Rare Mughal-e-Azam poster artwork and other vintage memorabilia to go under the hammer at online auction by deRivaz & Ives

An online auction of a vintage collection of Indian film memorabilia will be held by deRivaz & Ives from August 15 to 19. Titled ‘Barsaat & Bharat’, it will showcase rare stills and posters from yesteryear films.

Vintage lots of classic films and scenes from the best of Indian film history will be offered. The content highlights the collection which includes items from films such as Barsaat, various versions of Shaheed, Barsaat Ki Raat, Naya Daur, Mother India, Mughal-e-Azam, Dil Tera Deewana, Haqeeqat, Kranti, and many more. There is a section focusing on the cinema of Manoj Kumar and the serigraphs of eminent artist M.F. Husain focusing on films – Mughal-e-Azam, Iqbal, Devdas, Meenaxi and Gajagamini.

Sharing more about the auction, SMM Ausaja, Senior Vice President at deRivaz & Ives, told exclusively to Bollywood Hungama. “The auction is to celebrate the two things – the rains and the Independence Day Movement; everything to do patriotism in cinema.”

Ausaja added, “This is right my alley, being a collector for 30-35 years now. I have worked with Mr Neville Tuli (Chief Mentor at deRivaz & Ives) for almost 12 years now, doing some of the biggest cinema auctions this country has done. It is something we know inside-out. Curatorial element is also very well worked out for each of the auctions. People look forward to our auctions.”

Veteran actor Manoj Kumar is the center of attraction at the auction since the theme is about patriotism. “The focus is on Manoj Kumar because he is the true icon of patriotism in Indian cinema. We don’t have to look any further. There are his film posters like Kranti, Shaheed and others. There is also a very rare set of 30 silver gelatin prints of Sunil Dutt, Kishore Kumar and Waheeda Rahman at the border entertaining the army jawans during the Indo-China war. So there are a lot of interesting items when it comes to patriotism from the collector’s point of view.”

Sharing more about their vision, Neville Tuli, Chief Mentor at the auction house, added in a statement, “This auction starts a deepening commitment to develop the Indian film memorabilia market, as auctions on Satyajit Ray, Amitabh Bachchan @80, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand @100 follow in the next few weeks and months, along with a special sale on Feminine Icons of Indian Cinema. Both the Indian art and film memorabilia markets are barely 1% of the global markets. This must change radically.”

On asking how they zero in on memorabilia items, Ausaja added, “We have a set of consigners who consign to us. We get so many items for consignment. But, of course, we have to select those items, depending on the theme of the auction.”

But they have also gone away from their topic this year for the sake of K Asif’s classic Mughal-e-Azam. The original poster artwork related to this film is also going under the hammer. MF Hussain’s serigraphs, inspired by films like Devdas, Meenaxi, Iqbal and Mughal-e-Azam are also a part of the auction. “It’s a beautiful and a very rare Mughal-e-Azam poster artwork. This is the first time that a half-sheet poster artwork of Mughal-e-Azam is going under the hammer,” added Ausaja.

The K Asif film is always in high demand at such auctions, he informed. “The last time we did an auction at IIFA in Bangkok (in 2018), Mulghal-e-Azam posters were sold for a high amount. Anil Kapoor picked up one poster,” he said.

Elaborating the role of such auctions, Ausaja said, “Now with the buzz about cinema nostalgia gaining rounds, especially with all these documentaries that are coming up, people have realized the importance of preserving cinema heritage and these auctions play a very important role in that. The auction house doesn’t make money on cinema auctions, but it gives a different energy to the auctioneers.”

The auctioneers have a message for the people from the film industry. “We expect the film fraternity to come forward and not just participate in such defining chances but also share the joy of collection,” said Ausaja. “The more we have people collecting and cherishing old original material, only then there is a chance of preserving this for future generations. In Hollywood, there is a museum even for Charlie Chalpin. Here we have Ashok Kumar, who is a superstar of five decades, but we have nothing on him. It’s a sad state of affairs but we are doing our own bit to preserve them.”

The auction will take place online on the official website of deRivaz & Ives from August 15 to 19.

Also Read: Saira Banu marks 63 years of Mughal-E-Azam with heartfelt tribute to Dilip Kumar; see post