Shikar

Parde Mein Rehne Do poster for sale: Shikar (1968).

Featured here is an actual surviving old Bollywood poster of the 1968 Hindi murder mystery produced and directed by Atma Ram that starred Dharmendra and Asha Parekh in lead roles.

Written by Abrar Alvi and released under the Guru Dutt Films banner, Shikar (1968) also starred Sanjeev Kumar, Rehman, Helen, Johnny Walker, Bela Bose, Manmohan, Keshto Mukherjee, Mirajkar, Lata Sinha, Raj Kishore, Ramesh Deo and Shyam Kumar in supporting roles.

Shikar (1968) told the story of a brave forest estate manager called Ajay (Dharmendra) who finds his boss Naresh (Ramesh Deo) murdered shortly after he has written his last will and testament. Inspector Rai (Sanjeev Kumar) arrives at the crime scene and finds the murder weapon described by Ajay missing. So is the woman who crashed her car into the forest the night of the murder and was laid on the bed in an unconscious state by Ajay in his room. Ajay sets out to find the missing woman and is shocked to see her performing on stage at a musical show. When he confronts her, he learns her name is Kiran (Asha Parekh) and she is the daughter of retired police commissioner Sharma (Rehman). Kiran flatly denies being in a car accident at the time of the murder and accuses Ajay for mixing her up with someone else. The mystery deepens as Ajay is sure the woman he carried in his arms in an unconscious state the night of the murder was Kiran. But how can he prove it?

Printed and circulated during a subsequent release run of the film (somewhere in the early 1970s), this Parde Mein Rehne Do poster was designed for publicity of the film in north Indian theaters but never ended up being used.

This Shikar poster was originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by a Bollywood poster art studio in Delhi and features stunning artwork.

Superstar Dharmendra is seen firing a pistol in the air on the left, while actor Sanjeev Kumar is seen in police uniform pointing a pistol on the right. A nude woman is seen lying covered in blood at the center, with a giant eagle lifting away the bedsheet that covers her.

Actress Asha Parekh is seen wearing a tribal outfit in a beautiful over painted still photo on the bottom right. The still is taken from the super hit song, “Jabse Lagi Tose Najariya, Nas Nas Mein Daude Hai Bijuriya” sung by melody queens Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.

The background of this Shikar poster contains shades of blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Typography used in this Parde Mein Rehne Do poster is entirely in Devanagari Hindi except for a translation of the title in English.

The main Devanagari Hindi title of the film appears in a stunning diagonal 3D font in white with a yellow and blue border. Lyrics of a superhit song from the film are announced on the top, “Parde Mein Rehne Do, Parde Na Uthaao. Parda Jo Uth Gaya Toh Bhed Khul Jayegaa.” (English translation: Let The Veil Remain, Don’t Lift the Veil. If the Veil Is Lifted, the Secret Will be Released).

The soundtrack album of Shikar (1968) was composed by hit duo Shankar-Jaikishan, while lyrics were written by Hasrat Jaipuri. The album featured the blockbuster hit song, “Parde Mein Rehne Do” sung by Asha Bhosle for which she won Best Female Playback Singer at the Filmfare Awards in 1969. The song is fondly remembered and played till date. Another unforgettable hit from the album was the title track, “Shikar Karne Ko Aaye Shikar Ho Ke Chale” sung by Mohammed Rafi. “Jabse Lagi Tose Najariya, Nas Nas Mein Daude Hai Bijuriya” sung by melody queens Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle was also very popular at the time of the film’s release.