Sharmila Tagore poster for sale: Dooriyaan (1979).
Featured here is a rare surviving original vintage Bollywood poster of the old 1979 Hindi film produced and directed by Bhimsain Khurana that starred Uttam Kumar and Sharmila Tagore in lead roles.
Released under the banner of Climb Films, Dooriyaan (1979) also starred Shreeram Lagoo, Priyadarshinee, Baby Geeta Khanna, Kiran Sheth, Sulabha Deshpande, Arvind Deshpande and Achyut Potdar in supporting roles, while Jalal Agha and Mohan Choti made special appearances in the film.
Dooriyaan (1979) was one of the early films to explore the complex subject of how a working mother’s career-focused lifestyle affects the upbringing of her child and her marital life. Ratna (Sharmila Tagore) is a passionate and successful stage actress employed by a theater company, while Kailash (Uttam Kumar) works at a corporate office. Their daughter Sona is at an age where she needs the love of her parents but is left most often under the care of their maid Tai (Sulabha Deshpande), while both her parents are away at work. Kailash asserts his authority as a working husband and provider of the family, demanding that Ratna give more attention to their daughter and less to her ambitions. However, Ratna contributes to the home financially as well from her earnings and maintains that their daughter is a shared responsibility between both of them. She refuses to slow down her successful acting career, leading to frequent disputes between the two. Things get out of hand one night when Kailash physically assaults Ratna, leading to their separation. Kailash moves in with his brother, leaving Ratna and Sona in his home. Subsequently, Ratna meets rich industrialist and sponsor of her play, Prabhakar (Shreeram Lagoo) who is smitten by her acting. On the other hand, Kailash’s sister-in-law’s younger sister Lakshmi (Priyadarshinee) arrives in Bombay looking for a job and stays at his brother’s home. Complications arise and the rift between Kailash and Ratna widens.
Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1979), this Dooriyaan movie poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.
Originally designed in mixed media format, using a combination of both hand painted oil on canvas as well as photographic collage techniques by a leading Bollywood poster design studio in Bombay called Loombaarts, this Sharmila Tagore poster features striking artwork.
Lead stars Sharmila Tagore and Uttam Kumar are seen in symmetrically opposing portraits on the left and right respectively, suggesting their opposing ideologies. Baby Geeta Khanna, who plays their daughter is seen in a black and white still photograph at the center, as if she is caught between the two.
The entire artwork is set against a minimal white background, with a thin pink striped border that makes it stand out. Typography used in this old Uttam Kumar poster is entirely in English, except for a translation of the tile to Devanagari Hindi on the top left. The main English title of this Dooriyaan poster appears in red, accentuated with a black and white border.
The sountrack album of Dooriyaan (1979) was composed by Jaidev, while lyrics were written by Sudarshan Faakir. It featured the timeless track, “Zindagi Zindagi Mere Ghar Aana” sung by Bhupinder Singh & Anuradha Paudwal.
