Coolie

Coolie 1983 poster for sale.

Buy rare original vintage Bollywood poster of the blockbuster Hindi film Coolie (1983).

This is an actual surviving old Bollywood poster of the 1983 film that featured the biggest superstar of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.

Directed by Manmohan Desai, the film also starred Rishi Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Kader Khan, Waheeda Rehman, Puneet Issar, Suresh Oberoi, Mukri, Tun Tun, Goga Kapoor, Amrish Puri, Shoma Anand, Nilu Phule and the animal star, “Ballu Eagle” in supporting roles.

Printed and circulated subsequent to the initial release run of the film in theaters (somewhere in the 1980s), this Coolie 1983 poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Coolie is a part of cinema history for an action scene that critically injured superstar Amitabh Bachchan on 26 July 1982 in Bangalore. A mistimed jump in a fight sequence with co-star Puneet Issar left Amitabh battling for his life with serious injuries to his intestines. Clinically dead for a few minutes, Amitabh reportedly received 60 bottles of blood from 200 donors, with Indians all over the world praying for his recovery.

Despite the critical injury, the undisputed “Shahenshah of Bollywood” recovered and resumed shooting on 7th January 1983. In 1984, a year after the film’s release, it was estimated that Coolie had sold 70 million tickets.

The mass hysteria generated post the accident helped make Coolie one of the highest grossing films ever made in Indian cinema, making this Coolie 1983 poster, highly collectible!

This Amitabh Bachchan film poster was originally hand painted on canvas by a small time poster art studio in Kolkata. A large full length quirky portrait of the superstar dressed as a porter is seen in this Coolie 1983 poster. He is seen carrying large suitcases on the top of his head and a duffle bag on his shoulder.

Lyrics of two of the most iconic songs from the film, i.e. “Lambuji Lambuji, Bolo Tinguji” (Tall Gentleman Tall Gentleman, Tell Me Shorty) and “Sari Duniya Ka Bojh Hum Uthate Hai” (We Carry The Load Of The Entire World) are announced in Devanagari Hindi on the top of this Amitabh poster.

The background of this hand drawn Bollywood poster is a stunning shade of red, giving it a very catchy appearance.

Typography used in this Coolie 1983 poster is partly in Devanagari Hindi as well as in English. The title of this Amitabh Bachchan old movie poster has a badge logo in the shape of the letter “O” that reads, “Western Railway No. Licensed Porter.”

The climax of Coolie was changed after Amitabh’s accident. Amitabh was supposed to die as part of the original plot of the film but director Manmohan Desai felt that this would not go down well with audiences (given that Amitabh had just overcome death in real life). As such, he decided to change the ending, showing Amitabh making a full recovery after surgery in the film.

The script of Coolie was written by Kader Khan and the film was edited by none other than Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Music was composed by the leading duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Songs from the film such as “Sari Duniya Ka Bojh Hum Uthate Hai,” “Lambuji Tinguji”  and “Accident Ho Gaya” are fondly remembered and played till today.