Nehru: The Jewel of India

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the old 1990 Hindi film written and directed by Kumar Kiran that starred Partap Sharma in the titular role of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.

Inspired by accomplished Indian screenwriter Agha Jani Kashmiri, Nehru: The Jewel of India (1990) also starred actress Tanuja in the role of first lady Kamla Nehru (Panditji’s wife). Girish Karnad (as Motilal Nehru) and Rita Bhaduri (as Swarup Rani Nehru) together played the role of Jawaharlal Nehru’s parents. Anupam Kher, Amjad Khan and Iftekhar played supporting roles in the film, while superstar Amitabh Bachchan lent his voice for the introduction and poetry recitals in the film.

Produced by Montage International and presented by Rajan Lall under the Montage International banner, Nehru: The Jewel of India (1990) was announced in the opening credits as, “This film is not as much about a great prime minister as about the making of him … the story of an inner growth, the shaping of a giant who was so human … and one of us.”

The film was titled in Hindi as “Jawahar.” In it’s opening credits, it was dedicated to Nehru’s grandson, Rajiv Gandhi as well as to: “All the people who fought for freedom, peace and progress and the brave souls today who have kept the battle on, for future.”

Printed and circulated during the first release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1990), this Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru poster was designed and printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This old Bollywood poster was originally designed in mixed media format using a combination of both hand painted oil on canvas techniques as well as photographic collage by noted Bollywood poster artist Yashwant. His printed signature is seen on the bottom right of this movie poster.

A striking hand painted close up of lead actor Partap Sharma in his character of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is seen at the center. He is flanked by photographic stills of Anupam Kher on the left and actress Tanuja on the right, who is seen behind bars. Girish Karnad and Amjad Khan are seen in still photos on the bottom right. A passport sized photo of superstar Amitabh Bachchan appears on the bottom left along with the words, “Introduction and poetry spoken by Amitabh Bachchan.”

The struggle for independence is captured brilliantly in a hand painted depiction of a battle at the bottom. Flames are illustrated in the entire background of this old Bollywood poster, giving it a very dramatic effect.

Typography used in this old Bollywood poster is entirely in English, except for the Hindi name of the film, “Jawahar,” which appears on the top left in Devanagari Hindi. A label above it declares the tax free status of the film. An announcement on the right reads, “For the first time on screen. The inside story on Nehru. His Life … His loves … His times.”

The main English title is illustrated in blue, accentuated with a black border. A rose and a flying dove are seen sketched at the top center of the title, while a hand in the shape of a dove holding a red rose is seen illustrated on the left.

The soundtrack album of Nehru: The Jewel of India (1990) was composed by Salil Chowdhury, while lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri.