The poster that once many decades ago hung outside the theatres with Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan, Amjad Khan and Sanjeev Kapoor, it was released once again in a form of a hand painted poster as a part of an exhibition to the city by the author archivist Neville Tuli at the International Film Festival in Delhi. 

The poster had one corner with Amitabh Bachchan’s Angry Young Man avatar of Deewaar and Raj Kapoor’s epic tearjerker Mera Naam Joker, while the other was Charlie Chaplin and Katherine Hepburn cutouts . The posters welcomed and greeted the guests at the exhibition of all that was very filmy and a part of the vintage collection at the Bharat Mandapam. 

At the ongoing India Studies at the International Film Festival, Delhi (IFFD), these posters are a part of Tuli Research Centre at the Exhibition which is organized by the Delhi government until March 31st 2026. 

From the  film archives of the 20th century.

The poster of Sholay is a six sheeter which used to be hanging at the cinema halls when the film released.   Apart from the archival posters, Tuli Research Centre has the film stills, synopsis booklets , showcards and lobby cards among its memorabilia of Hindi films of the 20th century . These collectibles have walked down the memory lane for many movie buffs. Those days when hand painted posters were a rage, the artists have created these painstakingly. 

A very small percentage has been shared from their archives. The archives which consist of film materials from 185 countries built over 30 long years. 

People come for an art exhibition and tend to look for the caption therefore there is a reason this exhibition with posters is without the caption. The idea is that the visitors notice the visuals which is also a powerful base of knowledge rather than just reading the text and then forgetting about it. The image stays in mind as  powerful base of knowledge says Tuli. 

A section of awards. 

There is a separate section of works dedicating to a particular star cast such as Actors Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore who were both awarded the lifetime achievement award at the festival’s opening ceremony on Wednesday as well as well as Shah Rukh Khan who featured in the beloved classic from the 1990 to the 2010’s , Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge released in 1995 and Devdas in 2002 and a poster of Satyajit Ray’s Shatranj Ke Khiladi. 

A walk past the memorabilia . 

The exhibition is not limited to only the Indian cinema but also includes the memorabilia of Japanese, American, and with Polish films.   It also has a Charlie Chaplin cutout that welcomes the visitors as they enter the section titled, ‘The Golden Age of Hollywood’. Then there is a poster featuring Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn . The poster of Sean Connery the James Bond is also on the display.  

One of the visitors, the 57-year-old Riya Shankar said she  grew up watching these  films with her family and to be able to see the posters even now it’s a walk past the 30 years feels its pure nostalgia and feels surreal.