Indian Art Collectives Reviving The Dying Art Of Retro Film Poster Design

Back in the late 70s and 80s, a film poster would significantly dictate the audience and inevitably the response for a particular film. Indian film posters of this particular period in time were vibrant, colourful, and had a knack for capturing the film’s essence in quirky yet charming ways. Not only did the art give generations of the film fraternity a passive-income stream, but it also helped shape Indian pop culture to a large extent.

As art and its various formats proliferate digital mediums in today’s times, the community of traditional film poster-makers is rapidly dwindling. However, promising attempts have been made by digital artists to revive the essence of film poster artwork in newer and more innovative ways.

I. Aesthetic Kunjamma

One such collaborative effort by the Kerala-based digital artist collective is Aesthetic Kunjamma, an Instagram handle that went viral during the initial phases of the pandemic. What began as a simple passion project turned into a tool that revived the dying art of film poster-making. Arun Ajitkumar is a commerce graduate based out of Kochi, India who derived from his passion for theatre and performance art in order to birth Aesthetic Kunjamma and its creative vision.

Arun resorted to creative experiments with graphic design as a breather from the monotony of everyday life along with the pandemic. His initial intersections of western film titles juxtaposed with South-Indian cult classic films caught on with the Instagram audience who were thrilled by the sheer novelty and charm of the idea.

From then on, Arun went on to join forces with creatives from the film industry. Arun was soon joined by his friend, Adwaith Krishna who was a cinematographer and lawyer along with Deepak J, a multi-faceted VFX artist who became a valuable source to his team.

Aesthetic Kunjamma’s internet fame soon reached the doorsteps of tinsel town when producers and directors reached out to the team to design original film posters for their upcoming titles.

Image credit: New Indian Express

II. Pada Cassette

In another exciting collaboration that came out of the initial lockdown in 2020, Chennai-based Bharnidharan Natarajan and his team sought comfort in Tamil cinema’s cult film heroes. Taking film posters from this retro era, Natarajan and the team began recreating unique film posters that represent their collective passion for Tamil cinema.

Deriving from his childhood nostalgia and his unique fascination for film poster design, Natarajan leverages his formidable graphic design skills to recreate the classic film posters of Tamil cinema’s giants such as Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan, and more.

The name, ‘Pada Cassette’ itself is a translation of the cheap film cassettes and DVDs that were widely circulated within weeks of a film’s release in and around the city.

Pada Cassette’s cinematic nostalgia is deeply rooted in Chennai’s fascination with Kollywood (the Tamil film industry) and how it has developed a unique cultural aesthetic for the city. The team also creates VHS tapes that feature iconic music albums from the Tamil cinema’s golden age.