On much-frequented Carter Road, yet unknown to many, lies a quaint vintage store displaying a much-forgotten form of art: hand-painted Bollywood posters.
Quick flashback to the good old days when dancing around trees while incessantly shaking one’s head was not merely incidental, it was the norm in movies. The same days when the sound effects that accompanied each click-clack of Gabbar Singh’s shoes were offensively mismatched and unfitting. Today, the only true remains of those colourful times are the reels and the hand-painted posters that serve as a vivid reminder of yesteryears’ movies and stars. While back then, hand-painted movie posters served as advertisements displaying the week’s movie listings, today they hold more of an artistic allure. One that is slowly coming back from the dead, explains Khar resident Hinesh Jethwani, a self-proclaimed ‘poster connoisseur’ and owner of Indian Hippy.
It comes as no surprise that in this Photoshop-loving day and age digital posters are easy to emulate, thereby diminishing the value of the original hand-painted craft. In fact, Jethwani admits that digital posters today are easily available; however, he adds, “The interest garnered in the original vividly-coloured Bollywood posters has only been growing.” He calls it a form of art of a bygone time that is slowly creeping into people’s homes. He also adds that most of these posters are quite affordable, given that they were abundant back in the day and the rare ones are usually sold at auctions at higher prices.
A quick look at Jethwani’s collection of posters and we begin to understand his passion for the vintage: raw depiction of emotions, sometimes even bordering on the garish and yet highlighting the distinction between the work of current filmmakers and those belonging to the 60s and 70s.
Genuine illustrations immortalising an image, while giving the feel of a motion picture that Jethwani believes needs to live on. As a result, he conceptualised the idea of making customised hand-made vintage paintings for customers who wish to give a retro vibe to an otherwise plain image. From creating wedding cards to make-belief posters, Jethwani prides himself on the work of these artists, who he has managed to discover from around the country. “Some hail from families that made their living from painting such posters back in the day,” he explains. “This also enables them to carry on their family legacy of poster painting.”
As we run our eyes along the hundreds of posters that will soon be sold, we realise that the need for many to put on their Bollywood-infused nostalgia goggles is rampant. In that vein, hand-painted movie posters give the feel of looking into old photo albums to many movie buffs—photo albums that will come back to life in the future, given the cyclical nature of art, epitomising the rise of retro art.
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