Baghdad ka Jadoo

Baghdad Ka Jadoo poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving vintage original Bollywood poster of the old 1956 Hindi film directed by John Cavas, who also starred in the film in a lead role along with Mary Ann Evans, better known as “Fearless Nadia” or “Nadia Hunterwali.”

Presented under Homi Wadia’s Basant Pictures banner, Magic of Baghdad (1956) also starred Krishna Kumari, Sheila Kashmiri, Vijaya Choudhury (Qurasha Begum), Poonam, Neeta Roy, Shanta Patel, Baby Rehana, Shree Bhagwan, Sardar Mansur, Habib, Sikandar, Azim, H. Prakash, Dalpat, Rattan Kumar and Mithoo Miya in supporting roles.

With special effects from pioneer Babubhai Mistry, Magic of Baghdad (1956) was a fantasy drama set in the desert sands of the Middle East. The royal minister’s infant daughter Yasmina (Fearless Nadia) is kidnapped by the head of a wandering gypsy clan (Shree Bhagwan). Growing up among gypsies, Yasmina also becomes part of the clan, mastering the art of stealing and pick pocketing. She along with gypsy Salim (John Cawas) go about committing a string of brazen thefts, terrorizing the kingdom of Baghdad. The khalifa (ruler) of Baghdad desires to see Yasmina caught and hanged for her crimes before his daughter’s wedding is solemnized. He declares a reward of 5,000 dinars to anyone in the kingdom who has information of the gypsy woman’s hideout. In his old age, the gypsy chief reveals the truth to Salim about kidnapping Yasmina when she was a baby. Salim and Yasmina are in love with each other. However, the gypsy chief’s son Qasim is also in love with Yasmina and jealous of her relationship with Salim. He decides to destroy them both by revealing their location to the Khailfa who promises to pay him a sum of 10,000 Dinars for the information. However, Yasmina and Salim break into the Khalifa’s palace before Qasim can lead them to their hideout. The Khalifa is enraged and believes Qasim lied about their hideout only to win the reward and decrees that he be decapitated by sunrise. Yasmina and Salim decide to forgive Qasim and rescue him back before he can be executed. When the Khalifa’s daughter’s marriage is to be decided and sultans of neighboring nations are present in the royal court, Yasmina wearing a fake mustache and beard along with a turban, dresses up as the Sultan of the Sea and enters along with Salim. Completely smitten, the Khalifa’s daughter (Krishna Kumari) chooses Yasmina as her husband and garlands her, believing her to actually be the Sultan of the Sea. On the day the wedding is to be solemnized, the royal minister who has his eye on the throne, unmasks Yasmina in court by knocking her turban off, revealing her long hair. The Khalifa is enraged and orders Yasmina along with her gypsy clan members to be hanged. As soon as he pronounces the sentence, the Khalifa begins to cough and is offered water mixed with poison by the royal minister. The venom renders the Khalifa comatose and the royal minister declares him beyond recovery. The gypsy chief steps in offering advice that the the toxic effects of the venom can be neutralized if an antidote is administered within four days. However, the plant that can fight off the poison is located on a treacherous mountain where no man dares to go. The Khalifa’s daughter declares that she will marry any man who can fetch the plant and save her father’s life but nobody steps forward. Yasmina requests to accept the dangerous mission and is allowed to do so on the condition that if she doesn’t return within four days, Salim, her foster father and the remaining members of her gypsy clan will be executed. Yasmina is given a fast horse and she sets off for the mountain. Qasim helps Salim break out of prison so that he can assist Yasmina. Unknown to both Yasmina and the king, she is actually the daughter of the royal minister of the king’s court who is planning a coup to take over the throne.

Born in Australia, Fearless Nadia was one of the earliest actresses in Indian cinema to star in lead (primarily women-oriented action-packed) roles. In her illustrious career, Fearless Nadia starred in dozens of films produced and directed by husband Homi Wadia, starting from her debut in the film Hunterwali (1935).

Baghdad Ka Jadoo (1956) was one of actress Mary Ann Evans’ many action packed adventures, making this Fearless Nadia poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during the theatrical release run of the film (somewhere in the 1950s/1960s), this Baghdad Ka Jadoo poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This vintage Bollywood poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a poster art studio. It features a two color design, using a mix of red and blue hues. A third darker shade combines the two colors into one.

Mary Ann Evans is seen hand painted in a caricature styled illustration locked in a sword duel at the bottom. A large drawing of lead actor and director John Cawas is seen in blue, resembling a negative. Fearless Nadia is seen again in a large waist-sized close up illustrated in red and blue at the bottom. She is see wearing a fake mustache and beard along with a turban, dressed up as a young prince. A portrait of the old sage with magical powers who helps Yasmina ascend to the mountain in her search for the antidote plant is seen on the top left corner of this Baghdad Ka Jadoo movie poster. A flying chariot is seen alongside.

The fantasy genre of the action film is evident from the artwork. An action scene from the film is seen hand drawn in a stick figure styled illustration on the top left of this Baghdad Ka Jadoo poster.

The dual tone used in this vintage Bollywood poster is very pleasing and gives a retro feel to the artwork. Lettering used in this poster is primarily in Devanagari Hindi script, with the title of the film translated to English on the top and in Urdu at the bottom.

The soundtrack album of Magic of Baghdad (1956) was composed by Shafi M. Nagri. It featured popular tracks such as, “Hum Duniya Mein Aazad Rahenge Ya Ladkar Mar Jayenge,” “Suno Bhai Duniyawalon” and “Chand Muskaye Sanam.”