old bollywood lobby cards

Superb old Bollywood movie stills of the hit Hindi film Mard (1985) for sale.

This is an actual surviving set of six vintage movie lobby cards of the 1985 classic, which featured the greatest superstar of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan in the title role.

Printed and circulated a few years after the first release of the film (somewhere in the late 1980s / Early 1990s), these old Bollywood movie stills were printed for publicity of the film and were actually used inside a theater that screened Mard! The four corners of each lobby card feature punched holes and display tell tale sings of being displayed on the notice board of a movie theater.

These old Bollywood movie stills were originally designed by cutting out images of actors from separate still photographs (shot on set location) and pasting them on a board. The background and typography are hand drawn / hand painted, which makes these old Hindi movie stills an interesting mix of two very different design techniques.

This action packed old Bollywood lobby card set was originally designed as a still photo collage on a board by the greatest and highest paid Bollywood movie poster artist of all time, Diwakar Karkare. It is believed that Mard was one of the last Hindi films that Diwakar Karkare designed publicity material (posters, lobby cards & booklets) for, before eventually quitting the business and folding up his art studio (Studio Diwakar).

Diwakar Karkare’s original signature is seen at the bottom of each lobby card, making this set highly collectible.

These old Bollywood movie stills feature photographs taken from iconic scenes of the action packed film. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan is seen in various avatars on these lobby cards along with his romantic interest in the film, Amrita Singh.

These old Bollywood lobby cards were printed on glossy, thick photo paper and comes ready for display on a noticeboard (it features four punched holes, one on each corner for easy pinup).

Unlike old Indian cinema posters, vintage Bollywood movie lobby cards are smaller in size and usually cardboard mounted to make them sturdy enough to be displayed on a notice board. These cards were typically displayed in foyers and lobbies inside cinemas, and were generally issued in sets of 8, 12, 16, 20, etc. Most Hindi film lobby cards have punched holes on each of their four corners for easy pinup on a cinema notice board.

Mard (Macho Man) is a 1985 Hindi film starring the greatest superstar of Bollywoood, Amitabh Bachchan. Directed by Manmohan Desai, Mard was declared a hit and became the highest grossing film of 1985. It was subsequently remade in Tamil by Rajnikant as well as in Telugu.

The film is widely remembered for its dialogue, “Mard ko dard nahi hota” (A real man feels no pain). Songs from the film were moderately popular, with “Mard Tangewala” gaining widespread appeal.