Manoos

Extremely rare, old Marathi movie poster of the black and white film, Manoos (1939) for sale.

This is an actual surviving original old Marathi movie poster of the 1939 film which was produced by Prabhat Film Company and directed by legendary filmmaker, V. Shantaram.

Manoos is widely regarded as one of the best classics ever made by V. Shantaram and is ranked as one of the best social films ever made in Indian cinema. The film was seen and praised by Charlie Chaplin himself, making this old Marathi movie poster, highly collectible.

Printed and circulated a few years after the first release of the film (early 1940s), this old Marathi movie poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This old Marathi movie poster has been designed by using iconic black and white photographic stills from the film. Shahu Modak is seen as a police constable on the right whereas Shanta Hublikar appears in the character of a prostitute in this extremely rare old Marathi movie poster. The iconic Prabhat Film Company logo is seen on the bottom left hand corner that reads, “It’s Prabhat.”

Manoos (also called “Life’s for Living”) was based on a short story called “The Police Constable”. Considered one of V. Shantram’s finest films on social themes, Manoos told the story of an honest policemen who falls in love with a prostitute and attempts to rehabilitate her. With the film’s stellar success, it was subsequently released in Hindi as “Aadmi.”

Prabhat Film Company popularly known as Prabhat Films is widely regarded as one of the finest film production companies and film studios in the history of Indian cinema. It was established in 1929 (towards the end of the silent films era) by noted film director V. Shantaram, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra. The company moved to Pune in 1933, where it established its own studio and produced a total of 45 films in both Marathi and Hindi over a period of 27 years. Prabhat Film Company created a name for itself owing largely to its production excellence and social awareness themes.