The Awara poster you haven’t seen

One of the last few countries to keep the film poster art alive is reason enough, says the team behind an upcoming auction, to see original cinema memorabilia as investment

After their inaugural auction featuring paintings by leading modern artists FN Souza, MF Husain and VS Gaitonde, among others, online auction house deRivaz & Ives has returned with a focus on cinema. The first auction, scheduled for April 8 and 9, will see over 100 first-release original posters of films like Mother India (1957), Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Yaarana (1981).

Neville Tuli, founder of Osian’s, chief mentor at deRivas & Ives, says that many of the original posters, like that of Tarana (1951) by SM Pandit—a painter from Karnataka who designed film publicity material for Raj Kapoor and others—are still not available on the Internet. “We still have minimal interest in preserving cinematic heritage. Posters, especially the hand-painted ones, represent a fragility. It is a dead art, which has come back to India in a way; we are one of the last few countries to keep it alive.”

The auction will specifically highlight designers and artists who are not well-known for their work as poster artists, including legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Works of poster designers like DR Bhosale (Main Nashe Mein Hoon, 1959), Pamart Studios (Haqeeqat, 1964 and Khamoshi, 1969), Diwakar Karkare (Sholay, 1975 and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, 1973) and C Mohan (Khatta Meetha, 1978)  will be up for the sale. “We will see one of the most elusive original release versions of the Awara poster; the imagery seen until now has been of re-release posters,” shares Tuli, adding that there will also be a focus on the first family of Indian cinema, the Kapoors. “Their cinematic journey will be highlighted through their poster art. Three unique versions of Shashi Kapoor’s Juari [1968] will be seen for the first time.”

The aim, he shares, is to establish new world record prices for Indian film memorabilia and get the film fraternity more involved in cinema-related art. While actors like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Anupam Kher and Dia Mirza bid and won art pieces during the Osian’s 2002 auction, the hope is now to widen this group by reaching out to the younger generation of talent. Tuli says, “Once the film fraternity comes on board, the rest of the public will follow.”

WHEN: April 8-9
WHERE: derivaz-ives.com

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