Review of Raju Chacha

Introduction

With the high rise of the piracy market within the Indian DVD industry, especially on new films, EROS had decided to author this DVD in conjunction with Indian film laboratories, Adlabs. Adlabs authored the DVD within a week and was finally released on the market, along with the cinema release, to void off the piracy title of this film. However it was already quite high as two illegal versions of this film was already release on DVD in dismal quality.

These short time issues of producing Indian DVD affects many titles quality wise, and financially for the company. With the growing factor of many people too lazy to view the film on cinema, or to wait for its official release on Video/DVD/VCD, they seem to keen on renting or buying the illegal DVD from many video rental stores. This seems to be a lost cause for many Indian DVD companies, and in the end affects us the consumers who want quality in our products. Knowing these many elements I look to this DVD with the many factors that the industry have to face. Its the only way to understand what was done for the product fairly.

Video

This DVD has kept the original intentions of the director as it has been framed according to the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with the inclusion of an anamorphic transfer.

The DVD does reveal light compression artefacts during a couple of highly picture informative scenes but they never distract, while grain thankfully never makes an appearance. Alasling problems are kept at a minimum and wear and tear blemishes only makes an appearance during a couple of scenes, giving the film a fresh look.

The sharpness of the picture are quite well handled, never blurring or softening to the overall image. There are also moments of high picture information, especially during the scenes in the magical mansion. Colours are also rather impressive as much definition was seen. The depiction of natural colours seen in chapter 13 shows good colour solidarity and fidelity which is an example of how well colours are shown on this DVD. Black details and shadows were a little too strong but never intruded on overall picture information. Contrast levels, which were shot in high mode, are as expected on this DVD.

The use and handling of the special effects and animation sequences are also very well done. As these scenes could have caused much problems for the authors it is nice to know that much detail can be encoded graciously in so little time, especially for this format.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded is pure and non quasi. The sound offers the viewers the chance to enter this magical world much more easier as it displays wonderful moments of sound effects in its vibrant 360 degrees soundfield. This helps you immense yourself in this world.

This, with the combination of the wondrous and bombastic LFE channel, proves to be a very satisfying experience indeed. An example of the song `Yeh Vaada Hai` shows this DVD has a great soundfield, with the violins in the rear and the bass zoning from the LFE channel. Other then the 2 second gap of no sound during chapters 16 & 23, there are no other signs of sound distortion on the track.

EROS are back on form after many disappointments on past DVD`s.

Features

Given the length of the film it would be hard to place much features on the same disc, and the probability of creating a two DVD disc for a flop Hindi film is quite low. Still we are given a few features.

Supplements here are modest and contains mostly EPK (Electronic Press Kit) stuff. It begins with a short look of the soundtrack of the film, and bits of the audio launch function of the soundtrack.

Other bonuses include song promo`s, all of which were highly produced, and a special interview with Ajay Devgan. Here he talks about the making of the film and how much effort was placed into it. All supplements are in good quality and you won`t find much complaints.

But this title deserves a special edition treatment as many special effects feature`s can be looked upon, and a look into the excellent set designs and production of the film would have been insightful and equally entertaining for viewers.

Menus are thematic in design and was easy to navigate over, and the English subtitles gives us a good account of what is happening on screen.

Conclusion

The most expensive film in Indian cinema, really does live upto its expectations. While it flopped at the box office, the film will become an all time classic as it does one thing many present Indian films fails to do.....touch the heart of the audience. The one scene which proves this point is the death scene of Siddhant Rai, played wonderfully by Rishi Kapoor. This scene will affect you emotionally just as the children are performing in the scene.

The director expertly establishes all the characters and makes sure you grow to like them as the film moves on. You will laugh with them, feel sympathy for them and will display the same emotions shown on screen. That is why the scene (and film) works so well.

To many this film may seem off key and if you are one of those people then I`m sorry to say this but you don`t understand the film and underestimated its imagery, which gives most American movies a run for their money!

From the opening shot of the film, the camera shows you a gate in which beyond it lies reality. When the gate opens to let a car in the camera pans with the car and then you enter the world of fantasy which is confirmed when the rainbow road is shown. The gate closes behind and this ensures you the audience that what you are about to see for the next three hours will be something different and amazing.

We are then treated to the best 3D & 2D animation sequences produced in a Indian film, which is played to show fantasy at its fullest, and to bring out the inner child in us. The film boasts very good special effects which shows Indian cinema on its way up in terms of understand CGI (Computer Generated Images), and gives us the audience something to look forward to in the years to come. The story and screenplay are given a good treatment to make this film have all the characteristics of a fairly tale and to be independent at the same time.

Other positive aspects about the film is the high polished technical values which gives us a reason why this film costs so much money. Excellent photography by Nimal Jani, who uses various steadycam and panoramic shots to convey his love of imagery. The colourful art direction and set designs are big on scale. I really must commend them for the design of the big house which is the modern day equivalent to the castle seen in Disney`s Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (1939). It posses both magical and childlike qualities helping the audience to immense deeply into the film with a heart of a child.

The music score by Jatin - Lalit proves also to be a wonderful treat and is certainly one of the better works for duo in the past three - four years. From the childlike tunes heard in `Kahin Se Aai Rani..Kahin Se Aaya Raja` to the wonderful romantic melodies `Yeh Vadda Hai` & `Tune Mujhe Pechana Nahin`. All the songs play a pivotal role in the film`s overall narrative and are melodious. The background score also deserves a mention as it hits the right notes to ensure emotions that are of natural beings.

Just as the technical values gives the film a perfect surface, the performances gives the film a perfect soul. With all the performers on top form, and playing their roles as best as they could. Johnny Lever, who is known for his loudness and harshness in comedy, gives a heart warming performance. Particularly when he is explaining to Ajay Devgan about the situation as a thief, while loving and trapping an innocent girl. The performances of Pramod Moutho, Govind Namdeo, Shabaaz Khan & Mayur as the villains are as evil as they can be, with fairy tales like traits, and compliments their talents rather well. Also the special appearance by Sanjay Dutt is nicely placed and gives the film a good twist.

The child artistes; Harsh Lunia, Manshuk Vaidya & Sakshi Sen will appeal to the audiences as they displays levels of talent needed for a difficult movie like this. It certainly makes a change from the annoying child artiste Akshita Garud, who was used in Devgan`s entertainment last production Dil Kya Kare (1999). National award winner Ajay Devgan and Filmfare award winner Kajol also give a commendable performance for the film.

But it is the actor Rishi Kapoor who goes away with a unforgettable performance as the loving father and conscious architect. In this film he brings back a piece of cinema magic once seen in his past films like Deewana (1991), Karz (1981), Bobby (1974), Naseeb (1980) & Ghar Ghar Ki Kahni (1986). This is the actor`s first major comeback after six years, and after his excellent directorial debut with RK Films`s Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1998).

Everything in this film creates the Indian cinema magic needed to sustain a full three hours of sheer entertainment. The reason why it flopped? Poor publicity campaigns? People avoided what is seen to be a children`s movie? Length of the film is considered too long? Whatever the case, other great movies have flopped in the past but they went on to become all-time classics. I believe this film will too become an all time classic and will entertain many generations to come. An excellent directing debutante from Anil Devgan.

The DVD also gives the film a decent treatment, considered the short time it was authored in.