Ek Musafir Ek Hasina B/W (1963)
*Joy Mukerji & Sadhana,Rajendra Nath
Directed by:Raj Khosla, Music:O.P.Nayyar

Good: 1) Movie is complete (153 minutes)
2) Interactive menus (31 chapters, 9 songs)
3) English subtitles
4) Although mono soundtrack is processed for stereo
but it's surprisingly clear. Some effort on Eros' part
to correct flaws in soundtrack which is almost
ancient compared to current audio standards.
5) One of O.P.Nayyar's best scores and thankfully all
9 songs are intact in the video.
6) Some scences appear to have good details.
7) Decent DVD box with stills from the movie.

Bad: 1) Video could have been sharper,images blurry and
fuzzy in some scences. Some distoration in video.
2) Greenish overtones in video could be due to flaws
in master transfer source or transfer itself.
3) No subtitles on songs.
4) Parts of video appear faded.
5) Poor detail in dark scences.
6) No extras.

Verdict: A mixed bag,decent audio but video could have been better but flaws in the transfer source prevented a decent transfer. A must for fans of O.P.Nayyar. Rent it first then decide for yourself.


Do Kaliyan (color/1968)
*Mala Sinha,Biswajeet,Mahmood,Baby Sonia aka Nitu Singh
Directed by:Krishnan Panju,Music:Ravi
*mega hit from 1968 based on A Parent Trap

Good: 1) Movie is complete (160 minutes)
2) Interactive menu 27 chapters,9 songs
3) Bright colors,some good detail & images in some
scences. Minimal fading present in transfer source
for a movie almost 34 years old.
4) Some parts of too much wear & tear appeared to
have been removed by Eros (very minimal deletion)
this does not affect flow of video & is not
distracting.
5) English subtitles
6) Decent DVD cover with stills from movie.

Bad: 1) Too much hissing in soundtrack,mono processed for
stereo,flawed soundtrack.
2) Problems with color balance.
3) Video could have been shaper. Some images lack
detail. Blurry & fuzzy at times.
4) As usual dark scences lack detail.
5) No extras

Verdict:Another mixed bag,better version when compared to
Bombino's version in which soundtrack was totally out of sync with video. Once again rent it first then decide to buy or not.


Zindagi (color/1976)
*Mala Sinha,Sanjeev Kumar,Moushami,Vinod Mehra
Directed by:Ravi Tandon,Music:Rajesh Roshan

Good: 1) Movie is complete (approx 140 minutes)
2) Interactive menu's 27 chapters 4 songs
3) Exceptionally good transfer,good details,
sharp images & clarity usually missing from
Indian DVD's. Minimal complaints about video
except well that in the bad section.
4) English subtitles.
5) Decent DVD box with still from movie.
6) A tearjeker with two extraordinary
performances from Mala Sinha & Sanjeev.
7) Some hissing in soundtrack which surprisingly is
not to distracting given the flaws in transfer
source.

Bad: 1) A would have been good DVD totally ruined
by too much wear & tear,scratches and
flaws in the transfer source which at times
is very distracting although movie is complete.
2) No subtitles on songs
3) No extras.

Verdict: A decent transfer ruined by too many flaws in the transfer source. Once again rent it and decide for yourself.

Last word: Must give credit to Eros to obtain complete versions of oldies unlike DEI (Bees saal baad,Kohinoor etc). Some effort on Eros' part to improve quality of audio as in Ek Musafir Ek Hasina and to improve DVD covers, But still they have a long long way to go.

lakeshore



Edited By lakeshore on Feb. 22 2002 at 23:27

Picked up Shemaroo EMEH DVD. PQ is a tad better than EROS.

CC shows film length to be 4475.39 meters that's 163 min.

EROS DVD is 152 min 25 sec (159 min assuming 4% speed up)
Shemaroo DVD is 149 min 34 sec (156 min assuming a 4% speed up)

I have the Eros version of Ek Musaphir Ek Hasina.Is it worth my while to buy the Shemaroo version.

If you already own EROS version of EMEH, it's not worth buying Shemaroo version. Shemaroo PQ sure is a little better but the difference is minuscule. Also, Shemaro version is 3 min shorter than EROS (no chunks of video missing but just wear & tear cuts in film, I guess).
Oh yes, there is no greenish hue in Shemaro DVD as is in EROS DVD.)

Thanks

A Tid Bit (may be puzzling ??) about EK MUSAFIR EK HASINA:

On a few youtube segments, they state that this song did not make to the final cut and was not in the film. One of the program even said, it was never filmed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJuDyWcaA20



This is not only the most melodious song in the film, along with numerous other excellent sweet songs, it's actually the TITLE SONG. Lyrics are about Musafir-Joy Mukherjee and Hasina-Sadhna. No other song in the film resembles as Title Song. How could they not include it in the film ??

But, I did come across this song's video with Sadhna at her beauty prime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ePM6XRr7w

Most likely, it's the present youtube postings of this film that don't have this song. Perhaps, EROS or Shemaroo DVDs have this song in their DVDs.

Moreover, I remember when I saw this film when originally released, the film felt too long. Watching on DVDs, it seems rushed. This song may or may not be in the EROS, Shemaroo DVDs ??

Time to check EROS, Shemaroo DVDs of this film. And also to check, in case the posted video is made up of video segments taken from here and there ??

Yes, this is edited - the video is from "Aap Yun Hi Agar Humse Milte Rahen". It is possible that old VHS tapes might have the uncut version with "Main Pyar Ka Rahi Hoon" intact.

Sure, here's the revised version without bold and italics:

---

A funny little mix-up about this song – if you pay attention, the two *antaras* are having an identity crisis, especially in Asha Bhosle's portions!

Antara 1:

Rafi: Tere bin jee lage na akele
Asha: Ho sake to mujhe saath le le
Rafi: Naazneen tu nahin jaa sakegi
Chhodkar zindagi ke jhamele

A: Jab bhi chhaye ghata
Yaad karna zara
Saath rangon ki umar kahaani

Now, you’d think we’re safe, right? Not really! Fast forward to Antara 2:

Rafi: Pyaar ki bijliyaan muskuraayein
Asha: Dekhiye aap par gir na jaayein
Rafi: Dil kahe dekhta hi rahoon main
Saamne baithkar ye adaayein

A: Na main hoon naazneen
Na main hoon mehjabeen
Aap hi ki nazar hai deewaani

Here's the kicker: if you swap these blue-colored sections back into their rightful antaras, you’ll realize that Asha ji... might've wandered into the wrong verse at the wrong time!

Wow!, that was fast decoding. Yes, video clips are superimposed on audio. As you said, video clips are from the song "Aap Yun Hi Agar Humse Milte Rahen".

The more I find about this song, more fascinating it gets.

A corrected version, someone has posted by assembling the original soundtrack (audio only) with proper sequencing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrvH9Hc7aaM

With proper sequencing, its amazing, how much better this song becomes. Excellent verses and replies. Romantic song, but without mentioning 'I Love You' and a totally innocent song and still romantic.
Moreover this sure is the title song. Mentions 'Ek Musafir/ and also Hasina (Nazneen, Mahzabin).
As the producers were in a hurry to let the announced screenigs to go on,I wish, the producers had left the incorrect version or at least put partial song, until the error.

Although the producers did find out about the error at the time of its release (more than 60 Yrs ago), and hid the error by not including the song in the film, it's only now that it has come out. Such a popular song and no one noticed. Even until 3 Yrs ago, in the stage shows, they always sang the incorrect version as no one noticed the error. It's only now, new postings of any stage show with this song, corrected version of this song is sung.

I can think of another duet with excellent verses and replies, Tere Pyaar Ka Aasra Chaahta Hoon'. But that one too pales against this 'Main Pyar Ka Rahi Hoon' corrected version.

Another tid bit about this song:
Song was recorded when some musicians were on strike or did not reach the studio, so was recorded with minimal music.You can find a revival version of this song on youtube that has more musical instruments (Mainly Tabla) as perhaps was intended. But, surprise is that the original corrected version, with limited musical instruments, still is lot better. Adding extra musical instruments made this song less sweet.