I Love Bollywood Posters

As one might be able to tell from my header, i love vintage bollywood posters, apart from some of them being my favourite movies, what really impresses me about these posters are the artistry and creativity most of them exude, Most of these posters way back then were mostly hand painted and often featured themes of Pop Art, comic book art and oil paintings. Below are some of my favourites


Barsaat (1949) i love this one, i love the way Raj Kapoor is clenching onto nargis and also holding onto the Violin on his other hand, its reminds me a lot of old hollywood.


Aankhen (1968) i totally love this poster of the hit spy thriller movie, i love the way Mala Sinha's face splits into three with the k and the h, very pop arty. In the second poster of the same movie i love the way both Dharmendra and Mala Sinha have their guns out in protection of their country

Sangam (1964) in this classic love triangle tale, i love the way the red ribbon ties up the three leads caught up in the love triangle

Deewar (1975) I love the grit on Amitabhs face in this one, which perhaps represents his suffering & struggles in the movie


Dhool ka Phool ( 1959) I love the use of colour in this poster of Yash Chopra's directorial debut, i love the blue and red wave over the white background

Om Shanti Om (2007) Much like the film itself, this poster seems to have taken its inspiration from the posters of the yesteryear movies. I love the font & colour the 'Om Shanti Om' title is written in

Sawan Bhadon (1970) I like the dusty brownish paper and the painting of the lead characters in Rekha's debut hindi movie

Mother India (1957) Her Strength, her toil, her struggles this poster captures Nargis's emotions from the movie perfectly

Chaudvin ka Chand (1960) I love the noir art/comic book art of this poster i love the black & white face with red lips, very creative, it kind of reminds me of the way the hollywood film Sin City was shot

Yudh (1985) i adore the masaliciousness of this poster, from Anil Kapoor smoking that super hot cigarette ( i'm not encouraging smoking, it just looks hot in this poster) to Danny's excruciating face of pain, this movie looks promising, i have to see it soon.

Jewel Thief (1967) I love the way Vyjayanthimala's face dominates the poster of this classic spy thriller

Delhi 6 (2009) I love the way Abhishek's back is on display amidst the backdrop of New York and Delhi, i also love the pigeon on the cool white interwoven picket type fence

Zanjeer (1973) I love the masala elements of this poster, in fact most masala movie posters have the same effects, a huge angry face of the lead actor, some explosions in the background, guns, villains etc

Umrao Jaan ( 1981 & 2006) I love the extravagance of both posters, the jewellery and the beautiful faces of the female leads

The James Bond influenced posters with men in suits pointing a gun like in Khoon Khoon, Shakka & Surakksha

Although not my favourite of the bunch, the poster of Dil, Daulat, Duniya (1972) amuses me the poster was literally a translation of the movie as you can see Dil (Heart/love), Daulat ( Wealth) Duniya (World)

Here are some great places for bollywood posters, Bollywood Originals, Praful, Karen, Wikipedia (When you search for most movies) and possibly the greatest has to be The hotspot online which has extensive range of posters from the 50's way up to the early '90's, also this seller at ebay has a nice selection as well as kannada.com. There are some lovely books about bollywood posters too like Bollywood posters by Jerry Pinto & Sheena Sippy (published by Thames & Hudson) and The Art of Bollywood by Rajesh Devraj & Edo Bouman (published by Taschen), in fact you can get a preview of the book over at their website here

Oh and if you happen to be in Delhi, India you can get a personally made hand painted retro style bollywood poster of yourself. Here's one i found (see below) at the Our Delhi Struggle blog. You can contact the guy who makes them at ranjeet_2870@rediffmail.com

Image coutesy of Ourdelhistruggle blog from their post 'Dave and Jenny Bollywood Style'