Poster Boys

Others like Riyad Wadia and Osian8217;s auction house chairperson Neville Tuli do it by the book. First, determine if it marks pioneering activity in the field of cinema. Then check if it is a limited edition print. Next, smell out its historical context and, last, track down the provenance of previous collectors, if any. 8216;8216;Collecting with a theme gives coherence. And if a collector reveals his obsessions through the collection, they take on a sense of individuality,8217;8217; says Tuli.

No surprises then, that Osian8217;s was one of the first to take the plunge by launching the 8216;Historical Mela: The ABC of India the Art Book and Cinema8217;. It was at this auction that an Umrao Jaan print was sold for a whopping Rs 1.47 lakh. If you thought limited availability of a print determined the price, here8217;s food for thought: The Umrao Jaan poster is relatively new.

8216;8216;This just represents the early phase of the market-making process, where names and sentiments of the individual collector come to dominate the pricing,8217;8217; explains Tuli. In the long run, he feels, the market will settle down and factors like historicity will determine the price tag.

Collector Sandeep Magazine also feels the prices of Bowring8217;s film posters 8212; sourced mostly from historian B D Garger8217;s own collection 8212; is completely unrealistic at between Rs 8,000 and Rs 3,00,000. 8216;8216;They are just throwing their weight around,8217;8217; he shrugs.

Website Cafedreams.com, which specialises in film posters, sells posters at a more reasonable range 8212; between Rs 4,000 and 5,000; only an Amitabh Bachchan-autographed Pyar Ki Kahani poster is priced at Rs 50,000. Owner Ramona Sood admits she cannot understand why Bowring has priced their Mother India poster at Rs 20,000 when they are selling one for Rs 4,500. 8216;8216;I was wondering why have they priced it so high when it is not a very rare find,8217;8217; she says.

But buyers are not so exacting. Designer jewellery store Purple Porcupine owner Niharika Khan admits that it is the instinct for the familiar 8212; read the star 8212; that rules her decision to buy a print: 8216;8216;I am a real softie for any poster that features Naseer Khan or Begum Para. Dilip Kumar is another hot favourite, since there is a family connection.8217;8217; Sood points out that posters of Mother India, Deewar, Sholay and of all films starring Meena Kumari and Madhubala are hot properties.

For New York-based filmmaker Riyad Vinci Wadia, too, it is family connection that tilts the balance. But his keenness primarily stems from the historical value of the poster, 8216;8216;especially if there is a pioneering quality. Like the Madhosh poster. It8217;s like a record of Meena Kumari8217;s first starring role.8217;8217;

The Garga and Wadia collections, which he brought to the Capital recently, features priceless posters from Raja Harishchandra 1913, Alam Ara 1931, Anarkali, Cinema Girl and Sinbad The Sailor.

Apart from family connections, it is the star factor that moves Indian film posters, according to Tuli. 8216;8216;The human form has been central to posters, especially the face of stars, with little abstraction,8217;8217; he says. He points to the fact that 8216;8216;the hand and originality of the artist becomes obvious and this adds value.8217;8217;

Some artists have their own ways of value-addition. Delhi-based artist-designer Baba Anand, for instance, adds sequins to posters to give it that kitschy touch, a la Bombay Dreams. But even they admit that it is the weathered originals that are valued higher by collectors.

The big question every collector faces is the future of the collection. Wadia strongly feels that a collection 8212; especially a popular art collection 8212; becomes exciting when it is shared. Others, like interior designer Sam Maneckshaw, look upon their collections as a business. 8216;8216;I picked up 500 lobby cards for a throwaway price, but have already managed to sell a quarter of them at a profit,8217;8217; he exults. Yet others, of course, prefer to revel in their enthusiasm by letting the collection win over wall-art. Why go to the movies when you can stay in?

with Astha Gupta in New Delhi