Renowned and prolific poster designer Diwakar Karkare passed away on January 5 in Bombay due to age-related illnesses. He was 90. Among his noteworthy and iconic posters were those made for films like Deewaar, Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Silsila, Kabhi Kabhie, Naseeb, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro,Kaala Patthar and many others. He set up his studio in the 1960s and shut shop in or around 1989-90 when digital posters took over. Diwakar believed in painting his posters, banners and booklets, using oil paints and water colours. He had trained in both, commercial and fine arts, from JJ School of Arts.
His designs for Deewaar and Kaala Patthar are remembered even today. For the latter film, Diwakar used charcoal to underline the film’s title. He was considered nothing short of a genius in his field, such were his works of art. Chandni was among his last films. In all, he had more than a thousand films to his credit. It was not rare for Diwakar to design the publicities of three, four or even five films a week! After shutting shop, he had settled in Pune.