Pyaasa for Rs 10L, Guide for Rs 5L: How much rare first release posters of iconic films would cost today

The archival loss is not limited to the 1930s, but extends even to 1970s, with the loss of the first release poster of Gulzar’s 1975 memorable musical romance Mausam, starring Sanjeev Kumar and Sharmila Tagore. “I’ve been searching for the poster for 30 years,” Ausaja said on the podcast The Bollywood Minute.

“If you have a first release poster, it’s a jackpot. The market of posters is very high today because of auctions,” he added. The archivist claimed that the auction price of the first-release posters of Hindi cinema’s classics can range from Rs 1 lakh to even Rs 10 lakh. For instance, the original posters of veteran screenwriter duo Salim-Javed’s blockbusters, like Ramesh Sippy’s Sholay (1975) and Yash Chopra’s Deewaar (1975), could land very well between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh.

If one goes back to the 1960s, first release posters of Chetan Anand’s 1965 romance Guide, starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman, and K Asif’s 1960 period drama Mughal-E-Azam, starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, and Madhubala, could cost even over Rs 5 lakh. He added that the price of Guru Dutt’s 1957 tragedy Pyaasa could even touch Rs 10 lakh today, almost 70 years later.

“They’re not available anywhere. If you go to these places or search online, they’re all selling re-release posters,” said Ausaja. He also explained how to distinguish between an original poster and a re-release poster. “The first release posters will have the poorest paper quality. The paper would be dying, and you’d know. But the colours will be organic, and will mesmerize you. The feel of the organic colour and paintbrush is enough for any art lover to say, ‘Wow!,'” he added.

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“It’s very important to locate and preserve the first-release poster. The re-release posters and the reprinted posters are generally of very poor aesthetic quality. I don’t think they even possess any archival value,” claimed the historian. In India, like the rest of the world, posters were handmade and printed on lithographic press till the 1970s. Transition to the offset process happened in the 1980s, followed by digital printing 1990s onwards. “Lithographic press is very, very rare now. It’s not functional anymore globally. So, all the lithographic prints in organic colours are all considered to be antiques and have a very good archival value,” revealed Ausaja.