Osian’s presents The Greatest Indian Show on Earth
Auction of Vintage & Rare Indian Film Memorabilia with foci on:
Iconic Early Studios – Prabhat Film Studios, Prakash Pictures & Bombay Talkies
Families – The Kapoors – India’s First Family of Film
Classic Films From Mahal, Mother India & Mughal-e-Azam to Guide, Junglee, Daag
Personalities – From the Trinity – Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand to the classic heroines – Meena Kumari, Nargis, Madhubala to the stars and superstars: Sunil Dutt, Manoj Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Hema Malani, Jaya & Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth and Shah Rukh Khan.
The Osian’s Group is proud to present “The Greatest Indian Show on Earth” Series
Auction of Rare & Vintage Indian Film Memorabilia on Friday, 12 September 2014.
The Opening Preview Exhibition will be held on Friday, 22 August at the Tao Art Gallery at 7:00pm.
Featuring in the auction will be some of the most coveted items of the bygone and the present day era of India Cinema with a focus on Prabhat Film Company & Prakash Pictures, one of the great early studios in India; The Kapoors: India’s First Film Family from Prithviraj & Raj Kapoor to Kareena & Karisma Kapoor;
Leading Heroines & their Classic Films 1950-70s; Vintage & Rare Bengali & Classical Music Cover
Designs, The Stars and Superstars of the 1970-80s from Rajesh Khanna & Dharmendra to Rajnikanth & Shah Rukh Khan. The cinematic Chemistry & Romance between Dharmendra & Hema Malani is another focus along with Rare 3 Sheeters from major Hollywood releases in India during the 1970s and 1980s such as Godfather II, Psycho III, Where Eagles Dare and Out of Africa.
An unprecedented Collection of over 200 Lots offers collectors and film enthusiasts a chance of a lifetime to own a credible piece of history with a genuine connect to the artist or film with numerous fond memories & nostalgia anchored in the object. The Auction is another heartfelt attempt at making Indian Film memorabilia a vital and indisputable collectible and to give it the respect it has long merited like Hollywood & European memorabilia.
Some original & historically significant items that will be placed under the gavel include:
An exclusive 1957, rare six sheet poster of the epic film Mother India, the most expensive and highest revenue earner for any Hindi film at that point and an original hand-painted hard board Standee of Yahudi with Dilip Kumar & Meena Kumari in their famous embrace.
Memorabilia pertaining to some of the earliest films made by Prabhat Film Company such as Amrit Manthan made in 1934, Manoos/Aadmi, made in Marathi and Hindi in 1939 among others of historical film value. Very Rare Original art works from Iconic Films such as Baiju Bawra, Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Bhakta Dhruva from Prakash Pictures find representation at this auction.
The four original artworks for the Window Showcards of Baiju Bawra deserve special mention.
• The focus on the Kapoors: India’s first family of films features film memorabilia from films of Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi & Randhir Kapoor to the Manish Malhotra costumes worn by Karishma Kapoor in N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyaar Ka and Kareena Kapoor inspired art by artist-fan Nitin Utge.
Also the painting by Arpana Caur ‘Pyaar hua, Iqraar hua’ showcasing the famous under the umbrella song scene of Raj Kapoor and Nargis from the film Shree 420 will elicit interest from the fraternity.
A vintage and rare original first release poster of Junglee featuring the much loved Shammi Kapoor is sure to generate interest this time as did the scarf from the same film at a previous auction of Osian’s. A Shammi Kapoor jacket worn during the making of Junglee was purchased by Aamir Khan at the same auction.
Modern Art & Design finds representation in the Vintage & Rare Bengali & Classical Music Cover Designs with inspiration drawn from artists such as Jamini Roy with Paritosh Sen actually designing record covers for Rabindra Sangeet and his plays.
A Collection with various original works representing iconic stars of our cinematic heritage and present day such as Dharmendra, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan & Shahrukh Khan among a host of others. Iconic images of Rajesh Khanna, the heartthrob of millions from the films The Train, Safar, Amar Prem, Andaaz, Daag, Anand, Aan Milo Sajna and Memorabilia from Loafer, Blackmail, Jugnu, Dharamveer, Dost, Charas reliving the charm of Dharmendra will be another focus.
The section Leading Heroines from 1950’s – 70’s features Madhubala, arguably the most beautiful artiste to ever grace the Indian screen, Hema Malini who not just graced the posters of her brilliant films, but whose image was used on packets of beedis, soaps, calendars with aplomb and was one of the leading brand ambassadors of the 1970 – 80’s is another area of focus.
A large painting of Superstar Rajnikant by Armugam is another highlight.
International locations where early Indian films (post 1964 with Sangam) were shot is another focus area and showcases large posters of films such as An Evening in Paris, Love in Tokyo and Night in London.
One of the greatest onscreen romances of all times between Dharmendra and Hema Malini is showcased through films like Charas, Jugnu, Razia Sultan, Chacha Bhatija, Raja Jaani, Dost etc.
Collectibles from Classic Films such as Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India, Ganga Jamuna, Baiju Bawra, Pakeezah among a host of others will create their own excitement and interest.
An original Showcard of Ganga Jamuna signed by Dilip Kumar at a date close to the release of the film adding to the value of the collectible and the fond memories associated with the property as against an autograph obtained in recent times of actors on their photographs.
An original ticket of Kamal Amrohi’s Pakeezah from 1972 speaks volumes of a die-hard fan who collected and preserved this object with immense love and which now holds both sentimental & financial value.
Rare music records of Pakeezah and Mughal-e-Azam, the two biggest musical hits of all time featuring songs and dialogues that were never used in the films will also raise interest.
These past couple of decades Osian’s has earnestly attempted to collect and preserve Indian and World cinematic heritage like few others Over a decade ago its landmark auction ‘The Historical Mela – ABC:
Art, Book and Cinema’ pioneered the market-building process for film memorabilia in India. In 2012, the first ever dedicated auction of Indian Cinema Memorabilia turned out to be a grand success with generous participation from the film fraternity and cinema enthusiasts and records were established across all types of publicity material, recorded songs and memorabilia.
Over 20 years of archiving & research pertaining to this vast heritage will soon be fully accessible to the public with the first non-beta version of www.osianama.com in the coming weeks. (The 1st beta version was launched on 15th August 2013)
Founder Chairman, Neville Tuli commenting on the auction and the larger preservation needs, reiterates,
“It takes at least 10 to 12 years to build anything of consequence in its first form. Today, no one throws away the publicity material, but instead so many are seriously thinking about building museums and libraries for their collections. Many wish to participate and help preserve this critical aspect of India’s cultural heritage, as over 90% of everything has been destroyed forever. The fragile nature of paper and the obsession with the present moment, so disrespecting our histories and the work of previous generations, means we have no time left and very little to preserve. Still the scale of the passion and commitment required is lacking. Unless the film fraternity, especially the younger generation recognizes this responsibility, the fact will be that the world’s largest film industry will have the world’s smallest collection of itself in physical and digital terms. Auctions such as “The Greatest Indian Show on Earth” bring to the surface this critical need.”
