31/05/2026
In Bandra, a small shop is helping forgotten Bollywood poster artists find their way back into public memory
At a Pali Hill store housing over 100,000 vintage film posters and memorabilia, families, collectors and cinephiles are rediscovering the hand-painted artists who once shaped the visual identity of Indian cinema:
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/in-bandra-a-small-shop-is-helping-forgotten-bollywood-poster-artists-find-their-way-back-into-public-memory-10701046/
Inside Indian Hippy, a modest store tucked away on Zig Zag Road in Bandra’s Pali Hill, customers usually browse through old Bollywood posters, lobby cards and fading pieces of cinema memorabilia before picking out a favourite film or actor.
But one family that walked in recently was searching for something far more personal.
They spent hours going through posters signed by a particular artist — C. Mohan. Only after selecting five of them did they tell store owner Hinesh Jethwani why the name mattered.
“She told us that C. Mohan was his grandfather,” Jethwani recalled. “For them, this was a way of getting back a part of their family legacy that had been lost.”
Among them are works by artists whose paintings once dominated cinema facades across Mumbai, even though many of their names faded from public memory over time. Among the posters are works by artists whose paintings once dominated cinema facades across Mumbai, even though many of their names faded from public memory over time.
For Jethwani, moments like these are at the heart of what the store has become over the past two decades — an effort to preserve the disappearing world of hand-painted Bollywood publicity art.
Hidden behind its small storefront, the shop houses more than 100,000 original film posters, magazine advertisements and cinema collectibles spanning pre-Independence cinema to contemporary Bollywood. Among them are works by artists whose paintings once dominated cinema facades across Mumbai, even though many of their names faded from public memory over time.
Before digital printing transformed film publicity, posters and giant billboards for films were painted entirely by hand. Artists often worked atop scaffolding for hours at a stretch to finish large hoardings before weekly film releases.
“One artist told me about painting a giant billboard near Chowpatty while keeping an eye on a teenage apprentice balancing paint palettes beside him,” Jethwani said. “There was traffic below, the deadline was approaching, and they worked until their fingers locked up and they couldn’t hold a brush anymore.”
The era produced artists such as D.R. Bhosle, Pandit Ram Kumar Sharma and C. Mohan, each known for distinctive visual styles. Some focused on minimalist portraits while others filled posters with dramatic battle scenes and densely layered imagery.
Several well-known Indian artists, including M. F. Husain and S. M. Pandit, also spent time working in film publicity art before becoming widely recognised elsewhere.
Today, many of the surviving posters have become collector’s items. Today, many of the surviving posters have become collector’s items.
The transition to flex printing changed the industry rapidly. Posters that once took teams of painters and several days to complete could suddenly be printed in less than an hour.
“That was the final nail in the coffin,” Jethwani said. “Once flex arrived, there was no reason left for producers to commission hand-painted publicity.”
Today, many of the surviving posters have become collector’s items. The store attracts visitors from India and abroad, including film enthusiasts, collectors and tourists looking for pieces of cinema history. Actors such as Vidya Balan, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Sachin Tendulkar have also visited the store over the years.
Among the rarest items in the collection is an Egyptian release poster of Mughal-e-Azam, priced at around Rs 1 lakh. Unlike the familiar Indian artwork associated with the film, the Egyptian version uses a white background and softer illustration style, reflecting how Indian films were adapted visually for overseas audiences.
Preserving the archive, however, comes with challenges. Many posters require restoration and specialised storage to prevent damage. Jethwani and his team also spend time identifying unsigned works by studying old publicity material and film booklets.
Standing beneath walls covered in hand-painted portraits and dramatic brushstrokes, Jethwani says the posters deserve to be seen as more than film advertisements.
“If you remove the title from many of these posters,” he said, pointing toward a historical epic painted by Pandit Ram Kumar Sharma, “people would happily hang them in an art gallery.”
Outside, Mumbai’s film publicity industry now runs on digital printing and computer-generated designs. Inside Indian Hippy, however, ageing posters and hand-painted faces continue to preserve a different chapter of the city’s cinema history.
