KGF 2 sound corrected across theatres in India

In what would qualify as one of the biggest technical glitches in the history of Indian cinema the historic blockbuster KGF Chapter 2 released across India and abroad with over 2000 prints, was sent out with a major technical snag.

And no one noticed! Not the audience. Not the exhibitors. Rather, the exhibitors chose to turn a blind eye, or shall we say a deaf ear, to the technical glitch. But to even the untrained non-technical viewer it was clear from Day One that there was something seriously wrong in the sound mixing of KGF 2.

Here is what was conspicuously wrong with KGF Chapter 2: the background score, so obstreperous that hardly any dialogue could be heard above the din, was over-recorded. To put it more technically, the Surround was excessively high while the centre which is the source of dialogue was very low.

The iniquitous error in the sound-mixing of the Hindi version of KGF 2 has now been acknowledged and corrected by its producers who have now revoked all the current sound packages of the film and substituted it with a new soundtrack.

A highly-placed source from a leading multiplex chain informs, “We’ve been sent a new sound package for KGF2 which we are supposed to start using with immediate effect. We knew from Day One that something was not right with the sound-mixing sent to us earlier. But since the audiences were not complaining, we had no reason to complain.”

More than a serious technical lapse on the part of the film’s team reflecting an utter disregard for audiences’ sensibilities, this incident sheds light on the sheer cinema illiteracy that prevails in the country. The average member of the audience has no clue about the technical aspects of cinema. They are therefore easily taken for a ride by substandard sound mixing Dolby discrepancies, etc.,

To stretch the argument further, even the performances that are not ostentatious or dramatic are ignored. Deepika Padukone was less appreciated in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Bajirao Mastani than in Meghna Gulzar’s Chhapaak where she had more shrieking and protesting to do. Ranveer Singh’s feverishly flamboyant performance in Padmaavat was far more appreciated than Shahid Kapoor’s muted histrionics.

Going back in time Amitabh Bachchan’s class act in Ramesh Sippy’s Shakti was overshadowed by Dilip Kumar’s thundering thespianism.

Noise always wins over silence in our movies. That explains why no one noticed the sound aberration in KGF 2. They are so used to aural assaults in Indian films, they thought they were just getting more of it than usual. And never mind the dialogues. Who is listening?

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.