Review of Jeans (Original Language Version)

Introduction

Jeans…no its not a film about the clothes people wear but is more of a metaphorical representation on the youth`s of India and a play on the word "genes` since the main focus of the film is on two twin brothers. Shankar, who is one of the most successful director`s in India, looks at how the NRI (Non-Residential Indian) twins live their happy-go-lucky life in the USA surrounded by the commodities and lifestyle of the youth.

He does this with the help of a love story, with beautiful actress & former miss world Aishwayria Rai, and the wonderful compositions created by A.R. Rahman of "Bombay Dreams` fame. The film also introduces actor Prashant in a more successful role after flops like I Love You - Hindi (1995) and Thiruda Thiruda - Tamil (1998).

Prashant acts as the main twin characters, and since they are exactly both the same in characterization, not much of a performance is required. However much work on the special effect is needed to convince the audience that there are twins. The FX work was done averagely with some shots ranging from being quite convincing to quite mediocre.

The film "Jeans" is lighter then Shankar`s previous films like Gentleman, Kadhalan (Humse Hain Muqabala), and Indian (Hindustani). While Jeans is more of a romantic comedy, his other movies have been quite patriotic about motherland India. I normally call him the modern "Manoj Kumar", a director who also dealt in themes of patriotism on Indian celluloid in the 1960`s - 1970`s. The difference between the two was that Manoj Kumar was against the new and corrupt ideas of the west entering the newly independent India, while Shankar embraces the better part of it into eastern cultures.

But while embracing it Shankar forget to add a one element to make the story work…a good screenplay. The screenplay is perhaps one of Shankar`s weaker works as he presents the story as an overly glamorous and extravagant manner, which is not feasible for what is essentially a simple story. Also the performances in this film from the whole cast are quite crass and over-the-top in places. Only the acting by Nasser and his flashback tale of why he wants his sons to marry twins are commendable.

The only thing that makes this film work for me is the excellent music score & background compositions by A.R. Rahman, as it contains some of his best work. It was this reason that made me sit through the whole duration of the film. Every tune in this film is worth listening to again and again. The songs are already over 3 years old and they still sound fresh and better then some of Indian & American cinema`s more recent soundtracks.

One of the songs "Ajooba" was actually shot at all of the eight wonders of the world, and shows the kind of money the producers in India & America spent on this production. The technical aspect of the film such as cinematography, and art direction shows the richness of the project. But it would have been wiser to spend some of that money on a better screenplay writer instead.

Overall this film is one of Tamil cinema`s weaker films, which only gets a special mention from me because of its wonderful music score.

Video

The DVD is presented in an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 2.20:1, and covers most of what the cinematographer had shot. Some cropping of the frame is evident in only two or three scenes, as the film was shot on a more wider 2.45:1 ratio. The film source used was averagely clean for an older Indian film, with only a few white dots appearing in the odd frame.

The picture quality is the usual fare from Ayngaran International DVD`s; good saturation, black details and contrast levels. But some light compression artifacts is seen in a few scenes despite a decent average bit rate of around 6Mbit/sec for a three-hour film. The compression is not as evident on small screens but on larger screens (+32 inches) you can`t help but notice it.

The one major problem this disc had, while I was viewing, was the use of the Ayngaran company logo that was placed randomly during some sections of the film, appearing on each corner of the frame everytime it made a new appearance. It was irrupting my viewing during the whole duration of the film.

Audio

The soundtrack of the film was done in DTS, and this DVD uses the original mix master tapes made from the DTS soundtrack and converted it into a Dolby 5.1 mix. The result is spectacular, and a near 360degree soundfield that encapsulates the world of the film into your living room. The bass was quite strong in places, which is a common feat in South Indians films as audiences love a loud bass booming from the screen, and we get the same effect from our LFE channel.

Features

Good animated menus, and OK-ish English Subtitles. Thats all!

Conclusion

The only thing that mattered to me with this title was the music, and since the DVD delivers on a great 5.1 sound then I am more then satisfied. In terms of picture quality then the DVD is just an average disc from Ayngaran, which has some flaws.