Sampoorna Ramayana

Ramayan poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving vintage Bollywood poster of the old 1961 Hindu mythology film directed by the pioneer of special effects in Indian cinema, Babubhai Mistry that starred Mahipal as Lord Ram and Anita Guha as Sita.

A mythological film based on the greatest and most revered Hindu epic of the Ramayana written by Maharishi Valmiki, Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) chronicled the story of Lord Ram. It also starred B.M. Vyas as Ravana, Manhar Desai as Lord Hanuman, Sulochana Latkar as Kaikeyi, Achala Sachdev as Kaushalya, Lalita Pawar as Manthara and Helen as Surpanakha.

A Wadia Brothers’ production, the film was presented by Homi Wadia and released under his Basant Pictures banner. After the cult mythological film Ram Rajya (1943), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) was the second biggest box office hit based on the epic of the Ramayana, making this vintage movie poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release run of the film (somewhere in the 1960s), this vintage Ramayan movie poster was printed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This old Hindu mythology poster was originally hand painted on canvas by a movie poster art studio in Delhi. The printed signature of Bollywood poster painter Laxman is seen on the center right of this Ramayan poster.

A striking hand painted illustration of the evil ten-headed Ravana is seen on the top. The eagle demigod Jatayu is seen alongside, while Hanuman appears below. Lord Ram and Sita are seen on the left of this vintage mythology poster. Key scenes from the Ramayana are depicted in the background of this old Bollywood poster.

Typography used in this Ramayan poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi. An announcement on the top reads, “Until the afflictions of the women of Bharat do not cease, Hey Ram your Ramayan will not be complete.”

The soundtrack album of Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) was composed by Vasant Desai, while lyrics were written by Bharat Vyas. It featured gems such as “San Sanan Jare O Pawan” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, “Bar Bar Bagiya Mein Koyal” sung by Asha Bhosle, “Hum Ramchandra ki Chandrakala Mein” sung by both Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar and “Ghar Aaye Bhagwan” sung by Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar.