Bollywood movies shot in America poster: Kashish (1980).
Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the 1980 Hindi romantic drama conceptualized, produced, directed, cinematographed and edited by Amin Chaudhari that starred Navin Nischol, Vinod Mehra and Reena Roy in key roles.
Released under the Filmart International banner, Kashish (1980) also starred American actors Chris MacLeod, Juliet Graham and Patrick McCullough, along with Shreeram Lagoo, Achala Sachdev, Shashikala, Narendra Nath, Jalal Agha and A.K. Hangal in supporting roles. Rama Vij and Rajni Sharma made special appearances in the film.
Kashish (1980) was one of the earliest Indian films to be shot extensively in America featuring American actors, making this vintage Bollywood poster, highly collectible!
The film told the story of a brilliant but simple village lad called Ramesh (Navin Nischol), who stands first in a national-level examination. His principal (Shreeram Lagoo) had an unfulfilled dream in his college days of visiting the US for higher education and becoming world renowned. He pushes Ramesh to cut through all odds and pursue the highest degree in architecture in a prestigious college in the US under a full scholarship from the Indian government. Ramesh is reluctant to leave behind his aging father (A.K. Hangal) and mother (Achala Sachdev). He wants to wants to take up a job instead and fulfill his responsibilities towards his family (such as getting his sister married). However, his principal convinces him otherwise and Ramesh arrives in the US on a government scholarship to pursue higher studies. At the airport, Ramesh meets an Indian cab driver called Mohan (Vinod Mehra) who has left Indian culture and values far behind. Mohan takes Ramesh on a tour of US nightlife which is a culture shock for the small town lad. Before leaving for the US, Ramesh’s principal asks him to meet his Indian friend’s daughter, Dr. Seema (Reena Roy), who is a permanent resident there. Seema offers to help Ramesh get a foothold in the US in whatever way she can. Ramesh is instantly drawn to Seema and proposes. The two fall deeply in love with one another. However things change after Dr. Seema introduces Ramesh to businessman Mr. Browne (Patrick McCullough) and his stunningly beautiful daughter, Catherine Browne (Juliet Graham). Ramesh is mesmerized by the young blonde and finds himself lusting after her beauty. Catherine is drawn to Ramesh and introduces him to parties, alcohol and marijuana. Ramesh begins working for Mr. Browne and gets closer to Catherine. One night after exiting a metro station, Ramesh is mugged and stabbed. He is admitted in the same hospital that Dr. Seema works at. She pays for his medical expenses and nurses him back to good health. Ramesh has to return suddenly to India as his father passes away. Dr. Seema visits India as well as her mother (Shashikala) wants her to get married to a high status man of her choice. When both Ramesh and Dr. Seema return to the US, their romance grows stronger. Ramesh is unable to control his sexual urges and tries desperately to have pre-marital sex with Dr. Seema, who refuses, citing Indian culture and traditions that require a woman to be a virgin on her honeymoon night. One evening after partying with Catherine and smoking marijuana, Ramesh, reeling under influence arrives at Dr. Seema’s residence and tries to force himself upon her. Dr. Seema slaps Ramesh. On being rejected, Ramesh heads back to Catherine’s and has sex with her instead to satisfy himself. The battle of love versus lust begins. Dr. Seema is looking for a man who desires her and not just her body. Ramesh is heartbroken as Dr. Seema refuses to meet him again. He drowns his sorrows in alcohol. In the meantime, Dr. Seema’s mother arranges her wedding with an established businessman in America called Shekhar (Narendra Nath). In reality, Shekhar is a criminal dealing drugs and wants to marry Dr. Seema because she is the only daughter of a wealthy widow. Unable to see Ramesh’s state, Mohan meets Dr. Seema and asks her to give Ramesh another chance. Dr. Seema meets Ramesh and offers her body to satisfy his lust. Ramesh is ashamed of himself and vows to make things right by consummating their relationship only after marriage. Things however take a turn when Dr. Seema’s mother goes ahead with her plan of to get her married to Shekhar and Dr. Browne asks Ramesh to marry his daughter Catherine. Will Ramesh and Dr. Seema unite?
Printed and circulated during the original first release of the film (somewhere in 1980), this vintage Bollywood poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.
This Kashish poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by master Bollywood poster artist C. Mohan (Chandramohan Gupta) who is renowned for designing posters of the cult blockbuster Sholay (1975). His unique vertical signature is seen printed on the bottom left of this vintage Bollywood poster.
Actress Reena Roy is seen illustrated in a striking hand drawn portrait at the center. She is dressed in Western attire and is depicted wearing a hat. Navin Nischol is seen in a romantic pose with American actress Juliet Graham on the bottom right. The portraits are overlaid with mesh lines.
Smaller close up portraits of actors of Navin Nischol and Vinod Mehra are seen at the bottom left. Actor Vinod Mehra’s charismatic smile has been captured perfectly by Bollywood poster designer C. Mohan’s expert brush strokes.
Typography used in this Bollywood movies shot in America poster is entirely in English, with only it’s title translated to both Devanagari Hindi as well as Urdu on the top. The film’s main English title appears in a 3D font in red accentuated with a black border, along with a subtitle below that reads, “The Attraction.” A line below the subtitle reads, “Filmed in America.”
The soundtrack album of Kashish (1980) was composed by hit music composer duo Kalyanji-Anandji, while lyrics were written by Anjaan. It featured the popular song, “Do Pardesi Anjaane Se” sung by Kishore Kumar & Suman Kalyanpur.
