Navaratri

Navratri poster for sale.

This is an actual surviving rare vintage original Bollywood poster of the 1985 mythological Hindi film produced by, directed by and starring Asis Kumar.

Mahipal, Anita Guha, Ranjana, Bella Bose, Abhi Bhattacharya, Manik Dutt, Meena T and Jayshri T played supporting roles in Navratri (1985).

The film was based on the story of the Navratri (Nine Nights) festival. It revolves around the legendary battle between Durga and buffalo demon Mahishasura. At the end of nine days, the slaying of Mahishasura is celebrated as victory of good over evil.

Each of the nine days represents the nine avatars of Goddess Durga as per Hindu mythology, namely Shailputri, Brahmcharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandmata, Katyayani, Kaalratri, Mahagauri, and Siddhidatri.

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1985), this rare vintage Bollywood poster was printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This Navratri poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a leading movie poster design studio in Bombay. The printed signature of Bollywood poster painter G.R. Kareker is seen on the bottom right of the poster.

Goddess Durga seated on a lion is seen at the center slaying Mahishasura with a machete. The buffalo demon’s head is seen severed below. Over painted close ups of Asis Kumar and Anita Guha are seen at the bottom of this Navratri poster.

Lettering used in this poster is entirely in English, with a translation of the title seen in Devanagari Hindi at the top. The main English title appears in a catchy red font with a yellow border at the bottom.

The soundtrack album of Nav Durga was composed by S.N. Tripathi and featured gems like, “Aai Bahar Kiye Solah Singar Sakhi” sung by Geeta Dutt and “Chham Chham Naache” sung by Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi.