Sampoorna Ramayana

Sampurna Ramayan poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving vintage Bollywood poster of the old 1961 Hindu mythology film directed by the pioneer of special effects in Indian cinema, Babubhai Mistry that starred Mahipal as Lord Ram and Anita Guha as Sita.

A mythological film based on the greatest and most revered Hindu epic of the Ramayana written by Maharishi Valmiki, Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) chronicled the story of Lord Ram. It also starred B.M. Vyas as Ravana, Manhar Desai as Lord Hanuman, Sulochana Latkar as Kaikeyi, Achala Sachdev as Kaushalya, Lalita Pawar as Manthara and Helen as Surpanakha.

A Wadia Brothers’ production, the film was presented by Homi Wadia and released under his Basant Pictures banner. After the cult mythological film Ram Rajya (1943), Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) was the second biggest box office hit based on the epic of the Ramayana, making this Bollywood poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release run of the film (somewhere in the 1960s), this vintage Sampurna Ramayan poster was printed for publicity of the film in Kolkata theaters but never ended up being used.

This old Indian mythology poster was originally hand painted on canvas by a movie poster design studio in Kolkata and features striking artwork.

Mahipal and Anita Guha are seen in their characters of Lord Ram and Sita prominently in this Sampurna Ramayan poster in hand drawn portraits. Lord Hanuman and the evil ten-headed Ravana are seen in the background in smaller portraits. A vibrant red background is seen in this old Bollywood poster for sale giving it a very catchy appearance. The combination of yellow portraits set against a red background set an interesting contrast in this Indian mythology poster.

The soundtrack album of Sampoorna Ramayana (1961) was composed by Vasant Desai, while lyrics were written by Bharat Vyas. It featured gems such as “San Sanan Jare O Pawan” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, “Bar Bar Bagiya Mein Koyal” sung by Asha Bhosle, “Hum Ramchandra ki Chandrakala Mein” sung by both Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar and “Ghar Aaye Bhagwan” sung by Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar.