Poster for the film 'Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam' (1962).; Graphic, paper, printed, Bombay, India, C20

The poster is split into two sections. The upper half has an image of a woman (Meena Kumari) lying in a seductive pose with a man (Rehman) looking down at her. This is a night scene coloured in shades of rich blue with the moon in the background indicating a seductive mood. This is a particularly important scene in which the song sung by Meena Kumari entices her husband not to leave her. Several lines from the song are reproduced on the lower part of the poster. The Hindi titles run across the top right hand corner with the actors listed in Hindi in the top left hand corner.

The lower half of the poster is in yellow and red and has a close up portrait of a woman (Waheeda Rehman) wearing a bindu and jewellery on her forehead, this image is horizontal and facing downward. Next to her there is a verticle male portrait (Guru Dutt) and linking the two images is a 19th century wine bottle indicating the historical setting of the film and one of the themes of the narrative. The English title is written on the bottom right hand side of the poster. At the top of this section written in Hindi are the following lines from a song in the film: " Please don't go lover, If you leave me I promise you I will die. Friends today sleep will not come to me". This song is sung in the scene illustrated in the top half of the poster. The artist's signature is in the bottom right hand corner.

Set in Calcutta at the turn of the century, this film focuses on the decline of the Zaminders (land-owning classes) and the trials of one family within that process.
The poster focuses on the male-female relationships that govern the narrative, and the wine bottle indicates that alcohol is at the centre of many of their problems. A key scene is illustrated at the top of the poster and the song lyrics below read: 'Please don't go lover, if you leave me I promise you I will die. Today sleep will not come to me'.

IS.108-1986