Madhubala poster

Extremely rare, original vintage Bollywood movie poster of the blockbuster hit, Mahal (1949) for sale. This is an actual surviving publicity poster of the landmark 1949 Hindi film starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala in lead roles.

Mahal is regarded as a landmark film in Indian cinema due to several firsts, chiefly: It has the distinction of being India’s first reincarnation thriller, opening up a completely new genre of gothic fiction in Indian cinema.

Produced by Bombay Talkies, Mahal marked the directorial debut of Kamal Amrohi. Mahal launched playback singer Lata Mangeshkar (the Nightingale of India) into super-stardom, with the hit song, “Aayega aane wala.” Mahal was the first film to star Madhubala (only 16 at the time) with her screen name as “Madhubala” in the credits. She was earlier credited as Mumtaz (primarily cast as a child artist).

Mahal gave Madhubala instant recognition and stardom, from where she grew to become the most desirable woman in the history of Indian cinema and earned the moniker, “the Venus queen of Indian cinema.”

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film (somewhere in the late 1940s / early 1950s), this vintage Bollywood poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used. This very rare old Bollywood poster features stunning hand drawn artwork. The Bollywood poster artist who hand painted this masterpiece captures the alluring beauty of actress Madhubala in a large hand drawn portrait on the top, while Ashok Kumar is seen at the bottom. Typography used in the poster is primarily in English, with a translation of the title in Hindi at the bottom.

Mahal is a 1949 Bollywood movie starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala in lead roles. It is credited as being India’s very first reincarnation thriller.

Produced by Bombay Talkies, Mahal catapulted the career of Lata Mangeshkar with the hit song “Aayega Aane Waala” that is played till today. Mahal was one of the biggest box office hits of 1949 in India.