MINI BOLLYWOOD MUSEUM IN HAUZ KHAS VILLAGE
A store in Hauz Khas Village, Delhi, has kept the pith of Bollywood’s past period in place through vintage posters, vinyl records and photographs — some from 1930s and 1940s.
For some Delhiites, Hauz Kaus Village is the go-to place for mingling and clubbing. In any case, very few would realize that here lies a treasure trove of good old Bollywood film publications, vinyl records and everything that still holds appeal of the past period — a visual expressions shop called All Arts. The place can allure any passer-by with its recherché hand-painted blurbs of Bollywood blockbusters.
The store likewise has taken into account prominent faces, for example, Bollywood performing artist Vidya Balan. “She has been to the store once and purchased a plate,” advises Deepak Jain, who has been running this smaller than normal historical center of Bollywood publications since 2005 out of sheer tenacity, regardless of getting only a handful of regular customers.
“The younger generation doesn’t have a sense of buying or keeping these posters and vinyls. Rather, they buy for those who have witnessed the era,” says the owner,Deepak Jain.
While conscientiously demonstrating the various music records of movies, Jain advises he additionally has memorabilia going back to the ’40s and ’50s. He says, “A large portion of the posters have been lost.” He feels the individuals who tend to these publications, particularly from the more youthful era should attempt to restore the intrigue. Something else, these posters, particularly the ones having a place with the ’30s and’40s, will be lost.
“I’m not really fond of movies but if I have to watch, it would be Amitabh Bachchan’s films. I used to run this shop out of passion initially but then the customers started demanding more. That made me interested in continuing. Even people who frequent the store, prefer posters of Amitabh’s movies and also classics like Mother India. But there are one or two regular customers and lot others are foreigners. People often come from Japan and ask for posters of cult films such as Sholay,” he adds.
A copy of Hindustan Times that dates back to August 27,1945.
“I used to run this shop out of passion initially but then the customers started demanding more. That made me interested in continuing,” he adds. The shop also has some old manuscripts dating back to the British era.
“The business actually started with books and some printed documents and then people started demanding more. It’s very hard to maintain these original items due to climate conditions of India. It will be hard to find the original posters as they do not make them anymore, and they will not be there in the archives either. Even the [national] film archives might not have them anymore, and whatever is left might be in a very poor condition,” he adds.
