Rangeela gets a fairly decent DVD release courtesy of Bollywood Entertainment Inc. Their disc boasts a progressive transfer and excellent image detail and sharpness, though there are DNR artefacts noticable on motion shots. The picture shows the film as it was shot at 2.35:1, but a major goof has led to the image being framed incorrectly at 2.55:1, squashing the video considerably. Another negative is the general weakness of the colour rendition - shots appear wildly inconsistent with some looking too dark and red while at other times the colours are washed out with dark areas appearing far too light. Not a bang-up job by any means. The audio fares much better though - a completely clear and distortion-free 5.1 Dolby Digital track that's been mixed from a stereo source, so some echoey side effects result. No special features are included on the DVD other than a set of English subtitles which are translated satisfactorily.

The Shemaroo release from India has given the film much nicer treatment. The image's colour and light levels are impeccably rendered with rich, deep, natural-looking tones doing full justice to a colourful (pardon the pun) movie such as this. It's a shame the video isn't up to the mark in other areas, as it is only non-anamorphic, interlaced (with some chroma-lag problems to boot) and is cropped down to 1.85:1 - though at least it is framed correctly. The disc's audio also lets it down badly with pops and crackles abounding - a real disappointment. No extras are to be found elsewhere on the DVD either, but English subtitles are featured using the same translations as the BEI release.

And as for the Video Sound DVD, well, the less said the better. With a cropped 1.85:1 image (again wrongly framed, this time at 1.66:1) riddled with dirt and scratches and a phony 5.0 DD audio track (mixed from a dodgy mono source), this is one disc to avoid. With the choice to pick between the BEI or Shemaroo release then, I've opted for the latter since it's superb colour rendition just about betters BEI's wider presentation and superior audio.

NOTE: The BEI DVD is also available commercially in the United States as a Region 1 release under the Pathfinder label as 'Bollywood Dreams'. Be warned though, as the disc is marred by even more cock-ups - Pathfinder have failed to set the 16:9 flags, so you'll have to adjust your widescreen TV set manually. In addition, the subtitle track is completely out of sync with the dialogue. Meanwhile, the Video Sound DVD is released in the shops in the UK by Spark Worldwide.