Quick query - how long were Esquire VHS produced for? I was under the impression that Esquire were around in the early to mid 80s, with other companies taking in the late 80s/early 90s. However, a whole load of VHS have been put up for sale on Ebay which has let me to doubt that.

There are Esquire prints of the following films, which I remember being released on other labels here in the UK:

Thanedaar (Apollo)
Krodh (I think Spark)
Nigahen (I think Lords Apollo)
Naach Govinda Naach
Jamai Raja (GVI)
Ek Ladka Ek Ladki (GVI)

So were Esquire around all the way through until DVD started to replace VHS? I recall some discussion on here about how Esquire VHS were generally good quality, just wondering if we've been missing out on good quality videos (these cost £40 each on Ebay, so not about to buy them to find out!)

The very original Esquire VHSs, when VHSs started appearing, in the early 1980s, were excellent quality. In Canada, they were selling at fixed price of $52, no discounts. In late 1990s when DVDs started coming out, I resisted buying many DEI DVDs because I said to myself, why to buy when I already have excellent VHS. (Now, it's difficult to get good playback even from good video tapes because of tape deterioration and alignment; lab equipment can bring out original PQ though).

Later on, quality kept going downhill and was not consistent. Still, occasionally, you got good Esquire VHSs even in the 1990s. When they started licensing out duplicating, quality went downhill. Originally, Hong Kong made VHSs were mostly direct film to NTSC but later on, PAL to NTSC, copying from master or from VHS, fake labels etc were all too common.

Esquire was a big worldwide company. Not only Bollywood VHSs, they were huge in electronics, big star shows and perhaps even into (or thinking of) film production. In the 1990s, they went bankrupt and EROS, WEG etc took over. A very sad story for the Esquire family; From riches to rags; they blamed on sabotage, deceit etc. 10-15 yrs ago, I read about Esquire owners trying to get back in the business. I could not find anything (on this story) on internet today, but at one time, there was plenty on the internet about Esquire story/ court cases/ etc. Court cases dragged on for yrs and yrs and eventually, I think, Esquire owners won the court case but could not recover financially.

some countries still had the Esquire label, where as UK moved onto Shiva video and Eros video of the same titles. Alot of Shiva titles in UK had the same blue label and typeface as some titles you saw on ebay. Unless you looking for a different version or cut of the movie, stick to DVD, Blu ray or online versions.