Gandhi does not seem to have the original Hindi soundtrack - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

paragmehta · 07-09-2001, 06:33 PM

Don't know what columbia is up to, but 'Gandhi' does not seem to have the original Hindi soundtrack. It's so cool to listen to the dialogs in Hindi and have English subtitles when required.

saraswati · 07-09-2001, 06:57 PM

what do you mean, "original"? i thought it was a british film...

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deep in the heat of the bush...

Dehrian · 07-09-2001, 07:44 PM

It is a British film. I don't know what he's talking about either, except that part of the dialogue may have originally been in Hindi with English subtitles.

How would you know that's not the case, anyway, paragmehta? The disc doesn't even come out for over a month.

Hendrik · 07-09-2001, 07:55 PM

"...the original Hindi soundtrack..."

paragmehta's right, you know! All those famous British actors (Trevor Howard, Sir John Gielgud, Edward Fox, John Mills and, of course, Ben Kingsley - even the lovely, American-born Candice Bergen [daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, he of Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd fame]) learned to speak fluent Hindi before starting work on the movie. The director, Richard Attenborough, also went the whole hundred yards for this epic film, shouting "Action!" in Hindi through a megaphone when directing a scene. All of this considerable effort certainly helped to give the movie a rare degree of verisimilitude...

. . .

paragmehta · 07-09-2001, 08:18 PM

Guys, I put it in a wrong way.

Yes the film was shot in English, but was also dubbed in Hindi as half of the actors could speak Hindi (the Indian actors) and it's their voice in Hindi, not third persons. Obviously the film being part of that region, I was expecting Hindi soundtrack on the DVD.

From the Columbia anouncements it does not seem they have one.

Remember, there is very little interaction in the movie between non-Indian characters (not actors) which made a Hindi version possible. Of course someone filled in for Ben Kingsley.

I have seen both the Hindi and English versions of the movie but can't seem to remember if both had mixed dialogues, more of one and less of other.

saraswati · 07-09-2001, 09:09 PM

i think columbia is not doing a hindi dub because they tend to use the same languages all the time on their discs, regardless of the film's ethnic flavor or past language dubs. most of the discs i've seen include foreign language dubs in french and spanish, as well as the occaisional portugese. i think this is because these languages are some of the most common spoken in the US, Canada, and other places within region 1. a hindi track would probably only be included in whatever region India uses, because there just aren't that many hindi speakers in the US, and American discs need to save the space for the languages that have the most american speakers.

also, i have a question i've wondered about for a long time. since you seem familiar with Indian languages, film, etc. maybe you could answer it.

i've heard that, in India, a huge variety of languages and dialects are spoken (gujarathi, punjabi, marathi, etc.). so what do film studios and distributors do? do they have to make dozens of different dubbed versions? do they make a few dubbed tracks in the more prevalent languages, then provide subtitles for all the less common dialects?

------------------
deep in the heat of the bush...

paragmehta · 07-09-2001, 11:01 PM

There are a whole bunch of languages in the region and the soundtrack does not exist for all these languages, though it does exist for Hindi for this movie.

As far as hollywood films go, yes when they are released in south-east asia, the popular ones are dubbed to Hindi and sometimes sound silly/stupid (imagine Jurassic Park and Titanic). But not this one, except for a couple of characters, all the main characters are from the Hindi film industry and have lend their own voice to the soundtrack in Hindi.

As far as the Hindi film industry goes, usually there are dubs for only Hindi and Tamil (the other popular language in south India). Otherwise, if a movie is successful, it is usually remade by a totally different cast and director in another language and so on.

And I am sure Columbia is not going to release the movie in region 5 (or which ever) with Hindi soundtrack since it will not make as much money as regoin 1 and 2.

saraswati · 07-10-2001, 02:28 PM

i'm not sure what you're talking about when you say that most of the cast of Gandhi are native hindi speakers. here's a list from IMDB.

Ben Kingsley .... Mahatma Gandhi
Candice Bergen .... Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox .... General Dyer
John Gielgud .... Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard .... Judge Broomfield
John Mills (I) .... The Viceroy
Martin Sheen .... Vince Walker, Reporter
Ian Charleson .... Reverend Andrews
Athol Fugard .... Jan Christian Smuts
Günther Maria Halmer .... Herman Kallenbach
Saeed Jaffrey .... Sardar Patel
Geraldine James .... Mirabehn
Alyque Padamsee .... Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Amrish Puri .... Kahn
Roshan Seth

only 2 of those names are Indian. The rest of the main cast is British or american. I'm fairly certain that Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, etc. are not fluent (or even competent) hindi speakers.

In fact, I'm surprised that Indians have supported the film, since I would be pretty pissed off if one of the most important figures in my culture's recent history was portrayed in a movie about him by someone of a different race/ethnicity. especially if he were played by a citizen of the country that oppressed my people for centuries.

Also, while i'm not familiar with dvd release patterns in the less significant regions, i don't really see why it wouldn't be in Columbia's interest to release Gandhi in India. many of the foreign films that are relevant to americans have been released here. And i'd think that releasing Gandhi in India would be understood.

------------------
deep in the heat of the bush...

paragmehta · 07-10-2001, 04:24 PM

Ben Kingsley
Real name: Krishna Bhanji
Krishna changed his name to Ben Kingsley
when he decided to become an actor.
His father told him if he wanted an acting
career he had better get an English name.

So, your main actor is actually an Indian, if you did not know it.

In addition, the list of characters is incomplete and is not in the order in which characters get screen time and dialogue. For example, Rohini Hattangidi who plays Gandhi's wife and has a decent amount of role (more than a whole bunch of other characters listed) is not even listed here.

So, from what I remember, the major roles are:

Ben Kingsley .... Mahatma Gandhi
Martin Sheen .... Vince Walker, Reporter
Saeed Jaffrey .... Sardar Patel
Alyque Padamsee .... Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Amrish Puri .... Kahn
Roshan Seth .... Nehru
Rohini Hattangidi .... Gandhi's Wife

Other than the Martin Sheen, everyone else is Indian and can speak Hindi very very well, they are in fact India actors (exception Ben who is India but not a Hindi film industry actor).

About who makes the movie, that's irrelevant, because there have been a whole bunch of movies and shows and documentaries on Gandhi's life and times made in India by Indian crews, this is the only major one that is not. And if the character is properly portraid in the movie as in real life (without distorting history) and gets proper international exposure, I wouldn't worry too much if someone else makes the movie. In this case the main character IS INDIAN.

saraswati · 07-10-2001, 04:33 PM

wow! well, you learn something new every day, i guess...

i wasn't trying insult you by saying most of the actors were british or american, i just checked up on IMDB and saw that the majority of the cast seemed to be not indian.

------------------
deep in the heat of the bush...

[This message has been edited by saraswati (edited 07-10-2001).]

07-09-2001, 06:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
paragmehta Actor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA	Gandhi does not seem to have the original Hindi soundtrack Don't know what columbia is up to, but 'Gandhi' does not seem to have the original Hindi soundtrack. It's so cool to listen to the dialogs in Hindi and have English subtitles when required.

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07-09-2001, 06:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	what do you mean, "original"? i thought it was a british film... ------------------ deep in the heat of the bush...

07-09-2001, 07:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dehrian Actor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: CA	It is a British film. I don't know what he's talking about either, except that part of the dialogue may have originally been in Hindi with English subtitles. How would you know that's not the case, anyway, paragmehta? The disc doesn't even come out for over a month.

07-09-2001, 07:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
Hendrik Actor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Neuenhof, Switzerland	"...the original Hindi soundtrack..." paragmehta's right, you know! All those famous British actors (Trevor Howard, Sir John Gielgud, Edward Fox, John Mills and, of course, Ben Kingsley - even the lovely, American-born Candice Bergen [daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, he of Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd fame]) learned to speak fluent Hindi before starting work on the movie. The director, Richard Attenborough, also went the whole hundred yards for this epic film, shouting "Action!" in Hindi through a megaphone when directing a scene. All of this considerable effort certainly helped to give the movie a rare degree of verisimilitude... . . .

07-09-2001, 08:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
paragmehta Actor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA	Guys, I put it in a wrong way. Yes the film was shot in English, but was also dubbed in Hindi as half of the actors could speak Hindi (the Indian actors) and it's their voice in Hindi, not third persons. Obviously the film being part of that region, I was expecting Hindi soundtrack on the DVD. From the Columbia anouncements it does not seem they have one. Remember, there is very little interaction in the movie between non-Indian characters (not actors) which made a Hindi version possible. Of course someone filled in for Ben Kingsley. I have seen both the Hindi and English versions of the movie but can't seem to remember if both had mixed dialogues, more of one and less of other.

07-09-2001, 09:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	i think columbia is not doing a hindi dub because they tend to use the same languages all the time on their discs, regardless of the film's ethnic flavor or past language dubs. most of the discs i've seen include foreign language dubs in french and spanish, as well as the occaisional portugese. i think this is because these languages are some of the most common spoken in the US, Canada, and other places within region 1. a hindi track would probably only be included in whatever region India uses, because there just aren't that many hindi speakers in the US, and American discs need to save the space for the languages that have the most american speakers. also, i have a question i've wondered about for a long time. since you seem familiar with Indian languages, film, etc. maybe you could answer it. i've heard that, in India, a huge variety of languages and dialects are spoken (gujarathi, punjabi, marathi, etc.). so what do film studios and distributors do? do they have to make dozens of different dubbed versions? do they make a few dubbed tracks in the more prevalent languages, then provide subtitles for all the less common dialects? ------------------ deep in the heat of the bush...

07-09-2001, 11:01 PM	#7 (permalink)
paragmehta Actor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA	There are a whole bunch of languages in the region and the soundtrack does not exist for all these languages, though it does exist for Hindi for this movie. As far as hollywood films go, yes when they are released in south-east asia, the popular ones are dubbed to Hindi and sometimes sound silly/stupid (imagine Jurassic Park and Titanic). But not this one, except for a couple of characters, all the main characters are from the Hindi film industry and have lend their own voice to the soundtrack in Hindi. As far as the Hindi film industry goes, usually there are dubs for only Hindi and Tamil (the other popular language in south India). Otherwise, if a movie is successful, it is usually remade by a totally different cast and director in another language and so on. And I am sure Columbia is not going to release the movie in region 5 (or which ever) with Hindi soundtrack since it will not make as much money as regoin 1 and 2.

07-10-2001, 02:28 PM	#8 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	i'm not sure what you're talking about when you say that most of the cast of Gandhi are native hindi speakers. here's a list from IMDB. Ben Kingsley .... Mahatma Gandhi Candice Bergen .... Margaret Bourke-White Edward Fox .... General Dyer John Gielgud .... Lord Irwin Trevor Howard .... Judge Broomfield John Mills (I) .... The Viceroy Martin Sheen .... Vince Walker, Reporter Ian Charleson .... Reverend Andrews Athol Fugard .... Jan Christian Smuts Günther Maria Halmer .... Herman Kallenbach Saeed Jaffrey .... Sardar Patel Geraldine James .... Mirabehn Alyque Padamsee .... Mohammed Ali Jinnah Amrish Puri .... Kahn Roshan Seth only 2 of those names are Indian. The rest of the main cast is British or american. I'm fairly certain that Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, etc. are not fluent (or even competent) hindi speakers. In fact, I'm surprised that Indians have supported the film, since I would be pretty pissed off if one of the most important figures in my culture's recent history was portrayed in a movie about him by someone of a different race/ethnicity. especially if he were played by a citizen of the country that oppressed my people for centuries. Also, while i'm not familiar with dvd release patterns in the less significant regions, i don't really see why it wouldn't be in Columbia's interest to release Gandhi in India. many of the foreign films that are relevant to americans have been released here. And i'd think that releasing Gandhi in India would be understood. ------------------ deep in the heat of the bush...

07-10-2001, 04:24 PM	#9 (permalink)
paragmehta Actor Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Newport, Jersey City, NJ, USA	Ben Kingsley Real name: Krishna Bhanji Krishna changed his name to Ben Kingsley when he decided to become an actor. His father told him if he wanted an acting career he had better get an English name. So, your main actor is actually an Indian, if you did not know it. In addition, the list of characters is incomplete and is not in the order in which characters get screen time and dialogue. For example, Rohini Hattangidi who plays Gandhi's wife and has a decent amount of role (more than a whole bunch of other characters listed) is not even listed here. So, from what I remember, the major roles are: Ben Kingsley .... Mahatma Gandhi Martin Sheen .... Vince Walker, Reporter Saeed Jaffrey .... Sardar Patel Alyque Padamsee .... Mohammed Ali Jinnah Amrish Puri .... Kahn Roshan Seth .... Nehru Rohini Hattangidi .... Gandhi's Wife Other than the Martin Sheen, everyone else is Indian and can speak Hindi very very well, they are in fact India actors (exception Ben who is India but not a Hindi film industry actor). About who makes the movie, that's irrelevant, because there have been a whole bunch of movies and shows and documentaries on Gandhi's life and times made in India by Indian crews, this is the only major one that is not. And if the character is properly portraid in the movie as in real life (without distorting history) and gets proper international exposure, I wouldn't worry too much if someone else makes the movie. In this case the main character IS INDIAN.

07-10-2001, 04:33 PM	#10 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	wow! well, you learn something new every day, i guess... i wasn't trying insult you by saying most of the actors were british or american, i just checked up on IMDB and saw that the majority of the cast seemed to be not indian. ------------------ deep in the heat of the bush... [This message has been edited by saraswati (edited 07-10-2001).]