Review of Farz

Introduction

Some viewers who have not seen this film might be disappointed by the whole film and its outcome, as it is weak and badly scripted. Farz was produced during the craze of the James Bond saga in India and many of the ideals from the Bond series can be found within this film. I guess the film producers wanted to cash in on that success!

Jeetendra tries to capture the image of Sean `007` Connery by being a slick man who likes girls and guns. Personally I would have preferred it if he was to come up with his own style. He only achieves this when dancing, especially during the song `Mast Baharon Ka` which gave him the nickname of Jumping Jack (when you watch the song you will see why).

I should commend Laxmikant Pyarelal for displaying fine musical numbers in this film, which to this day are as memorable and melodious as when they were first heard. Songs like `Mast Baharon Ka`, `Happy Birthday To You` and `Tumse O Haseena` are fine examples of work and why they were the best during their time. Also their background score is very good and gives off the right music codes to help the audiences identify with the situation. The theme tune is rather groovy at that!

It`s a shame the same couldn`t be said about the film as it`s rather dull and predictable, while the jokes and comedy situations are pure over kill. Performances too are dry and over the top. Mukri and Babita, two actors who have never displayed any talent for Indian cinema, end up being too embarrassing with hammy acting and stone cold expressions. Jeetendra`s performance is average but the lack of a good screenplay and direction fails to engage the audience with what should have been an entertaining action film.

Video

The DVD is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, a full screen picture. Thus the director`s original vision is preserved here as it was when first shown in the cinema. With no signs of any compressed artefacts, the picture displays excellent picture information that gives off a level of cinema quality presence in the comfort of your own home. The picture has excellent sharpness, which is very well handled. Some instances of grain can be seen, but that would be due to the age of the negative. Yet the light grain never presents a major problem to viewing or to the overall picture information.

Some slight shimmering and moiré effects are present on this transfer, however these minor glitches won`t bother viewing. The film remains quite clean during the majority of the film but major wear and tear signs are seen during chapters 4, 23 and 16. The wear and tear signs are in the form of light brown spots and won`t cause as much interruption as wear and tear normally seem to do. Once again this is due to the original negative which is over 30 years old. Other forms of damage can be seen as tiny dust specks and dots.

The colour fidelity has aged a little, due to poor keeping of the original 35mm print. However many scenes have colour intact, displaying vibrancy and boldness. There are never any moments of colour bleed while dark and contrasting details are spot on, helping with the overall visuals that the film is presented on this DVD.

Audio

The sound on this disc is presented in mono and problems like hissing, pops and crackles are heard lightly in the background. Yet dialogue and music are very audible and clear and won`t serve any hindrance to the ear. This has a decent mono track considering the age and damage the film has had over the years!

Features

The still menus are poor in design but have easy navigation. I should mention that the box design could have also done with some improvement.

Conclusion

While age and damage shows on this DVD, the quality is done in the best possible manner achievable. Farz has never looked this good and for fans (or others intrested in the film) this DVD is a must own disc!