The Opening Preview of the Osian’s The Greatest
Indian Show On Earth 2 – Vintage Film Memorabilia, Publicity Materials and Arts
Auction held at the Osian office at Nariman Bhavan, Nariman Point, saw Neville
Tuli – Chairman, Osian’s Group, Ajitabh Bachchan, Uma Da Cunha, Pankaj
Parashar, Pravesh Sippy, SMM Ausaja, Vikram Makandar, Harish Bhimani, Joy
Sengupta, Nisha Jamvwal, Shabnam Sayed, Saurabh Vanzara, Ajoykant Ruia, artists
Nayana Kanodia, Poonam Agarwal, Paramesh Paul, Vishwa Sahni, Sonalli Iyengar
among others. The auction is structured
across eight major sections, from Original Artworks by Baburao Painter,
Satyajit Ray, Mani Kaul, Shah Rukh Khan, among others, to a focus on film
legend, Dilip Kumar; from a focus on the cinematic epic, Mughal-E-Azam, to the
unique jubilee trophies of Bobby, Deewar and others; from original
publicity-material art for Andaz (1949), Anari (1959), Guide (1965), Deewar
(1973) and others to rare vintage twelve and six-sheeter posters of Kranti
(1981), Kal Aaj aur Kal (1971) and others; from a focus on the Kapoors – first
family of Indian Cinema to rare posters, showcards, lobby cards, photographic
stills from the golden 1950’s period to the era of Amitabh Bachchan to the
current trinity of Salman-Shah Rukh and Aamir. The auction is scheduled to
happen on 22nd June 2017 at Hotel Taj Land’s End.
The highlights of this rare auction include - A
Focus on Original Artworks by Satyajit Ray;
Select Original Artworks by Baburao Painter, MF Husain, Mani Kaul,
Rashid Rana, Deepti Naval, Khalid Mohammed, Pankaj Parasher, Pravesh and Nita
Sippy, Shefali Shah and Shah Rukh Khan; Select Original Publicity Artworks
created by leading banner-hoarding artists and designers; The Kapoors – First
family of Hindi Cinema; A Focus on Film Legend, Dilip Kumar; A Focus on India’s
Greatest Cinematic Epic, Mughal-E-Azam. 1960; Rare and Vintage Photographic
Stills, Lobby Cards and Showcards from The Golden 1950’s period to the Era of
Amitabh Bachchan; Select Rare and Vintage Posters; From Trinity to Trinity:
Dev-Dilip-Raj to Salman-Shah Rukh-Aamir; The Unique Indian Artwork of Jubilee
Trophies
Since Osian’s pioneering “The Historical Mela” Auction
in 2002 which triggered and created the transformation in the public’s
awareness towards the art of India’s cinematic heritage, the market for India’s
film memorabilia has evolved, though there is still a very long way to travel
before united action towards preservation within the film fraternity emerges or
the understanding that film memorabilia can play a major role in the education
of many subjects beyond film and media studies.
Having spent twenty years putting together the
foremost archive, library and collection on India’s cinematic heritage, Osian’s
Chairman, Neville Tuli, highlights the role of auctions in this preservation
process: “If we had not placed credible financial value on these related
objects of our film culture, that desire to preserve, love and respect would
have been much more difficult to emerge. Today centers of research, museums,
archives, collections, related to not just Indian film but all cinemas will
emerge deeper and faster with India as a potential hub. It is not very far away
when the finest scholars and researchers will flock to India to understand the
profound role the cinematic and related arts have played in developing culture
and a thousand influences thereon. The auctions have facilitated this journey
just like Film Festivals facilitate a film appreciation culture. One has to
only see the growth of the Hollywood memorabilia market to understand the vast
energies that get energized when the film fraternity, media and the public work
in unity to respect one’s history, and hence one’s current creativity.”
