Veer Bhimsen

Mahabharat poster for sale: Veer Bhimsen (1964).

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the 1964 black and white Hindi film that was based on the story of the Mahabharata (one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India), highlighting the might of Bhima.

Produced and directed by Chandrakant, Veer Bhimsen (1964) starred wrestler Dara Singh in the lead role as Bhima and Mumtaz as his second wife Hidimbi.

Presented under the Joy Films banner, Veer Bhimsen (1964) also starred Anita Guha, Mahipal, Sumitra Devi, Shahu Modak, Sardar Singh Randhawa, Ratnamala, Sapru, Brij Mohan Vyas (B.M. Vyas), Babu Raje, Shree Bhagwan, Uma Khosla, Tun Tun and King Kong in supporting roles.

As per the Mahabharata, Bhima is the second born among five brothers (Pandavas). During the great Kurukshetra war, Bhima single handedly killed hundred Kaurava brothers and was believed to possess the physical strength of 10,000 elephants.

The word Bhima in Sanskrit means “big” or “tall” and Dara Singh was aptly chosen to essay his role in the film. With over 500 professional fights to his credit – all undefeated – Dara Singh was awarded the titles “Rustum-e-Punjab” and “Rustum-e-Hind.” In an acting career that spanned over five decades, Dara Singh featured in over 140 films.

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film (somewhere in 1964), this original Mahabharat poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This old Indian cinema poster was initially designed in hand painted format by noted artist Vaman Mistry of Bombay-based art studio New Cine Service.

This Veer Bhimsen movie poster captures the first meeting between Bheema and Hanuman in a forest. Both sons of the wind god Vayu, Bhima and Hanuman were half brothers.

In this Mahabharat poster, Bhima is depicted trying to lift the tail of Hanuman with all his might but is unable to succeed, while a smiling Hanuman looks on. Lord Krishna of whom Bhima is a devotee and Lord Ram of whom Hanuman is a devotee are depicted on the top left, encircled in the letter “Om” drawn with clouds.

Typography used in this Mahabharat movie poster is a mix of Devanagari Hindi, English as well as Urdu. A message on the top right reads, “In Mahabharat’s Immortal Story, For the First Time In the Character of Bhim, Dara Singh.”

The soundtrack album of Veer Bhimsen (1964) was composed by C. Ramchandra while lyrics were written by Pradeep.