Veer Bhimsen, 1964
Set of 2 showcards, c. 1964, 37.5cm X 75cm
Tinted gelatin silver print and poster paint on textured board with screen-printed lettering.
Veer Bhimsen stars popular on-screen duo Dara Singh, the leading action star of the 1960s B-movie circuit, and Mumtaz, one of Hindi cinema's most successful actresses.
"This film re-enacts action scenes from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata. It stars Dara Singh as Bhim, the strong and muscular (veer) brother on the Pandava side who fights evil. The showcards focus on fight scenes rather than actors, framed in a filmstrip motif.
[In Cat. no. 20], a spectacular death scene is featured in the centre and bright red paint is used to depict a slain hero's blood. The king cups the blood in one hand and dramatically anoints the female’s forehead with the other. The benevolent face of a god smiles down from above.
The film Veer Bhimsen (1964) was produced by Joy Films and directed by Chandrakant. Music by C. Ramchandra. Black and white, Hindi, starring Dara Singh and Mumtaz."
--Text by Dr. Deepali Dewan and Alexandra McCarter, based on Deepali Dewan, ed. Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s. Showcards from The Hartwick Collection. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum Press, 2011. Copyright of and reproduced here with the generous permission of the Royal Ontario Museum.
Literature
Deepali Dewan, ed. Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s. Showcards from The Hartwick Collection. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum Press, 2011, p. 75, Cat. no. 20.