Piece of nostalgia in Bollywood bazaar

Wahid Mansoori (37) grew up watching Hindi movies from the 1930s. Courtesy his father’s habit of collecting Bollywood memorabilia, Mansoori now runs a business selling them.

“As a child Bollywood amused me, and I grew up watching my father collecting posters and booklets of films. I wasn’t keen on studying so when I turned 15, I convinced my father to cash in on his passion,” recalls a nostalgic Mansoori.

His decision is paying dividends. Movie posters cost anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 500, depending on the size. Moreover, posters of classics like Pakeezah, Sholay, Deewar, Mughal-e-Azam and stars like Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Rajesh Khanna, Dev Anand, Nargis and Mumtaz sell for anything between Rs 1,000 and Rs 3,500. Store owners earn a margin of around 25 per cent. Mansoori’s store, Bollywood Bazar, flaunts posters of films from the 1930s till the 1980s.

“One wouldn’t imagine finding posters of the first Hindi sound movie Alam Ara made in 1931 but I have it,” adds Mansoori with pride.

There are many like Mansoori, and for most such store owners it starts with the passion to collect Bollywood posters.

Old movies continue to attract attention, especially classic roles such as Raj Kapoor in Mera Nam Joker, Mughal-e-Azam’s Salim-Amarkali, Meena Kumari in Pakeezah, Nargis in Mother India, Amitabh Bachchan in Sholay and so on.

“I collected posters and booklets for five years before I started this store. There is great potential in this business,” says Arif Mansuri, owner of A1 Corner.

Mansoori also points to the growing trend of foreigners buying posters for exhibitions overseas. “We have a lady from France who comes once a year to take a select actor’s posters. This year it was Raj Kapoor,” he says.

Apart from their own collections, both these stores collect pictures from distributors, theatres and even Bollywood families like the Kapoors and Amrohis. “My brother travels 15 days a month all over India to collect these posters from old theatres which are now shutting down,” says Mansuri.

Most of the poster stores have a treasured collection which they would sell only at the right price.

For instance, Arif Mansuri has a set of four Pakeezah posters which he hopes to sell for over Rs 10,000. On the other hand, Mansoori says if he finds Sholay’s poster he won’t sell it at any price.