Azaad

Meena Kumari poster for sale: Azaad (1955).

This is an actual surviving old Bollywood movie poster of the 1955 blockbuster Hindi film produced and directed by S.M. Sriramulu Naidu that starred Dilip Kumar in the titular role opposite Meena Kumari.

Released under the Pakshiraja Studios banner, Azaad (1955) also starred Pran, Om Prakash, Raj Mehra, Randhir, Badri Prasad, S. Nazir, Murad, Ramesh Sinha, Achala Sachdev, Shammi, Deepa, Sayee & Subbulakshmi in supporting roles.

A remake of S.M. Sriramulu Naidu’s Tamil film Malaikkallan (1954), Azaad (1955) told the story of a kidnapped woman (Meena Kumari) who is rescued by a bandit (Dilip Kumar) and falls in love, desiring to marry him.

Considered as the greatest method actor in Indian cinema and often labeled as “tragedy king,” Dilip Kumar bagged his second Best Actor Award at the Filmfare Awards for his stellar performance in the film. Azaad (1955) was one of the biggest hits of the 1950s, making this old Bollywood poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during a subsequent theatrical release run of the film in north Indian theaters (somewhere in the 1970s), this Dilip Kumar poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Originally hand drawn on canvas by a Bollywood poster design studio in Delhi, this Meena Kumari poster features striking illustrated artwork. A large close up illustration of legendary actor Dilip Kumar embracing Meena Kumari is seen illustrated prominently on the left of this Azaad poster. Both are depicted happy and smiling away.

A smaller hand drawn portrait of supporting actor Om Prakash is seen alongside on the right of this old Bollywood poster. He appears in his character of head police constable. A fight scene between Dilip Kumar and Pran is depicted on the top right of this old Meena Kumari poster.

Typography used in this old Bollywood poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi. The title uses red with a yellow border set against a black background in a 3D styled font to draw the viewer’s attention.

The soundtrack album of Azaad (1955) was composed by C. Ramchandra, while lyrics and dialogues were written by Rajendra Krishna. It featured the blockbuster unforgettable hit song, “Aplam Chaplam, Chap Le Teri Duniya Ko Chhod” sung by sisters Lata Mangeshkar & Usha Mangeshkar. “Na Bole, Na Bole” sung by Lata Mangeshkar was another super hit song from the film.