Review of Jaanbaaz

Introduction

The film, which is full of flaws, has over the top scenes of drug taking and some misunderstanding of what drugs do and represents. But it does highlight the dangers of drug taking, with disoriented imagery and through the plot of the film. The film also entertains us with an odd love story that broke conventions of Hindi cinema.

Hindi cinema is very closed when it comes to the topic of love and acts quite taboo on subjects such as love making and even kissing. Some films to this day never show a couple in love French kissing, but this film looks at these subjects with caution. It might not be as accurate or as open but it still takes a quick peek where other filmmakers dare not look. This also adds more emphasis on the love story that is very different from others.

What I like about the film is the imagery that it uses. Just before the song `Give Me Love`, a woman is taking drugs and we as the audience begins to see various imagery like slow but high waves, a scorpion, flowers being smashed by a hammer, etc. It might over play on drug abuse themes but it still manages to convey towards a Hindi film audience a level of understanding what these substances can do. Also the imagery is all wonderfully shot, despite some of it begin stock footage.

I also love the songs, which have the sounding presence of the 1980s and it also celebrates that decade with memorable tunes like `Tera Saath Hai Kitna Pyara`, `Har Kisiko Nahin Milta`, `Janne Janna`. The lyrics help with the film plot, thus playing an integral part to the story.

Performances are very good, but it is Anil Kapoor who really shines in this film and it can be considered to be a very different role from what he usually plays. Technical values are impressive even to this day with great editing, and superb cinematography, which was shot with Technovision. I also loved the credits opening with the sky as a background plate and the guitar riff in the song `Janbaaz`.

This is a memorable film that in time, will become a cult classic like other Feroz Khan films.

Video

The film is presented in a widescreen aspect "framed" ratio of 2.20:1, which contains the original aspect "picture" ratio of 2.35:1. The result of this sees a near vertical stretch of the picture but it doesn`t look that apparent. Still it contains the original view that the director intended the audience to see. It would have been better if the film were transferred anamorphically.

The picture shows small signs of grain and artefacts, the most noticeable one can be seen during the gambling scene in chapter 4 on this DVD. The picture is a little soft and at times some of the scenes become blurred, which affects the whole frame of the shot. Yet the DVD still manages to display some fine detailed moments that really impressed me, mostly during the song `Tere Mera Saath Rahain` in chapter 24.

The film shows small signs of film dirt that appears during reel changes, and a couple of other scenes. Signs of shimmering are also present but is not distracting. The colour fidelity has bright saturation settings, which results in some colour bleed problems on primary colours. Contrast and dark level details could have improved slightly.

Audio

The Dolby Digital Hindi 5.1 soundtrack has some distortion like pops, hissing and crackling, which was heard during the duration of the film. I would have preferred the original stereo mix the film was released with. However this 5.1 mix seemed to have come from a mono source, which was then placed into all five channels without any re-mastering or re-mixing work. While it is still audible, it does tend to get a little high pitched in some places and a slight echo can be heard during the song tracks.

Features

The only extra this DVD has is the optional English subtitle which is not 16x9 friendly and has some timing problems, which means the text is either too fast or slow on some scenes. Menus are poorly designed.

Conclusion

Another DVD from the house of EROS that dissapoints. Only recommended for fans of the film, or for rental viewing if you have never seen the film before.