Parasmani

Parasmani poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the old 1963 fictional adventure Hindi film directed by Babubhai Mistry that starred Mahipal and Geethanjali in key roles.

Produced by Bachubhai Mistry & Pandit Madhur and presented by Kantibhai Parikh under the Movieland banner, Parasmani (1963) also starred Manher Desai, Nalini Chonkar, Maruti Rao, Uma Dutt, Naazi, Jeevan Kala, Aruna Irani, Jugal Kishore, Shekhar Purohit and Ajit Soni in supporting roles. Helen appeared as a dancer in the popular song “Ooi Maa Ooi Maa.”

Directed by the pioneer of cinematic effects in Indian cinema (Babubhai Mistri), Parasmani (1963) was an attempt to wow the audience with special effects that were previously unseen in Bollywood.

The film has the distinction of being one of the rarest films in the history of Indian cinema to be shot both in black and white as well as in colour (the first half of the film was shot in black and white and the second entirely in Eastman colour), making this Parasmani poster, highly collectible!

Parasmani (1963) told the story about a poor man called “Paras” (Mahipal) who falls in love with a princess (Geethanjali) and desires to marry her. The king (Manher Desai) sets a condition for the marriage: Paras must set out on a quest to find a rare gem that has the power to grant eternal life. The film traces his epic journey during which he encounters magical creatures, dragons, gigantic spiders, sorcerers and sorceresses.

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release of the film (somewhere in the 1970s), this vintage Bollywood poster was originally designed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This old Parasmani poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster studio in Delhi and features quirky artwork.

Lead actor Mahipal is seen holding a bloody dagger in a hand drawn portrait on the bottom right. He is depicted fighting a giant spider and dragons on the top right and bottom left respectively. On the center right, he is seen holding a classical musical instrument (Sitar), trying to woo his lady love Geethanjali. The actress is seen in a stunning close up portrait on the top left of this vintage Parasmani poster.

The theme of the poster revolves around the protagonist’s quest to locate the gem of eternal life, “Parasmani” in order to win his lady love. Typography used in this Bollywood fantasy movie poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi, except for a translation of the title in Urdu. The main Devanagari Hindi title appears in a 3D font in a two tone mix of yellow and red, which stands out against a black border.

The popularity of the film’s blockbuster soundtrack album has been highlighted in this Parasmani poster, which features the opening verses of two of the most popular songs in the film on the top: “Woh Jab Yaad Aaye Bahut Yaad Aaye …” and “Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra, Kali Zulfein Rang Sunehra …”

Parasmani (1963) marks the first independent film in which Bollywood’s most successful music composer duo, Laxmikant and Pyarelal worked together. They would later go on to become one of the greatest composers in Indian cinema in the years to follow.

The film is remembered till date for its unforgettable songs. Woh Jab Yaad Aaye, Bahut Yaad Aaye” a duet sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammed Rafi is considered a classic. “Hansta Hua Noorani Chehra, Kali Zulfein, Rang Sunehra” sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Kamal Barot and “Ooi Maa Ooi Maa Yeh Kya Ho Gaya” sung by Lata Mangeshkar were two other super hit songs from the album that are played till today.