Bandhe Haath

Bandhe Haath poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving vintage Bollywood poster of the 1973 Hindi drama directed by O.P. Goyle that starred the greatest superstar of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan in a double role along with Mumtaz.

Written & produced by O.P. Ralhan and released under his Ralhan Productions banner, Bandhe Haath (1973) also starred Ajit, Ranjeet, Madan Puri, Gajanan Jagirdar, Asit Sen, Tun Tun, Pinchoo Kapoor, Baldev Mehta, Kamaldeep, Kumud Chuggani, Anjana Mumtaz, Sardar Akhtar, Rammohan Sharma, Moolchand, Usha Amershi and O.P. Ralhan himself in supporting roles.

Bandhe Haath (1973) was the first film in which Amitabh Bachchan appeared in a double role. Also, it was his last commercial failure at the box office before his career took off to superstardom with Zanjeer (1973), making this old Amitabh Bachchan poster, highly collectible!

A remake of the old black and white film Mujrim (1958) which was directed by O.P. Ralhan and featured Shammi Kapoor in the lead role, Bandhe Haath (1973) told the story of a reluctant criminal on the run called Shyamu (Amitabh Bachchan) seeking reform. His life of crime is owed largely to his father and mentor (Madan Puri) who rescued him from the streets as a child. When he passes away, Shyamu is free from his debt and desires to start an honest life. An opportunity presents itself as he lands up being mistaken for a lookalike poet called Deepak (Amitabh Bachchan) who has been tasked with writing the screenplay of an upcoming film starring beautiful actress Mala (Mumtaz). Being smitten by her, Shyamu decides to commit one last crime and eliminate his lookalike Deepak so that he can assume his identity. However, Deepak is terminally ill and dies shortly after giving Shyamu an easy opportunity to take his place. Wanting to put an end to his old identity forever, he declares dead Deepak as wanted criminal Shyamu in front of the police. Inspector Kumar (Ajit) however is not convinced and decides to investigate further.

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release of the film (somewhere in the 1980s), this Bandhe Haath poster was originally designed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This vintage Amitabh poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster artist in Delhi and features striking artwork.

A stunning close up illustration of the “Angry Young Man of Bollywood,” Amitabh Bachchan is seen covering the entire length of the poster. He appears looking upwards and firing a pistol in his hand.

Actor Ajit is seen on the bottom left of this Bandhe Haath poster wielding a dagger in his hand. Actress Mumtaz is seen on the left in a bold illustration in this old Bollywood poster. Her portrait is inspired from a song in the film, “Yeh Kaun Aaj Aaya Mera Dil Churane.” Portraits of backup dancers are seen hand painted above her.

Typography used in this old Amitabh poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi, with the title appearing in red accentuated with a yellow border. An announcement on the top declares, “King of Nights Amitabh Bachchan.”

The soundtrack album of Bandhe Haath (1973) was composed by ace music director R.D. Burman, while lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. It featured the hit song, “Yeh Kaun Aaj Aaya Mera Dil Churane” sung by Lata Mangeshkar.