Malayalam Bluray Discussion thread!

[ashik786]

There might be a chance for Kummatty on Criterion Blu as a part of upcoming Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project

[Dragun]

Originally Posted by ashik786

There might be a chance for Kummatty on Criterion Blu as a part of upcoming Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project

The next WCF set is coming in September, so Kummatty will probably be on the one after that, some time next year.

I watched the film streaming last night, and while the streaming compression wasn't the best, it did give an idea about the restoration. Might just be my monitor but it had a slight Ritrovata yellow tinge. Looked great overall though, considering the state of the elements, and I'd love to see it on the Blu with better compression. The Film Foundation site also has an interviews with Ramu Aravindan and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

[CelestialAgent]

Have any Malayalam Blu-rays besides Thamp ever included extra features, or does it tend to be only the film? Extras seem to be more common with Hindi films. Or are there any that aren’t on streaming/VOD, but are available on disc?

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Have any Malayalam Blu-rays besides Thamp ever included extra features, or does it tend to be only the film? Extras seem to be more common with Hindi films. Or are there any that aren’t on streaming/VOD, but are available on disc?

The blu-ray of Eecha the Malayalam dub of Rajamouli's Eega featured extras.

Second Run's release of Thampu is not in any way representative of your standard Indian company BD release. They're a UK-based boutique label dedicated to arthouse releases of films from around the world.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by ravenus

The blu-ray of Eecha the Malayalam dub of Rajamouli's Eega featured extras.

Would be interested in watching Eega, but reviews of the transfer from the time seem quite negative.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Would be interested in watching Eega, but reviews of the transfer from the time seem quite negative.

From what I recall, the issues are baked into the DPX files approved by the DoP, and there is no possibility of redoing that. Basically image contrast is hot, with black crush flattening darker areas. The Malayalam dub version from AP International is supposed to look better than the Telugu blu-ray - They've tried to improve the contrast, and the encode itself is quite solid, supervised by the very reliable Shahran Sunny Audit.