Garam Masala

Garam Masala poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original vintage Bollywood poster of the 1973 Hindi comedy directed by Aspi Irani that starred Aruna Irani in the titular role as “Garam Masala” along with comedian Mehmood.

Produced by noted Bollywood poster designer C. Mohan (Chandramohan Gupta) and released under the Balaji Kala Mandir banner, Garam Masala (1973) also starred Jeevan, Bindu, Tun Tun, Anwar Hussain, Mini Mahmood and Polson in supporting roles. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan made a special appearance in the film along with Ashok Kumar, Jeetendra and Hema Malini.

Printed and circulated during the initial release run of the film in theaters (somewhere in the early 1970s), this vintage Bollywood poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This Garam Masala poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster design studio in Bombay.

Actress Aruna Irani is seen in a striking hand drawn portrait undoing the strings of her blouse, giving this old Bollywood poster a highly suggestive look. Comedian Mehmood is seen in a smaller illustration alongside dressed in a fencing cape outfit, wearing an eye mask.

The two portraits are seen encased inside a palace, illustrated using hand painted motif style. The background is a minimal white, which makes the artwork stand out.

Typography used in this original Garam Masala poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi, with the title seen in blue matching the shade used in the palace motif above.

The soundtrack album of Garam Masala (1973) was composed by one of the greatest composers in Bollywood, R.D. Burman. It featured the notable song “Tum Jaise Ko Payal Mein Bandh Loon” sung by Asha Bhosle.