Dastan-e-Laila Majnu

Romantic movie poster for sale: Dastan-e-Laila Majnu (1974).

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the 1974 Hindi romantic drama that starred Anamika and Kanwaljit Singh as star crossed lovers “Laila” and “Majnu” respectively.

Produced and directed by R.L. Desai, Dastan-e-Laila Majnu (1974) also starred K.N. Singh, Jayshree Talpade, Satyajit and Dulari in supporting roles. Released under the Chandra Art productions banner and presented by S.G. Laad, Dheeraj Kumar made a special appearance in the film.

Shot extensively in Bikaner, Rajasthan, Dastan-e-Laila Majnu (1974) was based on the ancient legendary Arabic love story of Layla and Majnun (Romeo and Juliet).

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1974), this old romantic movie poster was designed and printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This vintage Dastan-e-Laila Majnu poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by an art studio in Bombay. The printed signature of Bollywood poster painter N. Vaman is seen on the top left.

Brilliant hand painted portraits of Anamika and Kanwaljit Singh (seen in their characters of Laila and Majnu respectively) are seen in this old Bollywood poster. The emotion on their faces is illustrated with expert brush strokes, capturing the pain in the hearts of the star crossed lovers. A caravan of camels are seen in a distance.

The poster is set against a gradient background with the lettering at the bottom appearing in a stunning calligraphy style font. Typography in this old romantic movie poster is primarily in English, with a translation of the title seen in Devanagari Hindi as well as in Urdu.

The soundtrack album of Dastan-e-Laila Majnu (1974) was composed by Iqbal Qureshi. It featured the popular song, “Ae Jaan-e-Tamanna Aa Bhi Jaa” sung by legendary signer Mohammed Rafi.