An auction of rare and vintage cinema memorabilia will be held in Mumbai next month, giving a chance for cinephiles and collectors to own a piece of cinematic history. Titled “The Greatest Indian Show On Earth”, the collection is being put together by Mumbai-based auction house Osian’s. The lots go under the hammer on September 12.
The wide collection of over 200 lots includes priceless collectibles from 100 years of Indian cinema. Posters of films such as Baiju Bawara and Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and from the oldest film studios in the country including Prabhat Film Company, Prakash Pictures and Bombay Talkies will be on display. A section is dedicated to the first family of film, the Kapoors, following the lineage of its members, right from Prithviraj Kapoor and Raj Kapoor to Kareena Kapoor.
There will also be collectibles from classics such as Mughal-e-Azam, Mother India and Gunga Jamuna with rare music records of the films. Two of the most coveted items on sale will be an exclusive 1957 rare six-sheet poster of Mother India and an original hand-painted hard board standee of Yahudi with Dilip Kumar and Meena Kumari in their famous embrace. While the former is estimated to be auctioned at Rs 90,000-1,30,000, the latter is expected to be sold for Rs 6-9 lakh. Apart from Indian cinema, film sheeters from popular Hollywood releases in India, such as Godfather II, Psycho III and Where Eagles Dare during the ’70s and ’80s will be included.