Haatim Tai

Hatim Tai poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the old 1990 Hindi film directed by the pioneer of special effects in Indian cinema, Babubhai Mistri, that starred Jeetendra in the titular role.

Produced by Ratan Mohan and released under the R.M. Art Productions’ banner, Hatim Tai (1990) also starred Satish Shah, Amrish Puri, Sangeeta Bijlani, Goga Kapoor, Jasmin, Raza Murad, Alok Nath, Sonu Walia, Rajesh Vivek, Vijayendra Ghatge and Dev Kumar in supporting roles.

The film was based on the popular magical Arabian legend that told the story of Hatim al-Tai (played by Jeetendra) and his friend Nazrul (played by Satish Shah) who set out on a journey to answer seven difficult riddles in order to liberate Gulnar angel (played by Sangeeta Bijlani) from a curse.

Hatim Tai (1990) featured Amrish Puri in a memorable negative role as evil magician “Jadugar Kamlaq.” His trademark dialogue from the film, “Jinn Jinn Jinn Du Jinn Daara” became very popular at the time of the film’s release and is fondly remembered till date.

Printed and circulated subsequent to the film’s first release (somewhere in the early 1990s), this Hatim Tai poster was designed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

Originally designed in still photographic collage format, this old adventure Bollywood movies poster was created by a poster art studio in Delhi. The printed signature of Bollywood poster artist Narayan is seen on the center right border.

A ghoul is seen on the top with lightning emanating from it’s eyes and blood dripping from it’s vampire fangs. A bat is seen flying alongside on the left of this old fantasy Bollywood movies poster. A woman appears constricted by an anaconda on the right along with a small photographic still of Jeetendra and Amrish Puri fighting each other on a flying carpet.

Villain Amrish Puri is seen again in a large photographic still on the left in his character of an evil sorcerer. A skeleton appears next to him along with a smaller photo of actress Sangeeta Bijlani imprisoned inside a cage. A large photo of a giant genie holding actor Satish Shah in his hands appears pasted at the center, flanked by a close up of actress Sangeeta Bijlani on the left and actor Jeetendra on the right. A smaller photograph of Goga Kapoor is seen on the bottom right of this Hatim Tai poster.

Typography used in this old Hatim Tai poster is in Devanagari Hindi, with a translation of the title appearing in Urdu as well. The background used in this magical Bollywood movies poster is a sky gradient on the top. The title appears in a stunning cracked font using a mix of yellow, orange and red. A black and white skull is interwoven into the title, giving away the magical fantasy genre of the film.

The soundtrack album of Hatim Tai (1990) was composed by hit duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, while lyrics were written by Hasan Kamal. It featured memorable songs such as, “Mere Malik Mere Daata” sung by Mohammad Aziz, “Oye Sanam” sung by Anuradha Paudwal and “Tum Haseen Kis Kadar Ho” sung by Mohammad Aziz & Anuradha Paudwal.