World" were mono, while the rest of the movie was in 6 track sound?


You are right about the screen size having nothing to do with 70mm. But the screen of a 70mm capable theater is definitely 'wider' than a theater equipped only for 35mm film, i.e. unless you include theaters equipped for 35mm 'scope' films.


Once again, I am not questioning you, but just trying to clarify. I know for a fact, that 'Shiela' cinema in Pahar Ganj, Delhi, built in 1961, is the 'first' 70mm theater of India. Are you sure the Premiere of the movie was held in Connaught Place? Do you remember which theater it was?

YES, it most certainly was and is in 6 track stereophonic sound. I personally have seen the movie at Plaza Cinema in 70MM 6 track sound on two different occasions, separated by over a decade. I remember the reverberating sound of the coin thrown by 'Veeru' quite distinctly. In any case, if it were not originally released with 6 track audio, there is no way they could have, or should I say would have, been able to release the DVD with Dolby Surround.

PS: Isn't it really sad, that the most popular/successful movie of a country such as India, even with it's size and economy, cannot get a DVD release with Dolby Digital audio. Let's not even talk about a blu-ray.

Rana Says: It was either Odeon or Plaza (it was that corner of Connaught Place as opposed to Regal-Rivoli). Seeing your comment in another post, it must have been Plaza. I remember Plaza was closed for a while and then re-opened in the 1960s. It must have been for 70mm conversion ?? BTW, it may not have been a film premiere, could be just stars visiting theatres ??
In the old times, before computer era, I could have easily checked archived newspapers in our University Library where they had all the newspapers and it was easy enough to pick up all the Hindustan Times for the Year 1967. But now, it's all converted to digital archives.

Well it couldn't have been either Regal or Rivoli. Simply because they are both very small theaters which never were equipped for 70MM. You would think that 'digital archives' would actually make it a lot easier to search for things, wouldn't you? Strangely enough even the Hindustan Times website itself does not seem to have an archive of their older newspapers.