Zimbo

Vintage Indian poster for sale of the adventure Hindi film, Zimbo (1958).

This is an actual surviving old Indian movie poster for sale of the 1958 Hindi film that was styled along the lines of Tarzan of the Apes. Noted film director Homi Wadia modeled his character “Zimbo” along the lines of the popular icon Tarzan, adding an “Indianized taste” to the adventure film.

The main attraction of the film was Pedro the chimpanzee also referred to as the Ape Bomb. Called “Dada” in the film, Pedro the chimpanzee was dressed in female clothes to add humor to the film and was even trained to handle a gun in the climax.

Printed and circulated subsequent to the first release run of the film (somewhere in the 1970s), this very rare old Indian movie poster was designed and printed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Originally designed in hand painted oil on canvas format by an art studio in Kolkata, this old Indian movie poster for sale features quirky hand drawn renditions of the lead characters of the film. The choice of colors, in particular yellow and red give the poster a stunning eye catching appearance. Lead actor Azad is seen battling a lion (taken from a key scene in the film) at the bottom of this vintage Indian poster. Pedro the chimpanzee (also referred to as the Ape Bomb) is seen in a smaller rendition at the bottom.

This vintage Bollywood film poster is a two sheeter. Two sheet posters comprise two separate individual single sheet posters measuring approximately 40″x30″ inches each. When pasted together they line up perfectly and together form one single two sheet poster. In the image provided, there may be a slight gap visible between the two – as the images of the top and bottom half have been photographed individually and then joined together digitally. When framed or pasted, there will be no gap visible between the two sheets and the appearance of the poster would be seamless – i.e. just like a single sheet poster.

Zimbo is a 1958 Bollywood action adventure Hindi film directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Basant Pictures. The film featured special effects by Babubhai Mistry and starred Azad, Krishna Kumari and Chitra. The film was originally made in 1937 as Toofani Tarzan minus the ape, directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Wadia Movietone.