Sadhna

Old Bollywood poster printed in Delhi of the black and white Hindi film Sadhna (1958) for sale.

This is an actual surviving old Hindi movie poster of the 1958 social drama that was produced and directed by B. R. Chopra. The film starred Sunil Dutt and Vyjayanthimala in lead roles. Leela Chitnis, Radhakrishan, Manmohan Krishna, Uma Dutt and Ravikant played supporting roles in Sadhna.

The film featured a progressive subject that was regarded as a social taboo at the time, telling the story of a prostitute’s love affair with a professor.

Sadhna was a bold portrayal of how the plight of helpless women engaged in prostitution was viewed by society. The film was also reformist in that it exposed how society rejected the process of rehabilitation of prostitutes, which was a highly controversial subject at the time. It challenged societal norms by questioning if a prostitute could ever become a wife and integrate with society.

The film’s artistic handling of a sensitive social subject won it widespread appeal and helped Sadhna become the most critically acclaimed film of the year, making this vintage Bollywood poster highly collectible!

Actress Vyjayanthimala won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role as “Champabai” in Sadhna. Her stunning dance performances and mature acting even though she was only twenty two years old at the time were praised by fans and critics alike.

Printed and circulated subsequent to the film’s original release (somewhere in the 1960s/1970s), this old Hindi movie poster for sale was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This old Bollywood poster was originally designed in hand painted format on canvas by an art studio in Delhi, giving it a very quirky feel. Actress Vyjayanthimala is seen in her finest glory prominently in the poster, in a superbly hand painted rendition. A large hand painted close up of actor Sunil Dutt in his character of “Professor Mohan” is seen at the bottom of this vintage Bollywood poster. A key scene from the film in which actress Vyjayanthimala is seen in a brothel is depicted on the top of the poster.

The film’s soundtrack was composed by Datta Naik and lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi. Songs from the film were sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt and Asha Bhosle.

One of the tracks “Aurat Ne Janam Diya Mardon Ko, Mardon Ne Use Bazaar Diya” became a rage throughout the nation at the time of the film’s release. The opening lyrics of this song are written on the top of this vintage Bollywood poster. Loosely translated, the line reads, “Woman gave birth to men; Men gave her a brothel.”