Painter Babu

Horizontal movie poster for sale: Painter Babu (1983).

This is an actual surviving original vintage Bollywood poster of the 1983 Hindi film written, produced and edited by Manoj Kumar that starred his younger brother Rajiv Goswami in the titular role as “Painter Babu.”

Directed by Ashok, Painter Babu marked the debut of both Rajiv Goswami as well as actress Meenakshi Sheshadri.

Neelima, Rakesh Bedi, Aruna Irani, Kamini Kaushal, Veerendra Sharma, Madan Puri, Om Shivpuri, Krishan Dhawan, Pinchu Kapoor and Bandini starred in supporting roles in this old Bollywood romance. Singer Mahendra Kapoor made a guest appearance in the film.

Based on the story of a young man who follows his passion for art by painting portraits of ordinary people, Painter Babu featured several paintings by noted artist Tirath Sharma.

The film was shot extensively in Himachal Pradesh. Both newcomers, Rajiv Goswami as well as Meenakshi Sheshadri were given acting lessons by well known film coach Asha Chandra.

Although the film was a failure at the box office, it gave actress Meenakshi Sheshadri a foot in the door. She would later go on to become one of the most successful Bollywood actresses of the 1980s.

Printed and circulated during the original first release run of the film (somewhere in 1983), this vintage Bollywood poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This horizontal movie poster was originally designed using a combination of both hand painted art as well as photographic collage techniques by the greatest and highest paid Bollywood poster designer of all time, Diwakar Karkare of Studio Diwakar fame. The printed signature of the master is seen on the bottom left of this Painter Babu poster.

A stunning illustrated side profile portrait of debutante Meenakshi Sheshadri is seen on the right. Her face is painted in a soothing shade of pink, with her lips standing out in bright red.

A photographic still taken from a song in the film shows the lead couple Rajiv Goswami and Meenakshi Sheshadri dancing together in this Painter Babu poster. The actress is seen wearing a top with the letters “LOVE” printed on it. Rajiv Goswami is seen again in a larger photographic still above, in an unkempt avatar sporting a beard.

Typography used in this horizontal movie poster is entirely in English. The title of the film appears in bright yellow on the top right, with a black and white paintbrush seen arranged vertically over the letter P.

The soundtrack album of Painter Babu was composed by Uttam Singh. One of the songs from the film, “Kab Talak Shama Jali Yaad Nahin” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor became popular at the time of the film’s release.