Review of Chann Pardesee

Introduction

Digital Entertainment Inc. (DEI), who are known to release many rare and classic Hindi films, have decided to concentrate on a Punjabi movie titled `Chann Pardesee`. It was the first ever Punjabi movie to have won an Indian national award, which is equivalent to an Oscar. Many are proud of this fact, and it is even announced during the opening credits of the movie. The reason why many fans are proud of this fact is due to the decent technical values, and the highly emotional screenplay with deals in issues of rape, vengeance and identity.

The Punjabi film industry is itself very weak and only produce 5 - 10 films a year, and the majority of them fail to make an impact on the audiences. This is why `Chann Pardesee` is considered to be one of the best Punjabi films ever made, as it had a very good box-office run and is now viewed upon many as an all time classic. With this in mind, and the excellent work DEI has done on many films with aged 35mm negative prints, I look to this product with an optimistic mind.

Video

This DVD has kept the original intentions of the director as it has been framed according to the original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

The DVD has been encoded from a brilliant source and as a result it is laden with much beauty, adding freshness to the film for the first time ever in the comfort of your home. DEI have gone all lengths to ensure that this film looks as good as the film was during its theatrical run 20 years back, and rest assure that all their efforts do pay off.

The DVD had a small fraction of wear and tear present that was difficult to spot, and shows the dedication of finding, restoring and authoring pristine prints. Many versions of this film on VHS, VCD, and on television channels showed much decay and made the film look aged. However DEI have made this film look much newer then most newly released Hindi films on DVD.

No major compression artefacts are seen and while grain makes it presence felt during a couple of scene it is expected due to the source and age of the negative. Shimmering and moiré effects are only seen in a fraction of scenes that will go unnoticeable while viewing. Picture information are very sharp and depicts wonderful images that added details never seen before in this film. Items like the shoe marks on the horse saddle, text on money notes and text from the prayer book can be seen with clarity and ease.

Colour definition and saturation was amazing with rich green fields full of many green shades and shadows that added more dimensional depth to the overall picture. Contrast levels were a little high but the film was supposedly shot like that. I compare this DVD to a Channel four version (Channel four are known for their excellent picture quality when it comes to foreign films) and same contrast results can be detect. Although the DEI version had more contrast details due to the fact that the format in question was DVD. Dark details complemented the picture rather well and was best described as being both deep and crisp. For an example see chapter 4 during the song `Jaago Aayee`, when a group of women are dancing in the night.

Audio

The soundtrack has been kept to its original mono source. While limited to one mono track the dialogues are audible and the sound effects are good enough. There wasn`t much distortion detected but slight hissing could be heard and is the result of the original sound negative which is decaying with age. Yet DEI have done the best they could with a mono track and this is one I am pleased with.

Features

The animated menus were average in design and was easy to navigate over, while the English subtitles used was very well laid out font wise and grammar wise. The box design was however rather poor, I`m sure better picture/film stills and images could have been founded and used.

Conclusion

With wonderful technical values, performances, songs, and a storyline that seems quite daring at the time of the film`s release, Chann Pardesee is a film all Indian film lovers should watch. It gives you a sense of how rural life is lived upon, and the conventions they use in their closed society. It was the first Punjabi film to have ever won a national award and deservingly so.

Many pervious film before it played a cliché role similar to Hindi films and thus never attracted much attention from other regions. But this film, along with other Punjabi greats; Sarpanch, Long Da Lishkra and Lambardani reached all corners of India and created box office records.

It is also nice to see the early talent of a cast who are now internationally famous and have appeared in many hollywood blockbusters like Gandhi (1981), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and even the recent british comedy hit East Is East (1999). The wonderful performance of Amrish Puri in this film showcases here just as it does in his more recent films like Mr. India (1986) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995).

Also the film has rich cinematography by Manmohan Singh who went on to do films like Dil To Pagal Hain (1998), Lahme (1991) and Mohabaatien (2000), which are all visually stunning. It would have been nice if the film was shot on a widescreen canvas but it wasn`t a popular feature at the time and might have been beyond the budget of this film. Never-the-less the canvas is filled with lushes of green and the white walls which bestow upon the villages. It invites us to experience not just the lives of the characters but the whole village itself.

Perhaps this is one of the reason why this film continues to be popular especially with audiences outside India who miss their homeland and this film give you the opportunity to taste what it is like back home. The plot is very well conceived and accounts all sides of the characters well.

The DVD indeed complements this film. It has managed to capture the film`s cultural and visual essence with vibrant results, making viewing more pleasurable and stunning.