Mela

Hand painted Bollywood poster of the old Hindi film, Mela (1948) for sale.

This is an actual surviving hand painted Bollywood movie poster of the 1948 romantic tragedy that starred the Tragedy King of Bollywood, superstar Dilip Kumar in the lead role. Produced by Wadia Movietone, the film also starred Nargis, Jeevan Rehman and Nur Jehan.

Printed and circulated somewhere in the 1950s, this vintage Bollywood film poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This vintage Bollywood film poster was originally created on canvas by an art studio in Kolkata, giving it a very quirky appearance. Superstar Dilip Kumar and actress Nargis are seen in large close up portraits painted prominently in the poster, in a Simpsons-like yellow avatar. Actor Jeevan who essays a villainous role in the film, is seen hand drawn in black and white at the bottom in a smaller portrait. A carnival is seen as a suggestion at the bottom of this vintage Bollywood film poster for sale.

The combination of yellow and red used in this vintage Bollywood film poster gives it a very appealing and eye catching appearance. The line drawing techniques used in the past by old school Bollywood poster painters is very evident in this vintage Bollywood film poster for sale.

This vintage Bollywood film poster is a two sheeter. Two sheet posters comprise two separate individual single sheet posters measuring approximately 40″x30″ inches each. When pasted together they line up perfectly and together form one single two sheet poster. In the image provided, there may be a slight gap visible between the two – as the images of the top and bottom half have been photographed individually and then joined together digitally. When framed or pasted, there will be no gap visible between the two sheets and the appearance of the poster would be seamless – i.e. just like a single sheet poster.

The music of Mela played a pivotal role in its commercial success at the box office and the film was touted as “Naushad’s Golden Jubilee Mela.” Capitalizing on the same, this vintage Bollywood film poster reads out the lyrics of a popular song from the film on the top, “Ye Zindagi Ke Mele Duniya Mein Kam Na Honge; Afsos Hum Na Honge” sung by Mohammed Rafi.