Criterion is releasing Jalsaghar (The Music Room) on DVD and Blu-Ray. Been waiting for a good DVD (which never came), but now I can get the Blu-Ray.

http://www.criterion.com/films/27657-the-music-room



* India
* 1958
* 100 minutes
* Black and White
* 1.33:1
* Bengali
* Spine #573

Release date: 19 Jul 2011

Disc Features

* New digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
* Satyajit Ray (1984), a feature documentary by Shyam Benegal that chronicles Ray’s career and includes interviews with the filmmaker, family photographs, and extensive clips from his films
* New interview with filmmaker Mira Nair
* New interview in which Ray biographer Andrew Robinson discusses the making of The Music Room and the film’s cultural significance
* Excerpt from a 1981 French roundtable discussion with Ray, film critic Michel Ciment, and filmmaker Claude Sautet
* New and improved English subtitle translation
* PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp as well as reprints of a 1963 essay by Ray and a 1986 interview with the director about the film’s music

Fabulous news. Have been waiting for Ray's collection on Blu and good to see this as the first one. Fantastic...

The extras look neat too, Criterion can have all my money.

Really gem of a news.

Th is is one of my favorite Satyajit Ray films and a Criterion release would be a blind buy for me. I'm surprised they're not including any restoration demonstration. I would have thought it'd be quite a job restoring the original film elements. The Benegal docu on ay is a wonderful bonus. I hope Criterion gets some Benegal on their catalog too. I heard Suraj ka Saatwan Ghoda had a got an excellent DVD release on the Cinebella label. Anyone here seen it? Comments? Sadly in India, Ultra was the release label and the transfer is a disgrace. Well at least I have this gem of a movie to savor.

WHat other Ray films would you like to see on BD? My list would include:
Shatranj ke khiladi
Kanchenjunga
Aranyer din ratri
Ghare bhaire
Charulata

I consider Ray as the greatest film maker India has ever produced so I would like to see all his films released in Blu. If I have to skip any, I would skip Chiriyakhana and Ganashatru

Beautiful restoration job on this disc!

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_ ... lu-ray.htm

If only we could see Awara and Pyaasa looking like this. Maybe one day.

Planning on picking this up at Barnes and Noble's 50% off Criterion sale, which starts next week and coincides with the release.

Saw the Beaver review last night and I'm totally gobsmacked by the screens. THIS is how the classics of Indian cinema should be treated. Sadly most of them won't.

I desperately want this!! Is there any chance of a UK release?

The Criterion release will be Region A locked and so far there's no word of any UK company taking this up. A region-free BD player will be your salvation.

also picking this up in the B&N sale.

And yeah if you're even half serious about films, a region free player is a must. I cant imagine having to be limited to either just Criterions or MoC releases

Must have. My precious...

I have heard so..o.. much about Satyajit Ray that I had to take this opportunity to see what the hullaballoo was all about! I don't know if I am gonna like this presentation (I mostly watch commercial no-brainer movies and rarely do I watch genuine 'masterpieces'), but the difference in image quality between the DVD and the blu-ray restoration got me pretty excited about this release. With the 50% off Criterion sale going on at Barnes & Noble right now, it seemed like the best time to invest in some new Criterion blu-rays without taking a painful hit to my wallet.

Watched this Blu-Ray today. Criterion did an extensive clean-up, and though there are still issues with the source, this film has never looked better. I hope Criterion will add more Ray films to their collection.