Mumbai & New Delhi, December 18: deRivaz & Ives Auction House today established new world record prices for Indian vintage Indian film memorabilia in its Raj Kapoor @100 online Auction, on the heels of their recent successful Satyajit Ray, Bachchanalia & Feminine Icons online auctions.
The auction clearly reinforced the enduring cinematic legacy of Raj Kapoor in the hearts and minds of Indians across the world. With frenetic bidding in many lots, with select key lots exceeding 30 to 40 bids, world pricing records were established for the first release half-sheet poster of the 1950 Raj & Nimmi starring film “Banwra,” directed by G. Rakesh (lot 7). This lot, featuring artwork by Junior Guild Photo Arts and printed by Universal Photo Litho Studio, far surpassed its initial estimates, fetching an impressive ₹582,400 ($7,015 / £5,825) against an estimated range of ₹60,000 – ₹90,000 ($725 – $1,085 / £600 – £900). Remarkably, the poster garnered intense competition with 48 bids placed by many bidders, indicating a high level of interest and enthusiasm among collectors for top aesthetic quality hand-painted early first release posters which are now growingly very rare, difficult to find in good condition and as always, very fragile, given most of India’s original paper-based cinematic arts are destroyed and lost forever.
The very rare Ukrainian release poster for Raj Kapoor’s iconic 1970 film, “Mera Naam Joker.” Was the next superstar of the auction. This full-sheet poster, noted for its unique and unusual graphic design, is a testament to the global influence and popularity of Raj Kapoor, especially across the earlier USSR Soviet regions and much of Eastern Europe.
