Sangam

Sangam movie poster for sale.

Featured here is an old Bollywood poster of the super hit 1964 Hindi film produced and directed by the “Showman of Indian cinema” Raj Kapoor, featuring him in a leading role opposite Vyjayanthimala. The love triangle also starred Rajendra Kumar.

Iftekhar, Randhir Kapoor, Raj Mehra, Nana Palsikar, Lalita Pawar, Achala Sachdev and Hari Shivdasani played supporting roles in this cult classic.

A magnum opus, Raj Kapoor spared no expense in Sangam’s shoot, with many scenes shot in exotic foreign locations such as Venice, Paris, and Switzerland.

Sangam (1964) is believed to be the first Indian film shot extensively abroad, and is credited with starting the trend of shooting expensive song sequences in foreign locations outside India. During it’s release, it was the most expensive film of it’s time and also had the longest runtime.

Released in Technicolor, Sangam (1964) was Raj Kapoor’s first color film, and is considered one of his finest, making this old Bollywood poster, highly collectible.

Printed and circulated during a subsequent screening of the film (somewhere in the 1980s), this old Sangam movie poster was originally designed for publicity of the film in south Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This old Raj Kapoor movie poster was originally designed in photographic collage format by cutting out stills of actors using a blade and pasting them on a board. The printed stamp of Indian film poster artist Sundar is seen on the bottom right of this Sangam movie poster.

A striking still photo featuring actress Vyjayanthimala in a golden yellow saree is seen prominently on the left. She appears leaning over and whispering into Raj Kapoor’s ear, who is playing the piano. Rajendra Kumar is seen holding a microphone in his hand on the right. His still photo appears tearing through the multicolor background, as if interrupting the love affair that is unfolding alongside.

The love triangle plot of the film is evident from this brilliant arrangement of the three portraits in this old Sangam movie poster.

The background of this old Raj Kapoor film poster fades into a minimal white background at the bottom, which gives the lettering relief space to stand out in contrast against. Typography is entirely in English, with an announcement on the top that says, “No need language for this film.” The message is targeted towards the non-Hindi speaking south Indian audience, inviting them to come and watch the film (which is easy to understand without subtitles or dubbing due to it’s high emotional content and visual drama).

The soundtrack album of Sangam (1964) was composed by the hit duo Shankar-Jaikishan, while lyrics were written by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. It was a blockbuster upon it’s release and is unanimously regarded as one of the finest compositions in Indian cinema.

Vyjayantimala made her singing debut in Sangam with the songs “Yeh Mera Prem Patra Padhkar” that she sung together with Mohammad Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar and “Bol Radha Bol (Mere Man Ki Ganga)” sung together with Mukesh.

Tracks like “Dost Dost Na Raha” sung by Mukesh, “Har Dil Jo Pyaar Karega” sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mukesh & Mahendra Kapoor, and “Main Kya Karoon Ram Mujhe Buddha Mil Gaya” sung by Lata Mangeshkar are fondly remembered and played till date.

Sangam also featured a song in German and English, “Ich Liebe Dich (I Love You)” sung by Vivian Lobo.