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Sholay (1975)/ Flames of the Sun

Film Poster
1975 or later (Made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The distinctive title runs across the bottom and fills one third of the poster. The typography is in a three-dimensional style which evokes the sense of a monumental scale. Above this are two portraits of the actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini. The portrait of Dharmendra is on a larger scale and they are both surrounded by orange and yellow flames which fill the entire poster and allude to the title of the film. The title is also in the same orange and yellow shades. Below the titles are lots of line drawings of figures on a miniature scale depicting scenes from the film. The poster has been done in a style which is very similar to that of the artist Diwalker and has been 'painted-over' in an way which enhances the facial expressions of the two portraits and gives the design a more dramatic effect. See IS.80-1987 for another poster for the same film which uses the same design concept but advertises the other two stars of the film, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. The artist's signature is in the bottom right hand corner

Object details

Object type
TitleSholay (1975)/ Flames of the Sun
Materials and techniques
Printed, paper
Brief description
Poster for the film Sholay (1975).; Graphic, paper, printed, Bombay, India, C20
Physical description
The distinctive title runs across the bottom and fills one third of the poster. The typography is in a three-dimensional style which evokes the sense of a monumental scale. Above this are two portraits of the actors Dharmendra and Hema Malini. The portrait of Dharmendra is on a larger scale and they are both surrounded by orange and yellow flames which fill the entire poster and allude to the title of the film. The title is also in the same orange and yellow shades. Below the titles are lots of line drawings of figures on a miniature scale depicting scenes from the film. The poster has been done in a style which is very similar to that of the artist Diwalker and has been 'painted-over' in an way which enhances the facial expressions of the two portraits and gives the design a more dramatic effect. See IS.80-1987 for another poster for the same film which uses the same design concept but advertises the other two stars of the film, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. The artist's signature is in the bottom right hand corner
Dimensions
  • Height: 99cm
  • Width: 75cm
Production typeMass produced
Gallery label
This was one of two posters produced for regional or overseas distribution. They used similar typography to the original poster but made the portraits of the stars their main focus. This poster features Dharmendra and Hema Malini while the other concentrates on Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri. The dramatic inferno of flames which surround the portraits refers to the title of the film, 'Flames of the Sun'.
Bibliographic reference
Rachel Dwyer & Divia Patel, Cinema India: The Visual Cutlure of the Hindi Film, Reaktion Press, 2002.
Collection
Accession number
IS.115-1988

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Record createdOctober 18, 2002
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