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Devi (1970)/ Goddess

Indian Film Poster
1970 (Made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster design uses a triangular format to link the main characters . The size and distance establish their relative importance to the narrative. There is a large scale female portrait (Nutan) on the bottom left hand corner, the bindi on her forehead and her sari indicate the 'traditional' nature of her character and this along with the title indicate that her role is one of the devoted, self sacrificing wife. Placed next to her on the bottom right hand corner is a young boy, the position of the boy and the peaceful expression of her face indicate that he is her main concern and the reason for her contentment. At the top of this triangular format is a male figure, smallest in scale and set in the distance, thus indicating that he is important to the narrative but not central to it. The whole poster is coloured in shades of green and blue. The English title runs across the bottom with the Hindi and Urdu titles on a much smaller scale in the bottom right hand corner.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleDevi (1970)/ Goddess
Materials and techniques
Printed, paper
Brief description
Indian film poster
Physical description
This poster design uses a triangular format to link the main characters . The size and distance establish their relative importance to the narrative. There is a large scale female portrait (Nutan) on the bottom left hand corner, the bindi on her forehead and her sari indicate the 'traditional' nature of her character and this along with the title indicate that her role is one of the devoted, self sacrificing wife. Placed next to her on the bottom right hand corner is a young boy, the position of the boy and the peaceful expression of her face indicate that he is her main concern and the reason for her contentment. At the top of this triangular format is a male figure, smallest in scale and set in the distance, thus indicating that he is important to the narrative but not central to it. The whole poster is coloured in shades of green and blue. The English title runs across the bottom with the Hindi and Urdu titles on a much smaller scale in the bottom right hand corner.
Dimensions
  • Height: 101cm
  • Width: 76cm
Production typeMass produced
Gallery label
This film was a failure at the box office, but the two posters are good illustrations of different types of women. On one you have the good, dutiful wife and devoted mother dressed in a sari and bindi. In the other you have a man holding a cigarette, often used as an indicator of bad character, leering at a dancer. The two posters differentiate the good characters from the bad characters. Films frequently had more than one poster to depict different themes.

This poster was displayed with IS.45-1987
Associated object
Collection
Accession number
IS.138-1988

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Record createdOctober 18, 2002
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