India's Film Poster Heritage

I.04

n D& Auctio 2 Online9 April 202 8-

India’s Film Poster Heritage

Lot 11 Pather Panchali (1955)

India’s Film Poster Heritage Auction 8-9 April 2022 Sale D&I.04 ONLINE ONLY www.derivaz-ives.com

Bidding Starts 10am (IST), Friday 8 April 2022 Bidding Closes 8pm (IST), Saturday 9 April 2022

New Delhi Private Preview by Appointment 10am – 7pm 1 – 9 April 2022 Enquiries auctions@derivaz-ives.com 1

deRivaz & Ives Auction House

Modern Indian Fine Arts

Contemporary Indian Fine Arts

Vintage & Classic Automobiles and Travel Heritage

Indian & Asian Antiquities

We will focus on artworks of all leading modern masters from India and Asia such as the National Art Treasures to the Progressives, from the Bengal School to the Cholamandal Group of Artists, from Baroda School Artists to Santiniketan-educated artists.

We will focus on all major marques from Ford to Rolls-Royce, from Buick to Ferrari, from Toyota to Hispano-Suiza, with the very best of vintage & classic cars and bikes over the years and related automobilia.

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We will focus on artworks of all leading contemporary artists from India and Asia such as Sudhir Patwardhan to L.N. Tallur, from Rekha Rodwittiya to Rashid Rana, from Bharti Kher to Jitish Kallat, from Anish Kapoor to Subodh Gupta.

We will, post April 2022, focus on ancient & medieval sculpture, Indian & Persian Miniatures and Manuscripts, Nepali & Tibetan Thangkhas, and a diverse range of Indian & Asian cultural antiquities.

Departments

Antiquarian Books, & Prints

Photography

Indian Film Memorabilia

Hollywood & World Film Memorabilia

We will focus on rare printed artifacts including documents from the 16th century to the early 20th century on the Indian-subcontinent and her relationship with the world. These books & prints will cover a vast and diverse range of subjects from depicting the ‘picturesque’ to political propaganda.

We will focus on rare and original film publicity material from Indian cinema, including first-release posters, song-synopsis booklets, photographic stills, heralds, lobby and window cards, costumes, props and other collectibles and select objects of memorabilia.

We will, post April 2022, focus on Photography by all leading photographers who visited India and related lands, post 1840s, from the pioneers such as Murray, Tripe, Beato, Pigou, Hooper, Deen Dayal to leading Indian photographers and Studios, across generations since the 1940s.

We will focus on rare and original film publicity material from Hollywood, European and World cinema with a focus on Asia and Arab Cinema, including posters, booklets, photographic stills, heralds, lobby and window cards, costumes, props and other collectibles and memorabilia.

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deRivaz & Ives presents

India’s Film Poster Heritage Online Auction D&I.04 | 8-9 April 2022

Lot Index Lot 1

Lot 2

Lot 6

Lot 7

Lot 3

Lot 4

Lot 5

Ashok Kumar Focus

Lot 8

Lot 9

Lot 10

S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

Lot 11

Lot 12

Lot 13

Lot 14 (2)

Satyajit Ray Focus From Suresh Jindalal Collection

Lot 15

First Family of Indian Cinema The Kapoors

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Lot 16

Lot 17

Lot 18

Lot 19

www.derivaz-ives.com Lot 20

Lot 21

Lot 22

Lot 23

Lot 24

First Family of Indian Cinema The Kapoors

Lot 25 (2)

Lot 27

Lot 26

Lot 30

Lot 31

Lot 35

Lot 36 (2)

Lot 32

Lot 28

Lot 33

Lot 29

Lot 34 (2)

Dev Anand Focus

Lot 37

Lot 38

Lot 39

Dilip Kumar Focus

Lot 40

Lot 41

Lot42

Lot 43 (3)

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Lot Index Lot 44

Lot 45

Lot 48

Lot 49

Lot 46

Lot 47

Pamart Studios Focus

D.R. Bhonsle Focus

Lot53 (4)

Cinematic Chemistry

8

Lot 54

Lot 55

Lot 56 (5)

Lot 57

Lot 58

Lot 59 (3)

Lot 50

Lot 51

Lot 52

Lot 60

Lot 61 (2)

Lot 62

Lot 63

Manoj Kumar Focus

Lot 64

Lot 65

Lot 66

Lot 67

Lot 68

WomanCentric Poster Design

Lot 69

Lot 70

Lot 71

Lot 72

Lot 76

Lot 77

Lot 78

Lot 79 (2)

Lot 73

Lot 74

Lot 75

A Behind the Scenes Insight

Rinki (Bhattacharya) Roy’s E-Conversation

Lot 80

Lot 81

Lot 82

Lot 83

Lot 84(6)

Dharmendra Focus

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Lot Index Lot 84 (6)

Dharmendra Focus

Lot 85

Lot 89

Lot 86

Lot90

Lot 87 (3)

Lot 91

Lot 88 (2)

Lot 92

Lot 93

Lot 94

Lot 95

Lot 96

Lot 98

Lot 99

Lot 100

Lot 101

Rajesh Khanna Focus

Diwakar Karkare Focus

10

Lot 97

Lot 102

Lot 103

Lot 104 (4)

Amitabh Bachchan Focus

Lot 104 (4)

Lot 108

Lot 105

Lot 109

Lot 110

Lot 106

Lot 107

Lot 111

11

Ashok Kumar Focus Lot 1

Lot 2

Lot 3

Lot 4

Lot 5

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Ashok Kumar Focus

1 Ashok Kumar with Nalini Jaywant in

Illustrative Reference Only

Sangram (1950) Early Re-Release Poster 29.9 x 19.5 in (76.0 x 49.5 cm) Art Director D.N. Jadhav Printer Jayshree Printers, 22, Weston Street, Calcutta-13.

Banner Bombay Talkies Producer Sargam Pictures Unit Director Gyan Mukherjee

INR 30,000 – 45,000 USD 400 – 600 GBP 300 – 450

Original Posters and Publicity Designs by V.G. Parchure, assisted by Shantaram Badakere, Maydeo, and Nanoo Chokshi (according to the film credits). Images from two of the first release original designed posters are cut and pasted together so as to form a new designed version in this early re-release poster.

Ashok Kumar Focus

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2 Ashok Kumar with Nalini Jaywant in Samadhi (1950) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 30.0 x 19.7 in (76.1 x 50.0 cm) Art Director D.G. Malvankar Printer Oriental Offset Litho Works Bombay-7.

Banner Filmistan Ltd. Director Ramesh Saigal

INR 45,000 – 72,000 USD 600 – 960 GBP 450 – 720 Published Tuli, Neville. Osian’sIIFA. Celebrating Cinematic Heritage (2018); p.24.

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Ashok Kumar Focus

3 Ashok Kumar with Kishore Kumar in Bandi (1957) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 30.0 x 20.2 in (76.1 x 51.2 cm) Art Director Biren Naug Poster Designer Pamart Studios Printer Lithographed By G.S. Nalawade, V. Chander Shiama & Sons Banner Shree Pictures Producer Benu Dutt Director Satyen Bose

INR 30,000 – 45,000 USD 400 – 600 GBP 300 – 450

The SSB for the film is printed

by Publicity Printers, Bombay.

However, it confirms that publicity design for the film was handled by Pamart.

Ashok Kumar Focus

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4 Ashok Kumar with Vyjayanthimala in Sitaron Se Aagey (1958) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 30.1 x 20.1 in (76.5 x 51.0 cm) Art Director V. Jadhav Rao Poster Designer Pamart Studios Printer Photo Litho Press Private Ltd, Madras-5.

Banner Narasu Studio Producer V.L. Narasu Director Satyen Bose

INR 30,000 – 45,000 USD 400 – 600 GBP 300 – 450

The film seems to have jinxed from the very beginning. Gyan Mukherjee was originally assigned to direct the film. He had even completed musical sitting with SD Burman. The film went into shooting floor in 1956. However, Gyan Mukherjee fell ill and was diagnosed with brain tumour. He was also afflicted by Parkinson’s disease.

He passed away in November 1956. Ashok Kumar had to rope in Satyen Bose to direct the film (As revealed by late Sachin Bhowmick and quoted in ‘SD Burman – The Prince Musician’ – Anirudh Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal (2018)).

- Sadanand Kamat, 2018. https://atulsongaday. me/2018/10/01/aa-khilte-haingul-o-mere-bulbul/ 18

Ashok Kumar Focus

5 Ashok Kumar with Pearl Padamsee in Khatta Meetha (1978) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 39.6 x 29.6 in (100.6 x 75.1 cm) Poster Designer C. Mohan Printer Oriental Offset & Litho Works, Bombay-7, Jagdish Photo - Process Banner Intra Films Producer Romu N. Sippy, Gul Anand Director Basu Chatterjee

INR 30,000 – 45,000 USD 400 – 600 GBP 300 – 450

According to the film’s title credits, the film is dedicated to the Parsi community. The poster design by Pamart reflects this intent, with the characters dressed in Parsi clothes.

(Costumes designed by Mani Rabadi).

Ashok Kumar Focus

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This Poster Design is offered for the first time at an International Public Auction

6 Dilip Kumar with Madhubala in Tarana (1951) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 30.0 x 19.4 in (76.2 x 49.2 cm) Art Director M.K. Syed Poster Designer Studio S.M. Pandit Printer Bombay Fine Art O & L. Works, Bombay-27. Commercial Publicity Bureau.

Banner Krishin Movietone Producer K.S. Daryani Director Ram Daryani

INR 120,000 – 180,000 USD 1,600 – 2,400 GBP 1,200 – 1,800

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S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

This Poster Design is offered for the first time at an International Public Auction

7 Dilip Kumar and Madhubala with Gope in Tarana (1951) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 29.9 x 19.3 in (76.0 x 49.0 cm) Art Director M.K. Syed Poster Designer S.M. Pandit Printer Bombay Fine Art O & L. Works, Bombay-27. Commercial Publicity Bureau.

Banner Krishin Movietone Producer K.S. Daryani Director Ram Daryani

INR 60,000 – 90,000 USD 800 – 1,200 GBP 600 – 900

S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

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24

S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

8 Pran in Majboor (1974) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 40.2 x 29.9 in (102.0 x 76.0 cm) Art Director Desh Mukherjee Poster Designer S.M. Pandit Printer Oriental Offset & Litho Works Bombay-7., Jagdish Photo Process Banner Suchitra Films Pvt. Ltd. Producer Premji Director Ravi Tandon

INR 60,000 – 90,000 USD 800 – 1,200 GBP 600 – 900 Published Tuli, Neville. Osian’s - The Greatest Indian Show on Earth 2 (2017); p.111.

Anurag Kashyap’s 2016 Hindi film Raman Ragav’s poster was inspired by S.M. Pandit’s designed Majboor’s (1974) poster in Lot 8.

S.M. Pandit (1916-1993)

Sambanand Monappa Pandit, better known as S.M. Pandit, was born on the 25th of March, 1916, in Gulbarga, Karnataka. As a talented young man, he was encouraged to study art by the local artist Shankar Rao Alandkar, who painted cinema banners. Armed with a diploma from the Madras School of Art, Pandit moved to Mumbai in 1935, where he took classes at Nutan Kala Mandir under the able guidance of Shri Dandathimath.

Subsequently, he also received a diploma from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, where he was taught by renowned artists like Shri K.B. Chudekar.

The artist M.V. Dhurandhar, known for his use of naturalistic techniques, was the headmaster of the Sir J.J. School of Art. From him, Pandit took on the realistic style of painting inspired by Raja Ravi Verma’s work, which he later fine-tuned in line with the technological innovations of his time and the demands of the market, bringing a fresh, lighter style to film publicity material and calendar art.

Pandit was also greatly influenced by the director of the institute, W.E. Gladstone Solomon. During his time at the Sir J.J. School, he was awarded a scholarship for mural decoration.

By 1938, S.M. Pandit started painting professionally, initially as a sign painter. Soon after, he started the Young Artists Commercial Art Studio, which made showcards for Metro Cinema. His first film jobs thus involved painting portraits of Hollywood stars like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford. Pandit’s skill with gouache gave these portraits a freshness that set them apart from the heavier oil painting style of earlier images. The studio also lent its art to Bombay Talkies, designing publicity for the P. Jairaj starrer Bhabi (1938). Soon after, Pandit started working at Studio Ratan Batra, where he designed posters for the railways and textile mills Khatau, Kohinoor, and Mafatlal, as well as some film publicity. Following a dispute, he left Ratan Batra, working independently for various outfits before setting up Studio S.M. Pandit in 1944 in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park.

Studio S.M. Pandit started painting covers for Filmindia magazine, creating a variety of images for nearly every issue until 1956, ranging from glamorous colour plates of actors to advertisements. Some of Pandit’s notable work in this period includes the booklet art for R.K. Films’ breakout success Barsaat (1949), featuring Raj Kapoor and Nargis is a glamorous, Hollywoodstyle, the poster for Saiyan (1951), booklet art for Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), posters for Dilip Kumar-Madhubala starrer Tarana (1951), and the

booklet for Danka (1954), showing a young Nimmi in a mischievous pose reminiscent of pinup images.

By now established as foremost amongst Mumbai’s commercial artists, Pandit’s rates were considerably higher than most other artists, but filmmakers continued to approach him for publicity designs, with the result that he worked with most leading filmmakers of the time: V. Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, and M. Sadiq, to name but a few.

Growing tired of working with films in the 1950s, Pandit started painting images for calendars, working with the Bombay Fine Arts Press and Shivraj Fine Art Litho Works. Inspired by a dream he took as a divine warning, he returned to Gulbarga in 1956. Sporting a beard, Pandit became a nearsagely figure, mainly painting themes from the Mahabharata, a few calendar advertisements, and Indian legends. From 1966-68, he worked for Sivakasi presses, after which he gave up commercial painting to focus on large canvases and portraits. He went on to paint religious figures like Ramakrishna Paramhansa and a life-size portrait of Swami Vivekanda, of which the latter is one of his best-known works. Pandit also painted portraits of leaders, a prime example of which is his portrait of B.R. Ambedkar in oil.

A highly decorated figure, Pandit was awarded a medal at the International exhibition in Toronto in 1944 for one of his cover designs. His mythological and portrait paintings were exhibited at the Ravi Shankar Hall and the Indian High Commission in London and Manchester, and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, London, in 1978.

Pandit’s portraits of Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher are on permanent display in the Indian High Commission and the Commonwealth Institute in London. In Mumbai, Pandit was a founder member of the Commercial Artists Guild. A recipient of the Gold Medal of the Royal Academy in London, Pandit was also conferred the Karnataka Lalit Kala Academy Award in 1983, and the Rajyotsava Award in 1984. To honour his immense contribution to the arts, Pandit was awarded a D. Litt from Gulbarga University, Karnataka in 1986.

S.M. Pandit passed away on the 30th of March, 1993.

Select Filmography

Bhabi (1938), Shakuntala (1943), Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Pyar Ki Jeet (1948), Barsaat (1949), Char Din (1949), Andaz (1949), Saiyan (1951), Ada (1951), Tarana (1951), Hamdard (1953), Danka (1954), Majboor (1974), S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

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S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

This Poster Design is offered for the first time at an International Public Auction

9 Raj Kapoor with Nargis in Awara (1951) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 40.2 x 30.1 in (102.0 x 76.5 cm) Art Director M.R. Acharekar Poster Designer S.M. Pandit Printer R.K.Film, Printed By Kwick Stationary Mart, Bombay.

Dnyansagar Litho & Offset Works Bombay-4.

Banner R.K. Films Producer Raj Kapoor Director Raj Kapoor

INR 120,000 – 180,000 USD 1,600 – 2,400 GBP 1,200 – 1,800

“When Raj Kapoor wanted his image in the Awara (1951) poster repainted to show him with his shirt off, Parchure refused to change anything and put the rejected artwork up in his studio.”

- Devraj, Rajesh & Paul Duncan (Eds.) The Art of Bollywood (2010); p.85.

“The Russians loved it, the Turks loved it, the Egyptians loved it and so did the Europeans. Such was the film’s craze that it was remade in Turkey as Avaray. The song Awara hoon is still popular in the former Soviet bloc countries. Awara is touted as a premier Indian product, which found a global audience. Its lead pair Raj Kapoor and Nargis achieved cult status abroad.

The film, written by leftist writer Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, deals with the issue of nature versus nurture. It rails against the false notion of lineage- that the son of a criminal would have crime running in his veins and vice versa. One can also interpret it as a critique about the class disparity in India. The film cut a chord with the Nehruvian socialism that was sweeping across the country at the time.

Another reason for its evergreen popularity is the sizzling chemistry between Raj and Nargis, which owed much to their off-screen romance.”

- Devesh Sharma & Rachit Gupta. Filmfare 100 Best Movies of All Time (2013).

Awara Posters

S.M.Pandit & M.R. Acharekar Focus

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This Poster Design is offered for the first time at an International Public Auction

22 Shashi Kapoor with Nanda in Juari (1968) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 39.7 x 30.0 in (100.9 x 76.2 cm) Art Director A.A. Majid Printer Anand Process Gandhi Nagar Bangalore-9.

Banner Lotus Productions Producer Nirmal Siracr Director Suraj Prakash

INR 45,000 – 72,000 USD 600 – 960 GBP 450 – 720

48

First Family of Indian Cinema - The Kapoors

This Poster Design is offered for the first time at an International Public Auction

23 Shashi Kapoor and Nanda with Tanuja and Rehman in Juari (1968) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 40.3 x 30.0 in (102.4 x 76.2 cm) Art Director A.A. Majid Printer Oriental Offset & Litho Works, Bombay-7., Jagdish Photo - Process Banner Lotus Productions Producer Nirmal Siracr Director Suraj Prakash

INR 45,000 – 72,000 USD 600 – 960 GBP 450 – 720

First Family of Indian Cinema - The Kapoors

49

Dilip Kumar Focus Lot 15

Lot 40

Lot 35

Lot 41

Lot 36 (2)

Lot42

Lot 37

Lot 43 (3)

Lot 38

Lot 39

64

Dilip Kumar Focus

35 Dilip Kumar with Madhubala in Mughal-E-Azam (1960) First Release Original Design & Image Poster 58.8 x 39.2 in (149.3 x 99.5 cm) Art Director M.K. Syed Poster Designer G. Kamble Banner Sterling Investment Corporation Producer K.Asif Director K. Asif

INR 225,000 – 360,000 USD 3,000 – 4,800 GBP 2,250 – 3,600 Published Pinto, Jerry & Sheena Sippy. Bollywood Posters (2008); p.109.

Exhibited & Published Tuli, Neville. Osian’s at Tao Art Gallery - The Greatest Indian Show on Earth (2014); pp.115-17.

“For the posters and banners, K. Asif approached Kamble, sending him props from the film as a brief. The painter responded with a poster that placed a sword and a shield in the foreground, with the romantic couple seen in silhouette in the distance.

Impressed, K. Asif handed over the bulk of the publicity campaign to Kamble. As the story goes, Asif bought up all of the Winsor and Newton paints available in Mumbai shops, and when these ran out, he had the shops in Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai raided as well, spending 600,000 rupees in total…’He would discuss ideas; I would put those across on the canvas,’ Kamble later recalled. ‘I used to paint day and night with brushes, knives, and scalpels.’

Apart from painting posters and banners, Kamble also decorated the Maratha Mandir Cinema for the film’s premiere.

Besides the usual posters, the façade of an imposing Mughal structure was erected near the theater. For days after, there were traffic jams outside the cinema, as people stopped to gawk at Kamble’s work.”

- Devraj, Rajesh & Paul Duncan (Eds.). The Art of Bollywood (2010); pp.94-5.

Dilip Kumar Focus

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Woman-Centric Poster Design

Lot 64

Lot 65

Lot 70

Lot 71

Lot 72

Lot 75

Lot 76

Lot 77

Lot 66

Lot 73

Lot 78

Lot 67

Lot 74

Lot 79 (2)

Lot 68

Lot 69

A Behind the Scenes Insight Rinki (Bhattacharya) Roy’s E-Conversation with Rajyalakshmi Bhagwati, from the OsianamaWorld Archive & Library on 25th March 2022 on various matters concerning the posters & poster-making processes for Aavishkar, Basu Bhattacharya & Bimal Roy. my house by accident. Most of it was happening in collaboration with Diwakar Karkare, who used to do the posters. We used to all sit together and he would bring a rough draft. And we would go over it and then give our views and I was very much there. So, it was between myself, my husband - the director and Diwakar; there was nobody else involved. And even the lettering, I don’t know if at that time these letterings had any particular name, I’m sure they had, all these matters were decided together. It was a collaboration.

OsW: Shot in your house by accident?

RR: Well, you know, suddenly Basu realized he didn’t have money to shoot in the studio. Studio set would have been expensive. He was the producer and he didn’t have any other outside producer. He said I don’t have that kind of money because for the first time he had this big star at that time, Rajesh (Khanna) and Sharmila (Tagore) if you remember were the top box office star, after a couple of films Aradhana (1969) particularly. It was a super hit. So overnight he decided to shoot in my house which put me in a complete chaos because I had just moved in. My children were school going kids.

They had no place to do their homework, but I had to follow the boss’ orders so I designed the house in exactly two days. And this is one film in which the set is very important. If you see the film you realize why? Because there are many panning shots of the camera, rooms, and also I had to break a wall for the camera to peep in. Between their bedroom and the hall we had to make, like a square to create a place for the camera to peep in for the intimate look. Now, very few people know Aavishkar is quite autobiographical. There are a lot of scenes which come directly from our life, my and Basu’s life. So it was fun working for it.

OsW: You told that Diwakar came with a lot of trial images and you decided one. So is there any photograph based on which the Sharmila Tagore’s face poster is made or it was purely Diwakar’s imagination?

Lot 76 Aavishkar (1974)

OsianamaWorld: One of the posters of Aavishkar (1974) features Sharmila Tagore having an orgasm. This makes it one of the boldest Hindi cinema posters ever made. Could you tell us whose idea it was to include this image, and why the choice was made; also the usage of cluster of text in the poster?

Rinki Roy: Yes, it does seem like that, you know very close to or having an orgasm. Let me first go to the cluster of names. You know, most particularly, Aavishkar was an in-house project. It was shot in 104

Woman-Centric Poster Design

RR: By the time Diwakar came on to the scene, the film would have been made. So he would follow the film. And based on the film’s look he created the poster. The other one with Rajesh and Sharmila, that’s directly from the film. Rajesh is trying to take something off from her feet, which is there in their days of romancing each other before marriage. And the other poster of Sharmila was from post-marriage.

So that’s the big difference. The poster had to be attractive for the viewers and it was pretty, I think the film did quite well and both Rajesh and Sharmila were very co-operative.

OsW: How do you approach story telling through the sets and the décor of the film? How does that play to the plot of the film and creating the whole look of it?

RR: I have to say that these films, which were called parallel cinema or off-beat cinema, for them the look of the film, the decor and costumes are, were extremely important; very, very important. They have to match the narrative. For example, in Aavishkar Basu went to take a look at Sharmila’s wardrobe to find something which made her look like an ordinary middle class, house wife. And he came back very disappointed and he said, Oh gosh! You know, the kind of sarees she has, no Indian middle class woman would have that. Obviously, for Sharmila Tagore is, was a star. So then he raided my cupboard.

And he took away my best saree which was Bengali tangail saree which she is wearing throughout the film. I had just bought it and to my great sorrow that’s what she’s wearing throughout the film. So see how important it is. So you have to give her the look of a middle class housewife. I mean in the film she is supposed to belong to upper class which is why the opposition to her marriage to Rajesh, you know, is in the background. We have to make it look credible so that’s why my sarees were given to her for the entire film. So I was given very, very graciously given the credit job costume designer and of course I did the house. House was done beautifully in two days. Everybody loved the way I had done the house.

OsW: Could you also share some insights, about filmmakers like, Manoj Kumar or your father Bimal Roy or studios like RK Studios where the filmmaker itself was very much involved in making the publicity material. And so we wanted to know a little bit about how the publicity campaign was curated by the filmmakers involved?

Aavishkar (1974)

OsW: Usage of texts is quite relevant in the first film of trilogy also, Anubhav (1971) where the actress’s close up shot is there and the title starts with screen filled with the name of film Anubhav. And it’s similar to the poster of Aavishkar where you can see so many text fragments arranged together.

RR: I think Basu in that sense was visually creative. And as I said, it was like an in-house job. And he would ask us for our opinions. So, we would work it out to our satisfaction or wherever the graphics were involved like this, you know? So, I think this particular jumble of the letters was inspired from a textile design, you know something from a saree, if I remember correctly.

RR: I can certainly tell you about my father. How he would like the film to look and how he would like to project it into before it was released. My father’s art director was a phenomenal guy. He not only did the art direction but he designed the sets and also costumes.

And he was a great, artist from the art college - Sudhendu Roy. He is also a director who made a lovely film called Saudagar (1973) with Nutan and Amitabh (Bachchan) and his daughter is one of the top art directors in the industry today. So he would do the first sketches and of course it would go to my father but my father’s younger brother who had an ad agency in Calcutta called Phoenix and my uncle had a partner who was one of the top commercial artists of India, completely forgotten called O.C. Ganguly. He was at par with Satyajit Ray. Satyajit Ray began as a graphic designer by the way. O.C. Ganguly was very much instrumental in creating my father’s posters particularly if you see the one on Naukri (1954) which is my father’s second film which is about unemployment. He had made the figure of the hero with cutouts from newspaper. It’s a brilliant poster. You can’t get better than that and very artistic. My father didn’t belong to Bollywood, the term Bollywood was not invented at that time. Bimal Woman-Centric Poster Design

105

Roy’s films are Bimal Roy’s films and each poster is unique. I have a Sujata (1959) poster in my room here and a Parakh (1960) poster there. They are all brilliant. They are really works of art. Sudhendu Roy, O.C. Ganguly my uncle Parimal Roy in Calcutta, they all created, lent a hand and supported each other.

(1958) in which the costumes were done by Vyjayanthimala’s grandmother, Sudhendu Roy did the ageing of costumes. Dhotis were aged in Do Bigha Zamin (1953), by dunking it into tea water overnight. A solution with tea would not make it so white. That’s very important. The look of the film has to match the film’s content. You cannot mislead the audience.

OsW: As you said there was also a parallel cinema at same time films like Sholay (1975) and Deewaar (1975) were being released.

So, if you could tell us a little bit about how different it was for the publicity design, for these different genres of films?

RR: In my father’s production or even Basu my husband’s production there was no outsider as a costume designer ever. So, it emerged from us being around. We had to support the film at least with our, you know, our expertise and our imagination. Whereas in a big film, big blockbuster like Sholay or Deewaar, they could afford a costume designer. There were people like Bhanu Athaiya and so many others who came into the scene as costume designers. But that was not the case with my husband and my father. There was no costume designer as such, and the art director was as if in house. He was a part of the production until the end so to speak. Sudhendu Roy continued until the last film, until Bandini. And in some of the films they were actual locations, like Madhumati was shot in the forests of Ghorakal, the foothills of Kumaon. It was not Nainital. I have written a book on Madhumati where I discovered that the film was shot entirely outdoors and songs like Suhana Safar was also shot outdoors. There were very little sets used in Madhumati, no sets except maybe one. It was all on actual location which is a distinct feature. They made Sholay. They created entire village in Bangalore.

The village continued to be there for a long time. So that was also happening side by side. Sholay moved out of the studio system, Madhumati moved out from the studio system, But Sujata was shot in a studio. But behind all these there is a man who was in touch with reality like Sudhendu Roy. And they all sat together to discuss the story, nobody is coming from outside, each one is very much a part of the whole team evolving for the film itself. That kind of detailing you really find in the works of a filmmaker who is very much in touch with reality. I would say that for Basu also because particularly these films have to be in touch with reality. He is projecting a theme which has to touch you and to get involved so you must identify with the characters.

Naukri (1954)

OsW: Are you saying that the Art Director was involved in making a poster?

RR: Not always, but I would say in the case of my father. Art Director Sudhendu Roy’s name must be mentioned. Apart from Madhumati 106

Woman-Centric Poster Design

OsW: Your name is mentioned in the credits of all the three films of trilogy. First movie in that trilogy is Anubhav which is shot in black and white and the other two, Aavishkar and Griha Pravaesh (1979) in color. What was the experience with the film Anubhav?

RR: Anubhav was shot entirely in Tanuja’s house. Tanuja’s flat became the studio set for Anubhav. No studio was involved. It took a long time to prepare her flat for the shoot but it was shot in her house in Usha

CINEMA

India’s Film Poster Heritage deRivaz & Ives Online Auction

Neville Tuli

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`1500 | $ 39 | £ 29 ISBN 978-93-85360-39-8

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