Freedom struggle poster: Bharat Ke Shaheed (1972).
This is an actual surviving rare original vintage Bollywood poster of the 1972 black and white Hindi film directed by Vishram Bedekar that featured Showman Subhash Ghai in the lead role.
Written and produced by Ram Gopal, Bharat Ke Shaheed (1972) marked the debut of actress Reema Sapru, who along with her father D.K. Sapru, Ramesh Deo, Junior Mehmood, Master Ripple, Seema Deo, Tiwari, Husn Bano, Ram Avtar, Ramesh Dubey and Azad played supporting roles in the film. Tabassum made a guest appearance in this patriotic Bollywood movie.
Bharat Ke Shaheed (1972) was based on the story of two brothers leading contrary lives. One is a die-hard patriot, a writer and poet willing to sacrifice everything for his motherland (played by Subhash Ghai), whereas the other is engaged in espionage betraying the nation’s military secrets to an enemy nation (played by Ramesh Deo). The title “Bharat Ke Shaheed” is depicted in the film as the name of a patriotic book authored by Subhash Ghai.
Printed and circulated during the debut release of the film in theaters (1972), this Bharat Ke Shaheed poster was designed and printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.
Originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by Bollywood poster artist Vaman Mistry, his printed signature is seen in the name of his art studio V.M. Studio on the bottom right hand corner of this freedom struggle poster.
A stunning hand painted illustration of actor Subhash Ghai is seen on the top. He is seen dressed in khadi (homegrown, hand-woven cotton) reciting a patriotic song on a microphone. Rough brush strokes give a rugged character to his face. A rising sun is seen behind him, signifying a new dawn of hope.
A blue black hand that has broken free from shackles is seen holding the Swaraj flag (official pre-Independence flag adopted by the Indian National Congress in 1931) at the center of this Bharat Ke Shaheed movie poster.
The title of the film appears in a striking 3D font covering a large area of this freedom struggle poster. A violent conflict between British troops and Indian civilians is seen unfolding below, with a mix of strong orange and red hues in the background.
A patriotic poem is written on the top right in four lines that reads, “Mahakranti Ke Avahan Par, Mrityujay Banke Lalkare. Amar Put Ve Amar Rahenge Jab Tak Nab Mein Chand Sitare.”
Typography used in this illustrated movie poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi, with a translation of the title seen in English in a striking wavy font in yellow at the bottom.
The soundtrack album of Bharat Ke Shaheed (1972) was composed and written by Prem Dhawan. It featured different variations of the song “Sambhalo Ae Watan Walo Watan Apna Sambhalo” sung by Mahendra Kapoor, which became extremely popular at the time of the film’s release. The song narrated the life and struggle of the nation’s most revered freedom fighters such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad among others. One of it’s versions “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Param Pujari Ahimsa Ke” was recited by Subhash Ghai in the opening scene of the film.
