Kabhi Kabhie- Yash Raj Films/Super Digital

Movie

Let me start out by saying that this is one movie that has stood the test of time because it was so different from other movies at the time, which was the mid 1970s. Amitabh Bachchan played an angry man in his previous movie and his role as a poet in this film wass quite a departure for him, but it showcases his ability to act in more subdued roles. I won't give a run-down of the story as this would ruin the experience but I will say that this movie begins about two people and a little while later, you realize that the movie is about two different people. The acting is good, but not great. The casting of the three young characters in this film, Vicky (Rishi Kapoor), Pinky (Neetu Singh), and Sweety (Naseem), is a victim of what I term "Dawson's Creek Syndrome": the casting of 20-somethings in the roles of people in their late teens. These three look too old to be playing who they play. But that's a minor point. Waheeda Rehman, who is usually a glowing beauty in older films, takes on a motherly role here and I barely recognized her in this film because very little makeup was used on her. Shashi Kapoor plays Vicky's father very flamboyantly, yelling and laughing alot and basically acting like a teenager. I can't imagine anyone else in his role. Although the whole movie revolves around something that would NEVER happen in real life, this movie is so intriguing that most viewers would overlook this flaw. I would tell you what that flaw is but it would ruin the movie for you.

Picture

I have a few qualms about the picture, but these are caused by a bad print. The colors are quite muted, which I am going to assume was an artistic decision. There is no detail in darker areas, such as hair. Normally, I can see some individuality in the strands of hair, but here, I just see a blur of black heads of hair. The picture also has a generally dull quality to it. Browns, blacks, and greys are very dull, but reds, pinks, and oranges look quite good. There is subtle artifacting whenever the camera moves or something moves fast. For example, during the rainy scene in the song "Tere Chehere Se," the rainy parts of the frame have artifacting. Detail is also lacking in very bright areas, such as snow. Here, snow looks like just one big blur of white. Unfortunately, I am sure this is the best this film has looked. You can actually see the makeup that has been used on Neetu Singh, Rakhee Gulzar, and Naseem. This is either a compliment to the people who made the transfer or an insult to the makeup people. Waheeda Rehman's makeup isn't as apparent as less was used on her.

Incidentally, the director and cinematographer have used a lot of zoom in "Kabhi Kabhie," which is quite annoying. There is even one place where the camera zooms out right after it zooms in. Had they not heard of montage?

Sound

Yash Raj Films has included a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel remix as well as the original mono track. Neither track is great. The mono mix sounds a little dull and muted in the higher frequencies while the 5.1 has a little too much treble and is kind of echoey. Surrounds aren't used very well and I detected little, if any separation on the front soundstage. This is not a great 5.1 mix and I wonder why they even remixed it. A 5.1 mix of "Sholay," I can understand, but a 5.1 mix of "Kabhi Kabhie"? What's the point? They should have just left the 5.1 mix off the disc and cleaned up the mono track, leaving some space to increase the video bitrate.

Menu/Extras

The menu screens are still with music and are easily navigable. The typical chapter selections, song selection, and play movie options are here as well as English subtitles, the theatrical trailer, and and a conversation with Karan Johar (director of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai) and director Yash Chopra. This is about 18 minutes a long and is insightful. Chopra mentions how "Kabhi Kabhie" was not expected to be a hit, but became a box office smash. Also included is the original poem "Kabhi Kabhie" recited by Sahir Ludhianvi, who wrote the songs in this film. The visual in this feature is a picture of Ludhianvi, with a slideshow of stills from the movie next to his picture. Although this disc isn't exactly a special edition, the extras are a nice touch. The chapter selection is only a text list of the chapters with no pictures to accompany them. While not a major complaint, pictures certainly would have been nice.

Overall

The picture and sound were only fair, but the quality of the movie, songs, and supplements make up for it somewhat. However, since this is such a good movie, I can recommend this disc.