A train chugs into a charming little station as a handsome Rajesh Khanna sings his heart out to the coy Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana. The bells of a rickshaw tug at our heartstrings as Balraj Sahni races with it in Calcutta in Bimal Roy’s stunning tale of rural displacement, Do Bigha Zamin.
Modes of transport—typically a lesson in primary school—rarely interest many. But pair it up with the enigmatic world of Bollywood and the subject assumes great importance.
Working up this nostalgic effect and giving it a beautiful shape is the exhibition titled ‘Moments in Motion’ on the outskirts of Gurugram off NH 8.
On the occasion of its seventh anniversary, the Heritage Transport Museum is presenting the country’s first exhibition of original Indian movie posters and lobby cards that share a connection to modes of transportation.
The exhibition includes more than 60 posters and over 100 lobby cards spanning over five decades. They represent modes of transport that were a part of the storyline of a film and important enough to have found a place in its advertising.
The oldest poster on display is from the film Hunterwali Ki Beti (1943) and the youngest is from Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi (1982).
“We had the collection for a few years and wanted to curate it in an interesting way that would appeal to all age groups. We completed seven years on December 7 and wanted to do something special. Also, we were shut from March 23 to August 14 and this seemed like an interesting way to get back,” says Tarun Thakral, founder and managing trustee of the museum, where the show is on till January 31.
The 1,00,000 sq ft museum spread across four floors is also part of stopovers for schoolchildren and international guests. It is home to more than 3,500 curated objects on display that weave a tale of India’s colourful transportation history.
The large and varied collection has been categorised into various sections: pre-mechanised and heavy mechanised transportation, railways, aviation, maritime, collectible Indian toys on transport, rural and indigenous transportation, two-wheelers, and popular and tribal art section. The museum is also rich in contemporary art collection, which has had over 7,00,000 visitors to date.
Film posters have been an integral part of cinema since its inception as it became a way of introducing the film in an eye-catching format. Thoughtfully created, they convey major thematic concerns of the films.
Similarly, the representation of stars becomes crucial to create a buzz to attract their fan groups. The poster of a particular film circulated in urban centres might vary from the ones displayed on the walls of a small town, as they responded simultaneously to general and local tastes.
Likewise, lobby cards depicted dramatic snapshots which drew attention to the films’ content. Lobby cards were film posters or scenes printed on card stock and were usually displayed in a theatre’s lobby to perform similar functions. Along with show cards and song booklets, they formed an indispensable part of the cultural paraphernalia of cinema.
The changing role of transport in cinema was also an indicator of changing attitudes towards technology.
If the novelty of the trains spawned a number of stunt films centered on trains like Miss Frontier Mail (1936), it shifted to a more complex emotional effect in the iconic scene from Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955).
In the posters of Fearless Nadia’s stunt films, hand-painted images of trains were often found alongside the stunt queen’s iconic posture.
“Though modern modes of promotion have replaced the lobby card and song booklet altogether, the poster still remains, having evolved from manual painting to incorporate 3D art and digital printing. These cultural artefacts allow us to trace the histories of popular art, political and cultural norms, print and type technologies and our ineffable relationship with the theatre of dreams,” Thakral says.
Diving into this important archive of information, one hopes to resurface with the ‘lost’ art of our cultural heritage.