Hatim Tai

Hatim Tai movie poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving vintage Bollywood poster of the old 1956 Hindi film written by J.B.H. Wadia, which was produced and directed by his younger brother Homi Wadia, starring P. Jairaj in the titular role along with Shakila and Meenaxi.

A Wadia Brothers production released under the Basant Pictures banner, Hatim Tai (1956) also starred Naina, Krishna Kumari, Kamal, Menaka, S. N. Tripathi, B.M. Vyas, Sheikh, Vasantrao Pahelwan, Dalpat, Shree Bhagwan, Priscilla, Natalie, Triza, Julian, Rattan and Mithoo Miya in supporting roles. Helen appeared as a dancer in this adventure Bollywood movie.

Thanks to the film’s art direction and cutting edge special effects created by the pioneer of special effects in Indian cinema, Babubhai Mistry, the film was a massive success at the box office.

Hatim Tai (1956) was based on the popular magical Arabian legend that told the story of Hatim al-Tai (played by Jairaj) who sets out on a journey to answer seven difficult riddles in order to liberate Gulnar angel (played by Shakila) and daughter of a wealthy merchant Husn Bano (played by Meenaxi) from a curse.

Printed and circulated subsequent to the film’s first release (somewhere in the late 1960s or early 1970s), this Hatim Tai movie poster was designed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

Originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format, this old fantasy Bollywood movies poster was created by a poster art studio in Delhi called Rangshala Studio. The printed signature of Bollywood poster artist Hamid is seen on the bottom left of this vintage Hatim Tai movie poster.

Two striking portraits of actor P. Jairaj are seen illustrated on this old Bollywood poster. Actress Shakila is seen in a quirky portrait in her character of a winged angel (pari), holding a magic wand in her hand on the right. Meenaxi is seen holding on to Jairaj, who has a sword in his hand, in an illustration on the left.

Typography used in this old Hatim Tai movie poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi. The background used in this adventure Bollywood movies poster depicts a palace on the top. The title appears in a stunning font in red, highlighted with a yellow border, standing out against a black background.

Lyrics of one of the most popular tracks from the film are announced on the top as: “Parwar Digar-e-Alam Tera Hi Sahara” (Protector of the World You Are The Only Support/Hope).

The soundtrack album of Hatim Tai (1990) was composed by S.N. Tripathi, while lyrics were written by Hasan Kamal. It featured the memorable song, “Parwar Digar-e-Alam” sung by Mohammed Rafi which was reportedly replayed eleven times during a screening of the film in Hyderabad on the behest of the Nizam of Hyderabad.

Hatim Tai (1990) was also dubbed into Tamil and released as Maya Mohini (1956).