It is a tragedy that so many priceless archival treasures of Hindi cinema have been lost to time. These include not only film props, costumes and prints, but also hand-painted posters that serve as the face of the film, the first glimpse of the gorgeous, immersive experience in the store. While the search for the original release posters of some cult classics continues, veteran film historian and memorabilia collector SSM Ausaja laments that many of them have been permanently lost.

“No one has the poster of PC Barua’s Devdas (1935),” Ausaja revealed, referring to the first Hindi film adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s seminal 1917 Bengali romance novel, in which director Jamuna Barua and Chandrabati Devi played Devdas, Paro and Chandramukhi respectively. He also lamented the loss of the original posters of Ardeshir Irani’s 1931 period fantasy film Alam Ara, considered to be India’s first talkie film, as well as Nitin Bose’s Dhoop Chhaon (1935), which was the first film in India to use playback singing.