Muqaddar Ka Sikandar

Old Bollywood poster of the blockbuster Hindi film, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) for sale.

This is an actual surviving movie poster of the 1978 film that featured the greatest superstar of Indian cinema, Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role.

Printed and circulated several years after the first release of the film (somewhere in the early 1990s), this Bollywood poster was originally designed for publicity of the re-release of the film but never ended up being used.

This poster was originally designed by cutting out images of actors from separate still photographs (shot on set location) and pasting them on a board. The typography is hand drawn / hand painted, which makes this Bollywood poster an interesting mix of two very different design techniques.

In the poster, superstar Amitabh Bachchan is seen prominently in two different avatars – a close up photo of him holding a pistol is seen on the top, whereas a smaller photo of him riding his trademark motorcycle is seen below. Villain Amjad Khan is seen abducting actress Raakhee in a still from the film on the left. The typography used in this poster is in English.

Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (Conqueror of Destiny) is a 1978 blockbuster Hindi film produced and directed by Prakash Mehra. Starring superstar Amitabh Bachchan in his fifth of nine films with Prakash Mehra, this was the top grossing film of the year and the third biggest hit of the decade after Sholay and Bobby. The films also stars Vinod Khanna, Raakhee, Rekha and Amjad Khan.

The film is believed to have created mass hype during its release – with people lining up for tickets (some even sleeping outside cinemas overnight). True to Amitabh Bachchan’s super stardom, Muqaddar Ka Sikandar broke several box office records and became a golden jubilee hit. It was remade into a Telugu film in 1980. Similar to a few of his other films, Amitabh Bachchan plays the role of an orphan in Muqaddar Ka Sikandar.

The Soundtrack was composed by brothers Kalyanji Anandji, and the songs went on to become blockbusters. Tracks like “Rote Hue Ate Hain Sab” and “O Saathi Re Tere Bina” sung by Kishore Kumar are played till today. The songs “Dil To Hai Dil” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and picturized on Raakhee became a rage as did “Salaam-e-Ishq Meri Jaan” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and picturized on Rekha.