How do you separate a good DVD from an ordinary one? I'll tell you - take a look at the bonus features that come with each and judge purely on the basis of that.
It's not unusual for the DVDs of most American films and several foreign films to be accompanied by such special features as directors' commentaries, alternate endings, deleted scenes, a bloopers reel and sometimes even detailed behind-the-scenes featurettes on special scenes. These features are often painstakingly handpicked by directors themselves and are included especially as a treat for serious film buffs.
Increasingly the DVDs of Bollywood films too are coming loaded with their own set of extras. So today I'm going to take you through five of the most recently released DVDs of last year's most talked about films and I'll help you decide which ones you've got to have in your collection.
Saawariya
The Saawariya DVD comes with a skeletal set of extras including your obligatory “making-of” feature, and a bunch of trailers that you’ve seen many times before.
There are also three short deleted scenes - which mercifully didn’t make it to the film and add to its length. Of the three deleted scenes, however, there’s one interesting one between Sonam Kapoor and Salman Khan, which might help confused viewers like myself get some back-story to their romance.
You’ll also find a very poorly cut “premiere night” feature on the DVD, which is just some footage from the film’s very well-attended premiere interspersed with the usual “oh we loved the film” kind-of bites. If ever a film deserved a director’s commentary, this was the one. Who wouldn’t have loved to hear Bhansali’s take on this lyrical but ultimately indulgent opera?
Because the deleted scenes and the premiere night feature are about the only decent extras on this disc, we’re going with 2 out of 5 for the Saawariya DVD.
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Om Shanti Om
The Om Shanti Om 2-disc DVD set comes loaded with a whole bunch of extras that is any film buff’s dream. Apart from the various “making of” features (you have a making-of the film and different making-of features for each of the songs), you also get the usual promos and trailers.
Throw in smaller features on all Om Shanti Om events including the music launch, a fashion show, the London premiere and a book launch. Boring, boring, boring - you’ve seen all this before. What truly makes this DVD set special, is an absolutely fantastic Om Shanti Om trivia game that’s very smartly packaged complete with multiple choice answers and correct answers accompanied by film clips.
Also thumbs up for the special feature on the making of the film’s visual effects. The feature’s very unimaginatively directed, but it’s great stuff. Watch the VFX guys explain how the film’s various fire scenes were filmed, and best of all how Deepika was inserted into those old film songs.
There are your usual bloopers and deleted scenes which are fun at best, but don’t miss the bit with Dharmendra in the deleted scenes section. Watch Paaji deliver a shayari, and then revisit some of his best old-is-gold dance steps. The main film DVD comes with the option of a commentary from director Farah Khan, and for die-hard SRK fans there’s even an autographed poster in the box.
Few DVDs are as well thought out as this one. Few are collector’s items in the true sense of the word. Because this one is, we’re going with 4 out of 5 for the Om Shanti Om DVD set.
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Chak De India
Chak De India’s 2-disc DVD set is exactly what the film’s countless fans could have wished for. There’s no getting away from the traditional “making of” feature, there’s also a bunch of music videos that were especially filmed as promotional material.
You’ve got theatrical trailers and promos, a photo gallery, posters, working stills, players profiles and two special television shows on hockey that were inspired by the film. Thing is, none of this is new. But I’ll tell you what is.
The Chak De India DVD set is worth every rupee you spend on it purely on the strength of the 22 deleted scenes that you get. Some of these scenes are fantastic including one that illustrates how some of the girls got off to a rocky start with their coach on the very first day of their training camp.
The DVD’s also got a special feature on the Somerset House UK premiere of the film with footage from the press conference that SRK attended after the screening. What would have really made this a wholesome home-viewing experience is a joint commentary between director Shimit Amin and writer Jaideep Sahni. Sadly, that’s missing.
The deleted scenes are priceless, the rest just makes for an interesting package. 3 out of 4 for the Chak De India DVD set.
Heyy Babyy
The Heyy Babyy 2-disc DVD set surprisingly has very little to offer. The main film DVD comes with a commentary from director Sajid Khan that is just as trite as the film if you ask me. Khan talks about everything from the pretty Australian extra in a scene, to the hotel where the crew stayed during the shoot, but what might have actually been interesting is his explanation for mis-spelling both words in the film’s title.
Basically the commentary is one of those “we did such a great job, we made such a great film” self-congratulatory exercises. There’s also a second disc, which contains a “making of feature”, but hold your hearts, it’s about four hours long. It’s called Making of the Babyy and the feature’s divided into three sections.
Pre-production includes writers sessions, song recordings, location hunting. The production segment is literally a day-to-day on-the-sets documentation of the 73-day shoot, and finally the Post-Production segment which includes editing, mixing, track laying, right down to the release of the film. Come to think of it, it’s not a bad idea at all for hard-core film buffs - this kind of detailed documentation of a film’s making, but the problem with the Heyy Babyy making is that it just comes off looking like an ego exercise on the part of the director who can’t stop talking about what a great film he’s made.
Because the Heyy Babyy DVD set comes with little else but a self-indulgent commentary and an over-indulgent making-of feature, I’m guessing it’ll appeal to only those who really loved the film. 1 out of 5 for the Hey Babyy DVD set.
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Taare Zameen Par
The Taare Zameen Par DVD comes as a box-set in the true sense of the word, a 3-disc experience along with memorabilia for collectors such as a copy of Ishaan's famous flipbook from the film, also two prints of Ishaan and Nikumbh's paintings from the film, a lead pencil and a book with character details. Great stuff for kids. The real goodies, however, come packed in those three discs.
The main film DVD comes with a commentary from director Aamir Khan which is full of interesting little nuggets. Like a fairly detailed explanation on the process of claymation that was used to create the film's opening credits sequence. Aamir also talks about that scene in which Ishan's punished outside class and why he believes that was one of the tougher scenes that Darsheel Safary performed superbly.
The second disc with the special features includes your usual promos, trailers, stills and a making-of feature. Nothing special. There's also one very earnest but very boring panel discussion between Aamir Khan and four experts on dyslexia and children's disabilities - great idea but doesn't quite belong on the DVD does it?
The real juice is the deleted scenes section which comprises seven never-before-seen scenes from the film including one enjoyable one in which Ishan gets back at one of the school bullies. The third disc in this box-set is for die-hard film fans: it's an audio CD with Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's haunting background score of the film.
Forget the pointless stationery and the inconvenient box, for the exceptional director's commentary, the deleted scenes and the background score we're going to go with 4 out of 5 for the Taare Zameen Par DVD set.
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