In this, the book stands out in stark contrast to another, very unforgettable, book to have come out this year in the South—The 9 Emotions of Indian Cinema Hoardings by V Geetha, Sirish Rao and famous film poster painter MP Dakshna (Tara Publishers). 9 Emotions categorises the legendary poster art of popular Tamil cinema within the framework of the Navarasas as proposed by the Natyashastra, the second-century text on performance and aesthetics.

All the paintings used in the book were painted exclusively for the book and do not show any film titles. But they do allude to some of the most iconic images from Tamil cinema classics. The book also playfully blends in popular film song lyrics with the images thereby lending meaning and context. 9 Emotions holds a certain academic value in interpreting the grammar of cinematic images that have been integral to political propaganda and posturing in the south. Tamil film plots in the 60s reflected the DMK’s steady rise to power-changing stances. This was obviously reflected in the iconographic posters that grew to gigantic proportions, literally giving cinematic images that larger-than-life image.

The emergence of two such books in the Indian publishing arena also reflects the changing views towards popular-culture paraphernalia and their preservation. When Neville Tulli of Osian displayed a poster of Guide beside VS Gaitonde’s work a few years ago, he laid the foundation for an interest for investment in film posters as art. And though, the art is nearly dead, recognition of this kind may salvage the dust-gathering relics of yesteryears.