Laxmi Narayan

Indian mythology movies poster for sale: Laxmi Narayan (1951).

This is an actual surviving rare vintage original Bollywood poster of the 1951 mythological Hindi film that was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt.

Released under Homi Wadia’s Basant Pictures banner, Laxmi Narayan was a spiritual black and white film that starred Meena Kumari and Mahipal in lead roles. Kanta Kumari, Urmila, Leela Kumari, Chandni, Lalita Rao, Sulochana, S.N. Tripathi, Dalpat, Vasantrao Pahalwan, Babu Raje, Shribhagwan and Banke Bihari played supporting roles in this classic.

Printed and circulated during the screening of the film in theaters (somewhere in the 1950s), this rare Indian mythology movies poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

The “Tragedy Queen” of Indian cinema, Meena Kumari was only nineteen years old when Laxmi Narayan was released in 1951. With an initial start in mythology movies, Meena Kumari got her first mainstream break in Baiju Bawra, which was released the following year in 1952.

This Laxmi Narayan poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a movie poster design studio.

Actress Meena Kumari who plays the titular role of goddess Laxmi is seen on the right in a stunning hand painted rendition. Mahipal is seen alongside on the left in his character of Lord Vishnu.

He is seen again in the Narayana form of Lord Vishnu, resting on Shesha or Sheshanaga (a serpentine demigod), with goddess Laxmi seated with him.

An epic scene from the mythological is seen brilliantly illustrated at the bottom. The devas (gods) and the asuras (demons) can be seen together churning the ocean (Samudra Manthan) in search of the drink of amrita (immortality). Using mount Mandara as a churning stick and Vasuki, the king of the Serpents, as a rope, the demons are seen holding the head of the snake while the devas are holding its tail.

This vintage Indian mythology movies poster has been designed and printed in horizontal, i.e. landscape format as opposed to the standard vertical layout. Lettering used in this poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi.

The soundtrack album of Laxmi Narayan was composed by S.N. Tripathi who also starred in the film.