I’ve decided to put comments on vacation.
I have in the past loved your thoughts, comments and rants. Even when most of them were asking about the DVD of English, August. A torturous process I have written about and will continue to do so until the film is out again to view.
I still plan to write on this site. Though I am thinking about what shape this page can take in the future.
If you have any thoughts or comments you can use Twitter.
A surprise package was waiting for me yesterday evening.
Jaya Vasant the gracious Senior Manager from the Prasad Group sent me a disk with a sample of restored clips from English, August.
Here is a sample. It’s a long-long process to get this completed.
Let me know what you think.
English, August Restoration sample from dev benegal on Vimeo.
Reader Shashi asks if my simple poll of your favorite scene from English, August will lead to a DVD. Mayur Doshi has his favorite scene. Though Rishi Tandon, Shaswat and Prashant are getting impatient.
I’ve located two 35mm prints of English, August. A reel from them is being sent to various post production facilities in Bombay to determine what they do to restore the film.  I do recall seeing a very good print in Delhi which the Directorate of Films Festivals has. The subtitles were random. The Telugu dialogs especially in the final scenes were not subtitled which made the end difficult to follow. But what this does mean is that the print is “clean” for the most part. Clean in film lingo means without any text or subtitles on the image. This helps in the restoration process.
Once we get the results of the tests I’ll be a step closer towards the end of this process.
I’m planning on writing about the restoration process and also why my film got into this situation.
So let’s say this: 2011 will be a good year.
What’s your favorite scene from English, August?
I’m taking a poll and will post that as a teaser.
July 2–July 8 4:50pm daily
Laemmle Sunset 5 (8000 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood)
Tribeca Film is coming to Los Angeles!
Ten Films! Two Weeks!
June 25 – July 8
Tribeca Film, supported by Founding Partner American Express®, brings you the best of independent and foreign film (including titles from the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival) online, on demand, and in theaters all across the country. If you live in the Los Angeles area, you can see Road, Movie screening from July 2 – July 8 at 4:50pm daily at the Laemmle Sunset 5 (8000 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood).
Tribeca Film titles range from romantic comedies and animated sci-fi thrillers to sports documentaries and rock-and-roll biopics. Check out the other Tribeca Films screening in Los Angeles and around the country here http://www.tribecafilm.com/tribecafilm/tf-filmguide/
If you can’t make it to a theater, you can still watch at home – Tribeca Film is also available on Amazon On Demand and Vudu in the US until mid August.
See you at the movies!
www.tribecafilm.com
I’ve been away from this weblog for a while.
We’ve been preparing for the US release of Road, Movie. It’s an historic moment and one my cast and team are thrilled about.
But for now here are responses to your questions.
Claudio: Yes the film on Ramanujan is in the works.
Ajay: SBS had the rights to screen English, August. Not issue DVD’s. I’ve written elsewhere about the challenges I’m facing on this. I hope there will be a DVD of English, August sometime soon. In the meanwhile there’s Upamanyu’s book which is my favorite too.
Prasad: I’m trying to convince Sony Music about releasing the soundtrack with Michael Brook’s amazing music. This is a tough one.
Navin: I saw Road, Movie in the cinemas with audiences at different show times. The reaction all across was amazing. I loved that the audience got the story of the film and let themselves go on the ride. It’s a different matter that some reviewers in the Indian media did not get the film. But then I’ve always found that Indian audiences are far smarter than reviewers. We don’t have any critics as yet so until then it’s audiences zindabad. And for me watching my film with an audience is the best film school I could ever go to.
There are few review / essays worth reading from Siddharth Pillai and Chintan-Flying and Mathures Paul.
Ares: Thank you! It’s feedback like this which makes us do what we want to do!
G: Thank you. I love your 9 points. Did you notice that the wall of posters behind the drivers seat has a poster from the film Mela.
Baiscope Wallah: Road, Movie premieres on April 25, 2010 in New York and then is released through Tribeca Films. Visit August Entertainment for all the details on the US release.