Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu (CGR) Blu-Ray soon!!!

Just got the Info from my friend working in Aditya Music  

CGR's home video rights are with Aditya

CGR DVDs & Blurays will be released Jan 1st week into Market 

Racha Blu-Ray by Aditya

A big surprise!!! My hopes went down the drain for this one but it is finally coming out!!

Daruvu Blu-Ray by Bhavani

Did not expect this one to come out this early; but happy anyway!!!

Upcoming Telugu Blu-Rays!!!

Rebel by Sri Balaji Videos
Daruvu by Bhavani Videos

Both have a chance of coming out by the end of the year or early next year.

Julayi Blu-Ray Release postponed!!

Oh God!! Not again!! Julayi Blu-Ray released has been postponed to December 25th. Volga is really getting on my nerves. It has been over a month since the DVD released and this wait is just not acceptable!

Julayi and Shiridi Sai Blu-Rays!!!

Coming up by Volga. December 2nd week is the announced date. Let's see if their punctual. Volga always has a tendency to go beyond the dead line. 

Real HD Theatrical Trailers in TFI till now...

The following trailers are the only officially released ones from TFI that are Real HD meaning 1080P ( Real Blu-Ray Quality!!)...Enjoy!!
Try to watch the videos in 1080P or atleast 720P...

My Latest Blu-Ray Wishlist!!!

• Life is Beautiful - loved the visuals, excellent songs. A feel good film. 
• Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu - loved Power Star's sheer magnetism onscreen though the film had inadequate visuals
• Avunu - nice suspense thriller
• Rebel - only for Tamanna!!!
• Andala Rakshasi - great songs, excellent visuals, and a poetic feel overall.
• Endukante Premanta - this one for Tamanna too!!!

Eega's DPX mess-up!!!

Eega's Blu-Ray came out recently and although I didn't receive my copy yet, people have been telling me about its below average video quality and I am quite disappointed since Eega was one of the best films of the year. The home video company that has Eecha's (Malayalam) rights complained about the messed up original DPX files. In one their representatives words, "We created the first test disc. While the quality of the encode is excellent, we are having trouble with the blacks and contrast levels. Looks like whoever worked on the original DPX color correction (in post production) messed it up big time!!

They crushed the blacks to make the CGI blend in more with the film. 

Now I understand why the Telugu blu-ray version has "BLACK LEVELS" problems - its all down to the poor DPX colors which the director approved!!

Its a catch-22. 

Also the original DPX has high levels of DNVR levels. It seems the 35mm film had developed much wear and tear during principle photography. The post production studio who worked on the final mastering applied DNR to remove the wear and tear. All skin details and film grain were wiped out. 

The overall DPX file of EECHA/EEGA/NAAN-EE is a mess and is taking our time to sort it out. 

We'll do our best to improve the quality..."

This is big letdown. How did a maverick film maker like Rajamouli accept this?? This is a major loss for the right holders since coming with a decent looking Blu-Ray would be close to impossible with such DPX files. Hope Telugu film makers realize this...

Julayi Blu-Ray by Volga

I have sky high expectations on this Blu-Ray since the Julayi's DVD quality has been outstanding. Although, the Blu-Ray was to be released on 11/17/12, no updates from Volga till now! Why can't our home video companies be punctual with the release dates? Anyway, hope they come out with a jaw-dropping Blu-Ray!!!

Eega's Tri-Lingual Blu-Ray Release

Eega is the only film in Telugu film industry to have Blu-Ray releases in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam. First time that a dubbed movie is having Blu-Ray releases in Tamil and Malayalam. This clearly shows on how big a hit Eega was in other languages. Here are the Blu-Ray Covers from Telugu and Malayalam (Tamil version will be out soon)

Eega (Telugu) by Aditya Video

Eecha (Malayalam) by AP International

Vedam Blu-Ray Review

Before I get into the review, I apologize for the late review. I've had this Blu-Ray since June but never got time since I was in India over the summer. Vedam was on my wishlist Blu-Ray and I almost lost hope on its Blu-Ray release but surprisingly it came out almost after two years from its theatrical release. Anyway, Vedam Blu-Ray is of top-notch quality. Every aspect, in terms of video and audio, were perfect. This can easily be rated as one of the best telugu Blu-Rays till date. This Blu-Ray is brought to us by Volga.

Video Quality:
This Blu-Ray is Dual-Layered (50GB). Like I said the video quality is pristine. Not even a single frame lost consistency (I am mentioning this since most of the recent telugu Blu-Ray releases suffered consistency issues with quality/color). Like I said earlier, Vedam Blu-Ray is one of the best Blu-Rays released till now; on par with the quality of Magadheera's. I am very happy with the work done by Volga since I did not expect such a terrific product from them. The songs in this movie are inter-woven with the story, so the songs aren't really the ones you see in a commercial movie. Thus, the songs don't really have 'that repeat value' but the movie as a whole does.

Audio Quality:
This one has two audio tracks; Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS HD Master Audio. Both of them are of perfect quality. The movie had terrific background score and it sounded wonderful in my speakers. The songs "Now or Never", "Roopai", "Vedam", "Malli Puttani" has tremendous lyrical value and listening to these songs gave me goosebumps. Overall, audio quality was great.

Others:
Although this Blu-Ray was excellent, the cover art sucked big time and it looked very cheap. This comes out as a bummer. But I wouldn't really give this a damn since the Blu-Ray was great. Bad-looking font used on the back. No additional features.

Recommendation:
This is a must buy for all those Blu-Ray lovers out there. I am quite sure you will love it. I, especially, loved the movie for its innovation in screenplay, dialogues, human values, and excellent performances by Allu Arjun, Anushka, Manchu Manoj, Nagayya, Manoj Bajpai, and the grandson of Nagayya (in the movie).  I've had tears in my eyes when watching certain scenes in the movie and I feel like director Krish is the future of Telugu Cinema. Although heftily priced, it is definitely worth it!

Blu-Ray Price:
$24.99

Blu-Ray Rating:
4/5

Ishq Blu-Ray Review

Ishq Blu-Ray, overall, is an okay type. The cinematography of the film stands out and it reflects the overall look of the Blu-Ray since I feel that the better the cinematography the better a film would look on Blu-Ray. This Blu-Ray is brought to us by Bhavani.

Audio Quality:
This Blu-Ray has three audio tracks, Dolby True HD, DTS HD Master, and 5.1 Dolby Digital. All of them were good. The songs in the film stand out. The film's audio is very breezy and doesn't have any loudness attached to it (A surprise since most of the telugu films' audios are a bit loud).

Video Quality:
This Blu-Ray is a single layered one (25GB). The video quality is the type you expect from the standard of Bhavani. Their earlier Blu-Rays were outstanding, even single-layered Blu-Ray discs such as Panjaa. Ooseravalli, and Solo were good. Overall, the video quality is okay. The songs had great visuals and they were a treat to watch.

Others:
The cover was pretty good. I liked it, set the feel for a nice romantic film. As always, Bhavani comes up with nice font for description on the back. No special features.

Recommendation:
The reason I bought this Blu-Ray is for the euphonious songs and the breezy entertainment weaved throughout the film. Watching this film is like drinking a nice cup of coffee. If you felt the same, Go for it!

Blu-Ray Price:
$19.99

Blu-Ray Rating:
3/5

Gabbar Singh Blu-Ray Review

 

Gabbar Singh Blu-Ray, overall, has been a roller coaster ride. The video quality is inconsistent. The quality was great here and there. I have no complaints with the audio. The songs were great to watch on Blu-Ray, especially my favorite Pilla song. This Blu-Ray is brought to us by Sri Balaji Video.

Audio Quality:
The Blu-Ray disc has two audio tracks, DTS HD Master 5.1 and LPCM 5.1 48KHZ/16Bit. Both of them are fine and I have no qualms about it. The audio was a bit loud here and there but I guess that was intentional. The songs scored by Devi Sri Prasad are fantabulous! I would say Gabbar Singh's album is the best in 2012.

Video Quality:
This is a dual layered Blu-Ray disc (50GB) and one expects top notch quality since this movie is one of the biggest blockbusters and Sri Balaji Video company, I feel like, takes extra care when coming out with such movies. But, overall, SBV came out with a half-baked product. It was very inconsistent as a whole. Some shots were grainy, some were okay, some were excellent. And the colors have been tweaked a little (I know this since I watched this movie twice in the theaters here in New Jersey) but I can say most of the viewers wouldn't pay close attention to such things.

Others:
The cover is not the best; it was very ordinary. No special features or additions. SBV should start adding at least a making DVD with their Blu-Rays (especially Blockbuster movies) since, I feel like, it attracts more customers. The font used for description on back is still the same.

Recommendation:
Being a Pawan Kalyan fan, I expected a better Blu-Ray. Something on par with that of Magadheera's. So I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, it is a decent buy since the movie has tremendous repeat value though the Blu-Ray is heftily priced. Go fot it if you loved GS!

Blu-Ray Price:
$24.99

Blu-Ray Rating:
3/5

Upcoming Telugu Blu-Rays

Julayi (By Volga) Releasing on November 16th

Eagerly waiting for these!!!

Newly out!!

• Dookudu (Volga only in India)
• Ooseravelli (Volga in India and BhavaniDVD overseas)
• Eega (Aditya) 

will post reviews soon!!!

Coming Up Blu-rays

• Vedam by Volga
• Panjaa by Volga

Volga started releasing mainstream blu-rays...Good!!