Saraswatichandra

Saraswatichandra poster for sale.

Featured here is a rare surviving vintage Bollywood poster of the old 1968 black and white Hindi film directed by Govind Saraiya that starred actress Nutan in the lead role opposite Manish in his film debut.

Produced by Vivek and released under the banner of Sarvodaya Pictures, Saraswatichandra (1968) also starred Vijaya Choudhury, Ramesh Deo, Sulochana Latkar, B.M. Vyas, Seema Deo, Jeevan Kala, S.B. Nayampalli, Sulochana Chatterjee, Babu Raje, Dulari, Sadhana Khote, Shivraj, Surendra and Praveen Paul in supporting roles.

Shot extensively in Vallabhipur, Gujarat, Saraswatichandra (1968) was inspired by a novel of the same name written by famous Gujarati writer, Govardhanram Madhavram Tripathi. The film won the National Film Awards in the Best Cinematography and Best Music Director categories.

A period drama set in 19th century feudalistic India, Saraswatichandra (1968) told the story of an upright and idealistic son of a ruling family called Saraswatichandra (Manish) who’s marriage has been fixed with Kumud (Nutan), the daughter of another ruling family. Despite the marriage agreement the two families, Saraswatichandra writes a letter to Kumud informing her that he wishes to stay a bachelor and serve his society and nation that is battling the forces of slavery under British Raj. Upon reading the letter, Kumud, who has already fallen in love with Saraswatichandra’s ideals after reading his books and poems in the past, becomes even more attracted to him. She writes back and a series of letters are exchanged between the two. Saraswatichandra is quickly drawn to Kumud after reading her letters and begins to question his decision of calling off the engagement. Defying customs and traditions where any personal meeting between the bride and groom is forbidden before marriage, he arrives at her mansion. Kumud’s family welcomes him in and the two fall madly in love with each other. Enthusiastic and eager to get married, Saraswatichandra returns back to his family to prepare for his wedding with Kumud. However, Saraswatichandra’s stepmother creates a bitter misunderstanding between father and son before the wedding can happen. Saraswatichandra realizes that his stepmother has completely brainwashed his father against Kumud and her family. Not wanting to ruin Kumud’s life by bringing her into a home that is filled with hatred and animosity against her, he decides to write to Kumud and her family informing them about his decision to leave his home. Saraswatichandra forsakes the family heirloom bestowed upon him by his dying grandmother, hands it over to his step brother and leaves penniless. When Kumud’s father reads Saraswatichandra’s letter and learns that he no longer is a member of his father’s royal estate, he decides to find another match for Kumud who is wealthy enough to meet their family status. Soon, Pramad (Ramesh Deo) is identified as a worthy suitor and Kumud is pressured by her parents into marrying him so that her younger sister Kusum ( Vijaya Choudhury) can be married next at the earliest. Pramad turns out to be a worthless womanizer who makes Kumud’s life miserable. In the meantime, Saraswatichandra wanders around the country searching for purpose in his life. Pramad’s father chances upon Saraswatichandra and offers him the job of his secretary, inviting him into his mansion. Saraswatichandra comes face to face with Kumud yet again. Will the two lovers be able to unite this time?

Saraswatichandra has the unique distinction of being one of the last major Hindi films to be made in black and white, making this Bollywood poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated several years after the first release of the film (somewhere in the 1980s), this Saraswatichandra poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

This poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by noted Bombay based Bollywood poster painter C. Bakshi, who’s printed signature is seen on the bottom left.

Master poster artist C. Bakshi captures lead actress Nutan in a spectacular close up hand drawn portrait that spans the entire length of the poster. Typography used in this poster is completely in English, except for a translated title in Devanagari Hindi.

The sountrack album of Saraswatichandra (1968) was composed by duo Kalyanji-Anandji, who bagged the National Award for their chart topping tracks. Song like “Chandan Sa Badan” sung by Mukesh and “O Main To Bhool Chali Babul Ka Des” sung by Lata Mangeshkar went on to become cult classics and are still remembered today.