Work on the English, August DVD is now nearing completion.
Sound Designer P.M. Satheesh hunted down the original Digital tapes and has painstakingly built up the entire sound track from scratch. P.M. Satheesh calls it a ‘labour of love, for a movie which began the next generation of Indian cinema.’
The original location audio was recorded in digital stereo by the sound guru Vikram Joglekar. Vikram recorded the entire film in sync sound and English, August became the first Indian film to do this in a long long while after the 50’s. Vikram who is a master Dhrupad singer, head of Dolby Labs in Italy and a complete tech head is fondly called The Don. His knowledge of cinema sound and Indian classical music is legendary.
The original negative of the film is being mastered frame by frame on an ITK telecine at Famous Laboratories in Bombay under the supervision of Director of Photography Jogendra ‘Jean-Luc’ Panda.
The Director’s Cut of the film will be shorter than the theatrical version. Currently in production, the DVD will have a new Dolby Digital soundtrack. The DVD will also be made from the original 35mm negative in a widescreen edition enhanced for television and will include scenes screened once during its Toronto 1994 premiere and subsequently deleted from theatrical release — scenes never before featured in the film.
The DVD release will also feature additional music and a re-mixed soundtrack by Uday Benegal and Jayesh Gandhi of the group Alms for Shanti. The 35mm theatrical version to be released will then conform to this new edition.
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Hi Dev,
I can’t lie that I have seen your films but I am aware of their existence. I am aware of the texture of your body of work ; also the under production film incorporating Ravan sounds intriguing to say the least.
Tell me Dev, it must be hard making films of a different mould, especially since people are so uniformly conditioned in their understanding of cinema. Are you working on something currently? writing something?
And I must thank you for directing me to http://www.emotionaltoolbox.com through your site. I am a budding filmmaker/writer as well and must say the techniques she was asking to subscribe to will only but enhance characters. I was in India this past year, travelling, exploring and eating all the yummy delights. I stopped by Mumbai to see if I could work alongside /under a good film director and am planning of returning back to India next year hopefully. I want to write films that defy the mould yet keep the commercial aspect in tact. India is sooo culturally vast and the south asian plane itself has an abundance of stories that are hardly explored and vastly ignored for the sake of glamour.
Oops gotta run, sorry
Maria
yeah!!! Eagerly awaiting the DVD release!!! Kudos to u all!!
Hi Dev,
A group of friends is waiting desperately for the release of the DVD. How can we get to know as soon as its out? Once its released, we plan to watch it together. That will be one helluva experience.
Umesh
Umesh,
I’m waiting too! It’s all in the hands of my itinerant sound designer P.M. Satheesh who promises he will have it ready my mid 2006. The cover artwork, the image masters and everything else is ready to go!
dev
Hi Dev:
Waiting eagerly for the DVD realease. Any further news as to when that may happen?
G’day Dev
great that your doing this blog.
Just got back from india & tried in vain to find both your movies on DVD, having seen them their on screen years ago.
‘English August’ was the brilliant start but ‘split wide open’ was,for me, a revelation in indian cinema.(Also Mr Bose IS good when he’s on form;ie being properly directed!!).
It had important themes,working on many levels (like ’salam bombay’-the abandond child within us all), enabling urban india to look at itself, shot in a gritty, sharp contemporary way. (‘page three’, a weak movie, nicked one of the themes, no? …)
I saw it in a multi-plex in vasant vihar & noticed the strong audiance reaction.Brilliant.
Having enjoyed ‘bandit queen’ & a few others plus all those made by the 2 brilliant ladies from canada, it gave me hope for a new wave of non bollywood cinema.
(B’wd not realy the art & craft of cinematography to my mind.Or maybe just a different one, particular to a given set of culturaly restrictive socio/economic circumstances??Still crap though.).
Shame we’ve had to wait so long for both your next project & the dvd releases.
As i’m sure you’re aware there are many great english lang books coming out of india now.
But did you ever come across ‘river of gods’ by ian mcdonald? It struck me as asking to be made into a kind of indian ‘blade runner’, but also has a an obvious take on present day india within it.Anyway just a rambling thought.( sos cant help with ££$$ as i’m a mere civilian)
Whatever does come next is eagerly awaited.
Any films out at the moment that you would recomend?
‘15 pk ave’ was gd but not the ending.Magical realism was out of place.’Ek din 24…’& ‘chamali’ were both , dont wanna be rude here, but they both seemed loose & unfinished.Or did it all get lost in translation-subtitles?.
Unfortunatly I missed ‘Being Cyrus’ on screen. Any pointers? They dont have to be in english.
Give us a shout when the DVD’s happen & how to order from the UK.
Good luck for the future
Cheers jake
Hi Dev,
There are enough messages asking for the release of “English August” on DVD… have been eagerly waiting for mid of 2006, its June now and hope things are running on time at the lab…. hopefully you guys have some idea for the release date by now, please keep us updated… And also waiting for future great works.
cheers, Jagdish
Hey everyone, I’m as impatient as you are. Satheesh PM the sound engineer has finally completed the mix on English, August and is giving the DVD team a PAL and NTSC master. So watch out for both formats which will be region free.
I’m also looking at making this film available for digital download as well.
So what’s the date? I should imagine September and no later.
Dear Dev Benegal
First — I hope you know that English, August has just been published in the US in English and was reviewed in the Sunday New York Times today.
I wonder if there is any way this would present an opportunity for you to get your movie shown here (I am in New York), in theatres or on television. I will not be suprised if the book takes off and does well here.
Second – I have tried from time to time to find a way to see that movie but so far failed. I saw Split Wide Open at a film festival (Indian Diaspora in NY) some years ago and it made a big impression on me.
I am a non-South Asian fan of Indian films.
Anyhow – thanks for Split Wide Open and I hope to be able to find your work again soon.
Best wishes, Virginia Kelley NY, NY
Yes Virginia,
The previous post mentions the release of the book in the US 18 years after it was published. The DVD of English, August will be available Fall 2006.
Dev,
Just stumbled upon your blog after a long search session for English, August DVDs…
Can’t wait till September to get my hands on a copy of this movie. It is one of my all time favourites… and I have hunted like crazy for a copy of this for the last god knows how many years. Last saw it on Star Movies a good 8 years ago or so.
I remember seeing it in Eros when it was released, and to your credit, we could not heckle the movie even once
We watched it with absolute reverence, and left the theater with a huge grin on our faces, which lasted for a couple of days. Probably the first Indian movie in English which I remember seeing.
Good luck with Mammaries of the welfare state!
hi dev..guess patience is running out as dvd is nearing preparation.pls do update as soon as its ready for release..n all the best for ur venture on mammaries..hope it turns out to be exactly wat u want..good luck
Hey Dev,
I am big fan of both the book and the movie. Its the end of August and I eagerly await the release in September. Are you thinking of filming any more of Upamanyu Chatterjee’s work?
Ranjit
Hello Dev,
Looking for to the release of English, August and Split Wide Open. What’s the latest on the release. Thanks
Cynthia
Hi Dev,
This is the first time August is coming after September, Guess this because its “English August” DVD… eagerly waiting to hear the release date…
september’s come and gone..
Hi Dev,
Waiting for updates …
~Manik
Any updates on when the DVD may become available? Also will it be released simultaneously in India and the US, or will we have to wait 18 years for it to reach these shores?
Cheers!
wow! this is great
I loved the film way back in the 1990s (when i was still trudging through school and as usual, life seemed all about existential angst) Just wondering if the DVD has been released. Also, any plans of releasing ‘Split Wide Open’ on DVD? That would be great,
Cheers!
Well, Sept’06 has long been history………any updates please……..
Hi Dev,
IT’s middle of january 2007, give us the good news. when is English August dvd is finally coming out.
I remember some glimse of it long time back. need to refresh
Cheers !