Aah

Aah poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the old black and white 1953 romantic drama produced by “The Show Man of Indian cinema” Raj Kapoor starring him the lead role along with Nargis.

Pran, Nargis, Vijayalaxmi and Bhupendra Kapoor played supporting roles in Aah (1953), while “The voice of Raj Kapoor,” legendary playback singer Mukesh made a special appearance.

After working as an assistant director to Raj Kapoor in Aag (1948), Barsaat (1949) and Awaara (1951), Aah (1953) marked Raja Nawathe’s first independent directorial venture.

A tragic love story believed to be inspired from Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s epic novel Devdas, Aah (1953) failed to do well in it’s first release, which prompted Raj Kapoor to change the climax from a tragic ending to a happy one to win audience appreciation.

This vintage Raj Kapoor Nargis poster was printed and circulated during the release run of the film in north Indian theaters (somewhere in the 1960s) and was intended for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This old Aah poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a poster art studio in Delhi. The lead couple Raj Kapoor and Nargis appear in a stunning over painted portrait set against a blue background. A candle lit in the background the two adds to the romantic appeal of this old Raj Kapoor Nargis poster.

Dressed in wedding wear, Raj Kapoor is seen affectionately holding Nargis’s face in his hands. Their eyes appear closed, the romance between them captured brilliantly in this original Aah poster.

The typography used in this poster is primarily in English, with a translation of the title appearing in Devanagari Hindi as well as in Urdu. The iconic RK logo is seen at the top left corner of this vintage Raj Kapoor Nargis poster.

The soundtrack album of Aah composed by Shankar-Jaikishan and written by Hasrat Jaipuri became very popular at the time of the film’s release. One of the songs from the film, “Raja Ki Aayegi Baraat” sung by Lata Mangeshkar is fondly remembered and played till today.

Singer Mukesh played a cameo role in Aah, appearing in one of the songs he sung, “Chhoti Si Yeh Zindagani.” Aah was later dubbed in Tamil as “Avan” and in Telugu as “Prema Lekhalu.” Prema Lekhalu was so well received that Raj Kapoor asked music composers Shankar-Jaikishan to include the phrase “Ramaiya Vastavaiya” (Lord Ram will you not come?) in his blockbuster song in the soundtrack of Shree 420. Aah was also remade in Turkish as “Ah Bu Dünya” (1965) starring Cüneyt Arkın.