At The Edge

Poster of Uzbek version of Alibaba Aur 40 Chor (1980) by  Latif Faiziyev and Umesh Mehra. Via: cinemedioevo.net

Cross posted from my Kashmir blog -0- "The pamphlet cover displayed above is from a title published in 1948 by the Kashmir Bureau of Information in Delhi. The design is arresting, and clearly leftist in inspiration. The designer (the name is in the bottom left hand corner) was Sobha Singh , at the time a young progressive artist. In later years, he became better known for his religious paintings of the Sikh Gurus. The woman in the foreground depicted lying on the ground and aiming a rifle is Zuni Gujjari, a woman from a milkman's family who became renowned as a militant supporter of the National Conference, the main Kashmiri nationalist party. The black and white photograph is of members of the Women's Self Defence Corps, a women's militia set uplargely by Communist supporters of the National Conference in October-November 1947, when Srinagar was in danger of being overrun by an army of Pakistani tribesmen." Found it at the site of Andrew Whitehead a...

Traditional Hindu blessing for women ' Shat Putra Vati Bhava ' (May you have hundred sons) also comes in a (lesser used) variation that promises eight sons - ' Ashta- Putravati Bhava ' - eight being a 'good' number for Hindus. Not good enough. If we are counting on blessings alone, the old 'blessings' need an upgrade - a beta version , fast. "A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) study in 2007 said even if the sex ratio at birth were to remain at the ‘normal’ level of 950 girls per 1,000 boys until 2030, India is likely to have a female deficit of 25 million by 2030 in the marriageable age group of 20-49. More realistic studies that have factored in a limited and even further decline in the ratio have suggested the deficit could be anywhere between 29 and 34 million." - from a fine feature article ' The Lost Girls ' by Shreyasi Singh for Japan based current-affairs magazine The Diplomat . [Got the link via an email from Jason Miks,...

Dipen send in a link to this old ad featuring Gandhi. Timing could not have been better. The Diwali special issue of 'The Navyug' published on October 31, 1948, had Gandhi's picture in  Bombay Company's Rat brand German incense sticks and jasmine hair oil.  From private collection of Atul Shah [more at TOI ] And this was only days after Gandhi's death. At least the product looks complete Sawdeshi (in true Indian tradition even having a foreign touch) And now. Mont Blanc is selling 241 (for Gandhi's 241 Mile Dandi March) Limited Edition 'Luxury' Pen having hand-crafted rhodium plated 18-carat gold nib depicting Gandhiji holding his trademark lathi — all in gold — for 11-14 Lakh. For those how are thinking of selling their house to buy it. Wait. There is also ‘Mahatma Gandhi Limited Edition 3000’ available for Rs.1.7 Lakh (for fountain pen) and Rs.1.5 Lakh (for roller ball. I always thought Fountain Pen rich). So just sell your silverware or...

September 26, 2009 Late last night I got an email from Varun Grover of Jayhindtv appreciating my little blog. Jay Hind is a funny online Tv show, first of its kind, hosted by Sumeet Raghvan (of ' Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai ' fame, perhaps the last funny Indian sitcom. Or maybe I long damaged my funny bone). Here's their Youtube channel. And here's Sumeet Raghvan singing the 'Bharat Ek Khoj' inspired title track 'Sabse pehle Kuch nahi tha' for Jay Hind taking a major dig at the monstrosities that reach our homes through TV. It's funny. Just so that you know who to blame, the evil lyrics are by Varun Grover. video link aur chindi type toh bilkul nahi -0- I actually get a couple of appreciative email from all kind of people every odd month now. I would just like to publicly thank everyone who send me emails. Thank you!

 Found this in a post about The World Of Illustrated Weekly Of India at an awesome blog called Comic World . The blog is not just dedicated to Indrajaal (long gone, but still synonymous with comics in India) but it is a blog delightfully filled with lot of Fauladi Singh, obscure Hindi comics and strips ('Film Reporter Kalam Das' anyone ), covers of old Hindi novels, vintage ads, Newspaper clippings, film trivia and vintage. Stuff like: Do visit!

Bombay-Arts.com celebrating the "aesthetics of  an underground print culture" in Masala X [NSFWish] - a smut meets art kind of thing.  Sample this from their Flash creation :

Half-a century old photographs of a person named Charli Bikaner. Dramatic and fun at the same time. Reminded me of characters (and covers) from Hindi detective magazines and novels. The story of Charli Bikaner and more of his photographs here Found at:  blindboys.org - an Asian Photography magazine. Do check it for some more great images.

An Ad for Valet Auto-Strop Safety Razor From Times of India Annual, 1930. Artwork by W S Bagdatopulos. Found it thanks to an awesome gallery of  vintage ads set up by Phil Beard There are some other old ads from Times of India that can be found in the gallery. Some of these include: Horlicks, 1930 Wright's Coal Tar Soap, 1931 555, 1931 Lux, 1935 Pears, 1935 Do check it out!

The Vacuum Flask Images: 1.  Amitabh Bachchan with Pran and Thermos for the music album cover of the film Nastik (1983) 2.  Calender Art for Chetak bath soap and Shakti laundry soap (probably from the 70s ). Found the captivating image in a wonderful essay 'Monuments, Landscapes and Romance in Indian Popular Imagery' by Kajri Jain for Tasveer Ghar . Love this site on South Asian Popular Visual culture!

From today's Hindustan Times dated 31 March, 2009. The caption for this PTI photo reads: A poster of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pasted on a campaign vehicle of Saddam Hussain* - CPI(M) candidate from Malapuram in north Kerala, a Muslim-dominated seat. Interestingly, Malappuram district also has a Saddam beach which got its name during the Gulf War. The story of the Saddam beach according to The Hindu (31/12/2008) : When the beach got its name (Saddam) during the first Gulf War, there were hardly three-dozen families there. The name of the beach has got into official records. “It was a clash between two Sunni factions on the beach that earned the beach its name,” said V. Abdul Khader, another resident. “Initially, it had a negative tone. It later transformed into a positive image of resistance against U.S. aggression.”  -0-  Update: The name of the candidate is actually T.K. Hamsa. He was "mistakenly" captioned as Saddam Hussain by the leading Newspapers...

In around 1983, General Zia ul-Haq was thinking about "a thousand cuts", "Blood"  and "India". In around 1989, Operation Topaz to destabilize India was set in motion even as Zia had everyone trust  the merits of cricket diplomacy. Zia could well have been thinking of a shaving blade when he thought up that name - Operation Topaz. Image courtesy: razorbladecollection.com . 75 year old C.K Devassy has been collecting blades for last 55 years and his awsome collection  includes more than 60 blade brands from around 10 countries incuding India, USA, England and even China. -0- Topaz presents T.M. Bihari's Professor Pyarelal Image courtesy: Eatern Eye Zeenat Aman is looking for the 1 rupee coin that fell from her hand while Dharmendra was driving crazy to keep the bad guys at bay.

familiar household names Matt Lee collected matchboxes during his time in Bangalore. You can check out his matchbox collection here In all there are 159 matchboxes. [Found via: BoingBoing ] In Yelahanka, Bangalore, Matt also took photographs of wall posted Kannada Film Posters. He calls it, and quite aptly, Macho men and flirtatious women. You can check his collection of Kannada Film Posters here -0- Here are my two cents: One very popular Indian matchbox name missing in that collection: Homelites. Extra Long. Extra Strong. Karborised. Manufactured by Western India Match Company (WIMCO) - perhaps the oldest name in the industry . WIMCO was founded in 1923 by Swedish Match (founded 1917) . -0- A public service ad from 1980s Does you child play with matches? Stop it. Some of the worst fire accidents have been caused by innocent children playing with matches.  -0- The end of diya silai. Matchbox revolution started in India in early 1980s and a Bollywood film...

Acknowledgment and a word of thanks: Originally uploaded by  Kunjel at a post titled That 70's Show The post has some great scans of print ads from a couple of copies of Indian Edition of The Reader's Digest from 1970s.Do check out her post for some more fantastic scans. Gold Spot ad from 1970s The guy on right, the one rooting for Orange Pride, looks like Peter Sellers of Dr.Strangelove Campa Cola Ad from 1970s. In those NO COKE days these two were the most popular cold drink brands in India of 70s and 80s. For more on that and for some more cold drink ads you can check out my previous post on  Vintage Indian Cold drink ads . -0- You can also find these two brands in ads published in 1980s in Indian comic books like Indrajal. Spot them here at a fine collection by Soumyadip -0- You may also like to check out my collection of Indian Print Ads from The Reader's Digest of 1970s here

I was browsing around and came across a blog called  Everything Bollywood by Karen. The blog gives access to some wonderful Picasa albums having old magazine scans, covers, film poster, even lobby cards and stuff . One can spend hours at the place. It is quite a collection! In one of the albums themed around old celebrity advertisements, along with some previously unseen material, I found some of the stuff originally uploaded by me (like Zeenat Aman in Taj Mahal Tea ad and more), some by Soumyadip and some by  Meghna G ( for some reason her exhaustive flickr albums on Indian print ads are not available anymore). The following ads of Zeenat Aman are from the album on advertisments . Lux ad featuring Zeenat Aman from 1970s Zeenat Aman has it. The complexion you wish you were born with. "Being a star is tough on a girl's complexion. That's why I use fragrant Lux Supreme. Its rich, creamy lather with the gentle touch of beauty cream gives me a smooth young ...

Came across a delightful website while browsing on the topic of Indian Print Ads . The site is named Tasveerghar From the website: Tasveer Ghar: A Digital Network of South Asian Popular Visual Culture. Tasveer Ghar is a trans-national virtual “home” for collecting, digitizing, and documenting various materials produced by South Asia’s exciting popular visual sphere including posters, calendar art, pilgrimage maps and paraphernalia, cinema hoardings, advertisements, and other forms of street and bazaar art. Here is what you get at the site: Kitschy Indian 'Welcome' Posters, Raunchy Bhojpuri album cover, Gender in Early Indian Print Advertisements, Stereotypes of Muslim Piety in Calendar Art and Hindi Cinema, The Hindu Nationalist Greeting Cards, Commodification of Gender in the Titles of Popular Hindi Novels, 'Female Film Stars' in Print Media, An Image Essay on Tamil...and lot more. The site not only has some unique images (collecting them must have taken an e...