Mera Gaon Mera Desh

Mera Gaon Mera Desh poster for sale.

Featured here is an original vintage Bollywood poster of the old super hit 1971 Hindi action drama directed by Raj Khosla that starred Dharmendra, Asha Parekh and Vinod Khanna in key roles.

Produced by Lekhraj Khosla & Bolu Khosla and presented under the Khosla Enterprises banner, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) also featured Laxmi Chhaya, Jayant, Asit Sen, Sudhir, Purnima, Bhagwan, Uma Dutt, Mohan Choti, Birbal, Manmohan, Dulari and Ravi Khanna in supporting roles.

The film opened with a famous quote from Father of the Nation Mahatama Gandhi, “If I have to choose between cowardice and violence, I will choose violence.”

Shot extensively at Cheerwa in Udaipur Rajasthan, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) told the story of an orphan petty criminal (Dharmendra) who is called by an ex-army amputee (Jayant) to his village where he encounters a dreaded dacoit (Vinod Khanna).

Written by Akhtar Romani, Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) was the predecessor of the biggest Curry Western ever made, Sholay (1975). Several key scenes and characters from the film were borrowed heavily by writers Salim–Javed in Sholay (1975). For example, the name of the dacoit who terrorizes the entire village is “Jabbar Singh” played by Vinod Khanna in Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971), while in Sholay (1975) it is “Gabbar Singh” played by Amjad Khan. Both films feature amputees – Jayant in Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Sanjeev Kumar in Sholay (1975).

Dharmendra is featured as a coin tossing drunkard who falls in love with a village girl in both films – Asha Parekh in Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Hema Malini in Sholay (1975). Both films feature a similar climax, where Dharmendra is captured by the dacoit and tied with both his hands outstretched followed by a song and dance sequence – Laxmi Chhaya in Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) and Hema Malini in Sholay (1975).

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1971), this vintage Bollywood poster was issued for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This Mera Gaon Mera Desh poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a movie poster design studio in Madras called AAA and features stunning artwork.

Superstar Dharmendra is seen being strangulated with a belt by Vinod Khanna in a striking hand drawn illustration in this vintage Bollywood poster. Set against a minimal orange background, the artwork stands out in sharp contrast. Two flames in yellow and white respectively are seen in the shadows of both actors.

Typography used in this Mera Gaon Mera Desh poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi, with the large title illustrated in a 3D font in red, highlighted with a white border.

The soundtrack album of Mera Gaon Mera Desh (1971) was composed by hit duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal, while lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. It featured blockbuster hits such as, “Maar Diya Jaaye Ki Chhod Diya Jaaye” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, “Kuch Kehta Hai Yeh Sawan, Kya Kehta Hai?” sung by Lata Mangeshkar & Mohammed Rafi and “Apni Prem Kahaniyan” sung by Lata Mangeshkar.