Dharmputra

Shashi Kapoor poster for sale: Dharmputra (1961).

Featured here is an actual surviving original vintage Bollywood poster of the 1961 Hindi drama directed by Yash Chopra that starred Mala Sinha, Shashi Kapoor, Rehman and Manmohan Krishna in key roles.

Produced by Yash Chopra’s elder brother B.R. Chopra, Dharmputra (1961) also starred Nirupa Roy, Indrani Mukherjee, Tabassum, Deven Verma, Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar, Rajendra Kumar and Shashikala in supporting roles.

Deven Verma made his film debut with Dharmputra (1961), subsequently becoming a successful supporting actor and comedian in Indian cinema.

Dharmputra (1961) was a powerful film based on a novel of the same name written by Acharya Chatursen Shastri. It dealt with sensitive social issues such as religious fundamentalism and communalism in the context of a post partitioned India. The plot of the film revolved around an illegitimate Muslim child, played by Shashi Kapoor, who is raised in a Hindu family.

In addition to being legendary filmmaker Yash Chopra’s second film, Dharmputra (1961) was Shashi Kapoor’s first film as lead actor, making this old Bollywood poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during the debut release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1961), this vintage Bollywood poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This Shashi Kapoor poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by one of the leading Bollywood poster design studios of Bombay, Pamart.

Master Bollywood poster artist V.G. Parchure’s flair over the paintbrush is seen in a stunning illustration of lead actor Shashi Kapoor in this Dharmputra poster. An emotionally charged close up portrait of the superstar is illustrated blending into a fiery flaming background. A riotous mob is seen in a hand drawn suggestion below.

A hand drawn black and white portrait of actress Nirupa Roy holding a baby in one hand and hugging Mala Sinha with the other is seen on the cover of a book. The subtitle of the film written on the poster explains the artwork as: “From a Novel By Acharya Chatursen Shastri.” Nirupa Roy (who portrays the character of a Hindu in the film) giving a reassuring hug to Mala Sinha (who plays a Muslim woman) is a brilliant depiction of Hindu-Muslim unity and national integration at a glance.

A two tone split is used in the background of this hand painted Bollywood poster. The top half is seen in shades of red, orange and yellow while the bottom is a minimal white.

Typography used in this Bollywood poster is entirely in English, with only the title translated to Devanagari Hindi as well as Urdu. The letter D in Dharmputra is seen in red, presumably reflecting the anger and prejudice harbored by the film’s central character, “Dilip.”

The soundtrack album of Dharmputra (1961) was composed by N. Dutta, while lyrics were written by Sahir Ludhianvi. One of the tracks from the film, “Saare Jahan Se Achha Hindustan Hamara” sung by Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi was used in the opening credits of the film. It is a timeless classic that is fondly played at every patriotic event in India.

The inflammatory subject of Dharmputra (1961) led to security issues during the screening of the film in theaters. It’s failure prompted filmmaker Yash Chopra to steer clear of political subjects entirely and shift to the romantic genre. However, he picked up the subject again in Veer Zaara (2004), which was a massive success at the box office.