Tagore Stories on Film

[L.A.]

People recommended Induna.com so I ordered my copy from there. They ship via courier (DHL Express).

The set was 6,90€ + shipping charges 13,05€, total sum 19,95€. It was shipped this week on Wednesday and it arrived today, neatly packed. Very pleased!

[perkizitore]

The website states that shipping is $12 per item, how come they charged you more (maybe boxsets do not count as single items)?

[MichaelB]

It's a pretty hefty box (broadly equivalent to the BFI's Land of Promise in size and weight), so it wouldn't surprise me.

Incidentally, I should probably add that the transfers appear to be interlaced - I didn't spot this earlier as my various DVD systems automatically compensate, but this might be an issue for some people.

[max_cherry]

Just got it from MyIndiaShopping.com (thank you, perkizitore). Total charges are Rs 724 (399 set + 325 shipping). Inside fold-out case was torn a bit, but all and all I'll try to forget about it considering the price of box-set. By the way, subtitles on "Home and the World" are optional vs. fixed ones on Artificial Eye' set.

[MichaelB]

This wonderful edition would have been even better if it included Ray's Charulata. I am not sure why they decided not to include it. It is clearly one of the great renditions of a Tagore story on film.

Now that I've explored the first four discs, the programming rationale is becoming clearer. The aim seems to be as much to stress the variety of Tagore adaptations as their quality, and while Satyajit Ray unavoidably looms large (signing three out of the seven films, albeit one an hour-long documentary), I can see why they didn't want him to completely overwhelm everything else.

I assume this is why they went for the 1961 Hindi version of Kabuliwala instead of Tapan Sinha's arguably more acclaimed Bengali adaptation from 1957, because Sinha's Hungry Stones (1960) is also included. And I really enjoyed the contrast between Sinha's quiet, sensitive ghost story and Hemen Gupta's boisterous quasi-musical melodrama - it would have been a shame not to have included some authentic Bollywood, and the segue from the protagonist's sentence to ten years' hard labour to a studio-staged children's song-and-dance fantasy straight out of The Singing Ringing Tree is one of my more treasurably bizarre film moments of recent weeks.

[perkizitore]

My set arrived yesterday and although the box isn't damaged, there is a big water stain on it!
I have complained about it, hopefully they will use bubble-wrapped envelopes in the future...

[zedz]

Mine arrived fine, wrapped sturdily in a Bollywood poster and plastic sections from old DVD cases. Corners a little compressed, but otherwise fine. Beautiful package: such incredible value! Thanks for the release and purchasing tips, all.

[zedz]

Reporting back on this bargain, now that I've watched everything but Home and the World (which I saw only a few years ago):

It's an interesting selection of films, very diverse in their approach to the Tagore sources. Be warned that the transfers are all over the place, however. So, in order of quality (apart from Home and the World, which I haven't seen but from MichaelB's report would probably rank second):

Three Daughters - As MichaelB noted, this is a very good transfer of a very good restoration of a very good film. The second episode is the one that's omitted from international releases and I can sort of see why, since it has quite a different tone from the others, and has a problematic denouement to boot. Up until then, however, it's exquisitely modulated, atmospheric and eerie. The problem is that the payoff is perfunctory compared to the build-up, but it's hardly the only horror movie with that problem.

Rabindranath Tagore - Solid transfer that looks like it might have come from a 16mm source. You can see the frame edges and it's slightly windowboxed. But this is really a delightful film, a very compact biography using plenty of documents (photographs, texts, newsreels) and augmenting it with brief staged vignettes. The fragment of Tagore's own film on the same disc is intriguing but pretty drab cinematically. The commentator claims that it's stylistically radical at one point, but it looks to me much more like he just stuck a static camera in front of a stage performance.

Hungry Stones - Okay transfer of a rather battered source, but this is a great film. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more from Sinha.

Four Chapters - Decent transfer, decent source, but there's a standards-conversion issue which renders movement (particularly camera movement) jerky, which is very unfortunate. May not be so noticeable on a CRT, I don't know. The film is an interesting and ambitious one, but I felt it was let down by average acting and blocking of the dialogue scenes, which at times approached the torpor of a daytime soap.

Kabuliwala - Fine old-fashioned Bollywood melodrama that was entertaining enough but let down by a really smeary, weak analogue transfer. Which was presumably all that was available.

So transfer-wise, this set really runs the gamut, but everything's watchable and it's more than worth the money for the Ray films alone.

[Gregory]

In a misguided attempt to keep the kevyip under control, I put off ordering this and am now finding it discontinued at every site I've checked (except one): MyIndiaShopping.com, RhythmHouse.in, BollyRetails, Induna.com, one or two others. The site that still seems to have it is Scholars Without Borders, where I'll be paying more for the shipping alone than others here paid for their entire orders, unless anyone has another suggestion of where to find it, which would be much appreciated.

[matrixschmatrix]

What's it listing for you? It looked like the total was about 1400 rupees shipped when I looked, which is comparable to what I paid- it's still in the $30 region.

[Gregory]

Yeah, it's still a good price even with the shipping charge of Rs 950 compared to (if I'm not mistaken) Rs 349 shipping at MyIndiaShopping if I'd ordered sooner. I just thought someone might know of an less expensive alternative. I've also not read anything about how trustworthy Scholars Without Borders site is, but I'm not too worried.

[Perkins Cobb]

Gregory, I just did exactly the same thing a couple of days ago. Great minds, etc. I fear the SWB site may be too good to be true, and they'll find themselves out of stock when they try to fulfill our orders. Crossing my fingers.

If that doesn't work out I will sic my one Indian art-world friend on the problem, but I'm not optimistic there, either. Like the out of print KFA releases, torrenting may end up being the end result.

[Gregory]

Yep, SWB just cancelled my order. Please do get your friend on the case if possible, but I've checked over a dozen online stores and it seems completely gone. The set seemed like such a major "event" that I thought it'd be available for at least a year or so, but in hindsight it was a really bad idea for me to procrastinate.

[Perkins Cobb]

Yep, SWB just cancelled my order. Please do get your friend on the case if possible, but I've checked over a dozen online stores and it seems completely gone. The set seemed like such a major "event" that I thought it'd be available for at least a year or so, but in hindsight it was a really bad idea for me to procrastinate.

Yep, me too. Somehow I missed that thread last year or I would've jumped all over that in a heartbeat. If anybody has one and wants to swap or sell, perhaps they'll PM us.

[BollyRetails]

Just for the kind attention, Tagore Stories on Film (DVD Box Set) is up again. Although the stocks are limited, due to licensing issues.
We would take a liberty to post a link here. http://bit.ly/KYUlkc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Gregory]

I log in and add the set to my shopping cart, and it shows "Item(s) - 1, subtotal: Rs.399.00" in the upper right corner. But then when I click "Checkout" I get the following message:

Login Time Out
Whoops! Sorry, but you are not allowed to perform the action requested.
You are still logged in to your account and may continue shopping. Please choose a destination from a menu.

[perkizitore]

Also, it says you can press the Paypal button for express checkout, but I cannot find it anywhere...

[Jeff Bannow]

Same problem here - I can place it in my cart, but can't view my cart or check out.

[BollyRetails]

Same problem here - I can place it in my cart, but can't view my cart or check out.

We have checked with the system, and it's working fine. The orders are being received. Please restart your browser. Still if you face difficulty, please contact our customer support, with your requirement and destination. We can arrange for a direct order.

[Gregory]

I encountered the same problem with two different browsers. Just restarted Firefox and the problem persists.
When I put a different item in my cart and go to check out, I don't seem to encounter any problems.

[Jeff Bannow]

Same problem here - I can place it in my cart, but can't view my cart or check out.

We have checked with the system, and it's working fine. The orders are being received. Please restart your browser. Still if you face difficulty, please contact our customer support, with your requirement and destination. We can arrange for a direct order.

I was able to order through the invoice you sent (along with some other movies too). Thanks!

[Kauno]

Sub-Total: $8.87
Shipping Charges to your Zone (Zone-B): $31.68
Total: $40.55

That is kinda high postage, but I'll take it.

[Perkins Cobb]

Anybody else try contacting BollyRetails about buying this and not get a response?

[L.A.]

Back in stock at Induna.com as well.

[Perkins Cobb]

Woo-hoo! Finally scored one, from Induna. Cheap; fast shipping; recommended.