Alibaba Aur 40 Chor

Hand painted movie posters for sale: Alibaba Aur 40 Chor (1954).

This is an actual surviving rare vintage original Bollywood poster of the 1954 Hindi film produced and directed by Homi Wadia. Released under the Basant pictures, Wadia Brothers Production banner, Alibaba Aur 40 Chor starred Mahipal and Shakila in lead roles. B. M. Vyas, S. N. Tripathi, Sharda and Lalita Kumari played supporting roles in the film, while Helen played a dancer.

The fantasy action adventure drama was based on Ali Baba’s legendary story from One Thousand and One Nights. Art direction and special effects were provided by the pioneer of effects in Indian cinema, Babubhai Mistry.

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1954), this Alibaba Aur 40 Chor poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This hand painted movie poster was originally designed in oil on canvas format by an art studio in Bombay; illustrated by noted film poster painter, C. Bakshi. Actor Mahipal, who plays the role of Alibaba in the film, is seen in a stunning hand painted rendition at the center, brandishing a bloody sword. He is seen flanked by a series of horsemen on one side and pots of gold on the other in this hand painted movie poster. Actress Shakila is seen in a stunning portrait prominently at the bottom, holding a bloody dagger in her hand.

Lettering used in this poster is in Devanagari Hindi, with a translation of the title appearing in English at the bottom and in Urdu on the top. The word Alibaba is seen written in a striking red font on the top. This hand painted movie poster is set against a stunning yellow background, giving it a very catchy appearance.

Alibaba Aur 40 Chor’s soundtrack album was composed by S. N. Tripathi, who also starred in the film, while songs were sung by Asha Bhosle, Mohammed Rafi and Shamshad Begum.

Homi Wadia remade the film again as Alibaba Aur 40 Chor in 1966, with the lead protagonist as Sanjeev Kumar, while B. M. Vyas was retained as the villain. The songs from the movie went on to be used in the 1956 Tamil adaptation as well.