Ajooba

Vintage Bollywood poster for sale of the superhero fantasy Hindi film, Ajooba (1991).

This is an actual surviving old Bollywood poster for sale of the 1991 superhero flick that was produced and directed by Shashi Kapoor and featured the greatest superstar of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film (somewhere in the early 1990s), this old Amitabh movie poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This vintage Bollywood poster features stunning hand painted artwork and was designed originally on canvas by one of India’s most famous artists, Prithvi Soni. A printed signature of celebrated artist Prithvi Soni is seen on the right hand corner of this old Amitabh Bachchan poster. Prithvi Soni began his art career as a Bollywood poster painter and this rare hand painted Bollywood movie poster is one of the masterpieces he made towards the end of his Bollywood poster career.

A fabulous portrait of superstar Amitabh Bachchan is seen painted prominently in the center with a beautiful rendition of actress Dimple Kapadia alongside. A key action scene from the film is seen in broad artistic brush strokes below. This vintage Bollywood poster features exemplary brushwork – typical of the style used by master Bollywood poster designer, Prithvi Soni. The title Ajooba appears at the bottom in interesting typography.

Ajooba was co-directed by Soviet filmmaker Gennadi Vasilyev and produced in association with Gorky Studios in Moscow. A Russian language dub of the film was released in the Soviet Union as Vozvrashcheniye Bagdadskogo Vora. It is widely believed that superstar Amitabh Bachchan worked in the film for free, as a token of his gratitude for his closest friend and mentor Shashi Kapoor.