Bengali poster design for sale: Ekti Raat (1956).
Featured here is an actual surviving vintage Bengali movie poster of the 1956 Bangla comedy directed by Chitta Basu that starred the most popular and successful film star of Bengal, Uttam Kumar in the lead role opposite his most frequently paired co-star, Suchitra Sen.
Produced by Harendranath Chattopadhyay, Ekti Raat (1956) also starred Tulsi Chakraborty, Bhanu Banerjee, Sabita Bose and Anup Kumar in supporting roles.
The film was based on a novel called Bhimpalashree written by Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay. It told the story of a married couple, Shusovan (Uttam Kumar) and Anita (Sabita Bose) who embark on a journey. At the train station, Anita boards the train but Shusovan is left behind. Now separated from his wife, Shusovan meets a beautiful married woman called Santana De (Suchitra Sen) who has also missed the train and the two decide to journey together. In order to rest at a hotel, the two are left with no choice but to pretend to be a married couple. In the meantime, Anita, now alone on the train begins to suspect that her husband has deliberately left her behind in order to elope with someone else. A comedy of errors follow.
Printed and circulated during a subsequent release run of the film in theaters (somewhere in the 1970s), this old Bengali poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.
This Ekti Raat poster was originally over painted on canvas by a poster design studio in Kolkata and features striking artwork.
Superstar Uttam Kumar and actress Suchitra Sen are captured in brilliantly composed over painted portraits in this old Bengali cinema poster. Uttam Kumar is seen with a finger over his lips, suggesting a secret is to be kept. Suchitra Sen’s stunning beauty is captured perfectly in this over painted still photo. She is seen in her character of a wealthy married woman, holding a basket in her hand.
Typography used in this old Suchitra Sen poster is entirely in Bengali, with the title appearing in a very creatively designed stylized font. A starlit sky is seen hand painted in a diagonal box that gives away the premise of the film.
The soundtrack album of Ekti Raat (1956) was composed by Anupam Ghatak.
