Zabak

Vintage romance posters for sale: Zabak (1961).

Featured here is an actual surviving original Bollywood poster of the old 1961 romantic adventure Hindi film that starred Mahipal in the titular role, while Shyama played his love interest. Written by J.B.H. Wadia, Zabak (1961) was produced and directed by his younger brother Homi Wadia.

Produced in glorious Gevacolor by the Wadia Brothers and released under the Basant Pictures banner, Zabak (1961) also starred Manhar Desai, Sahira (debut), Achla Sachdev, Krishna Kumari, B.M. Vyas, Babu Raje, Dalpat, Raj Adeeb, Uma Dutt, Shree Bhagwan, Ratan, Sundari, Hamid, Julian and Mithoo Miya in supporting roles.

Zabak (1961) told the story of a commoner called Zabak (Mahipal) who is in love with princess Zainab (Shyama). When the news reaches the king’s court, minister Qasim who wants to have Zainab for himself, orders Zabak to be flogged and thrown out of the city gates, while his father’s head is shaved off in public. Unable to bear the shame, Zabak’s father commits suicide. Zabak returns to the city as a bandit and finds that the evil minister Qasim has kidnapped Zainab to forcibly marry her and killed her father to assume the throne. Zabak plans to free Zainab from Qasim’s clutches, marry her and become the king.

Printed and circulated during the film’s first release in theaters (somewhere in 1961), this Zabak poster was designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format, this vintage romance poster was created by a poster art studio in Bombay and features striking artwork.

An army of sword wielding horsemen are seen galloping away from the city. The entire poster is set against a stunning green and yellow background, which makes the artwork stand out.

Typography used in this old Zabak movie poster is primarily in Devanagari Hindi, with the title translated to both English as well as Urdu. The main Devanagari Hindi title appears in a stunning yellow font, highlighted with a black border, standing out against a green background.

The soundtrack album of Zabak (1961) was composed by Chitragupt, while lyrics were written by Prem Dhawan. It featured the super hit duet, “Teri Duniya Se Door” sung by Mohammed Rafi & Lata Mangeshkar.

Zabak (1961) was also dubbed in Tamil and released as Arabu Naattu Azhagi (1961).