Posterphilia: The Best Movie Posters of Dev Anand
Not only did Dev Anand star in some of the most rad and iconic films of Hindi Cinema, he also featured in some of the coolest Indian movie posters of all time. On his 96th birth anniversary, here’s a selection of some of the best posters featuring the evergreen movie star.
The most memorable of Dev Anand’s posters, and easily of the most iconic Indian film posters of all time, Guide (1965) presents the actor as a towering tragic figure with its sublime depiction of melancholia and a man in conflict with himself.
Here are three more poster variants, all bearing the film’s classic title design.
Stylish and unconventional, the poster of Heera Panna (1973) stands out with its striking minimalism. The presence of Zeenat Aman and Dev Anand — two of Bollywood’s greatest style icons — adds to the cool factor. The key-art for this film was definitely way ahead of its time.
More of this artwork style can be seen in the film’s lobby cards. Lobby cards, of course are more or less extinct today in the modern multiplex era — but one could see these cards displayed on boards in single screen cinemas till at least the early 2000s. (I must admit that it’s been about 8 years since I visited a single-screen cinema, so I can’t know for sure.)
Dev Saab is every bit the classic film-noir hero in these posters for Baazi (1951)and Baarish (1957). The actor starred in a number of crime dramas and suspense thrillers through the 50’s and early 60’s including CID and Kala Pani, often playing morally ambiguous characters.
Also continuing in the film-noir vein are these posters for Johny Mera Naam (1977), the second one depicting a particularly interesting scene.
Next up, there’s the poster for Kala Bazar (1960), with Dev Anand’s half-lit face illustrated in gorgeous soft tones set against the backdrop of a movie theater at night.
Then there’s two contrasting posters for Kala Pani (1958), the first dark and intense in mood, and the second one brighter in both colour and tone, lit up by Madhubala’s smile. The bold stripes and typography in the latter give it a rather hip look.
Next we have posters for two films which feature Dev Anand as a romantic hero — Kinare Kinare (1963) where we see him neck-deep in love with Meena Kumari, and Darling Darling (1977) where he shows off some of that retro swag with his rose-tinted oversized glasses.
Next we have some striking foreign posters for three of Dev Anand’s films — Aandhiyan (1952), Rahi (1952) and Kashti (1954) — all from an era when Indian films became extremely popular in Soviet countries.
And lastly, here’s the typically funky Japanese poster for the Indo-Filipino crime thriller The Evil Within (1970) starring Dev Anand with Zeenat Aman. The poster is obviously James Bond-inspired, and so is the film which also goes by the name Passport to Danger.
(For more cool and rare posters from India and across the globe, follow me at Posterphilia on Instagram. You can also check out more of my poster-related articles at Film Companion. )
