Less is more: Minimalist posters celebrate the essence of a film

By Gayathri Anuradha Y

Films are known to be elaborate visual affairs. And while such detail may be required in the movie, their posters, however, have to convey the essence in a single glance. Minimalist posters do exactly that- picking up quirky moments from memorable films and making posters out of them that convey exactly what the movie is about.

Many such blogs and pages that curate these posters have been on the rise in social media. One of the more popular ones, Minimal Movie Posters India was started in 2012 by Abhinav Bhatt, a software professional from Bangalore. Speaking to TNM about the initiative, he said, “While ordinary posters only show the usual pictures of the film’s lead actors, minimalist ones try to capture the soul of the plot or any other striking feature of the film”. 

Image courtesy: Mahes Balu

For example, the poster of the recent Suriya-starrer “24”, shows a man in a wheelchair on a watch dial- the perfect image to convey the story of the film in the most minimalist manner possible. Similarly, the posters of “Manithan” (a bloodied lawyer’s coat), “Kammatipaadam” (man being kicked out of a window), and classics like “Iruvar” (a pair of glasses) have also been created. 

Image courtesy: Bharath

Image courtesy: Bharath

Cinephiles across states contribute in the poster making process, the result being that the posters exist in as many as eight languages including Tamil and Malayalam. Says Abhinav, “There was no one site or page where people could pool their work. So I just made a blog and a Facebook page. After I had made a few posters, it was opened up for submission. Then people kept joining in as it got popular”. 

Image courtesy: Mahes Balu

For those who have already seen the movies, the posters remind them about the plot and for those who haven’t, a sense of eagerness to watch the film is created. While some posters are a tribute to the artist’s favourite films, the others induce nostalgia in the audience. Not just Minimal Movie Posters, other noteworthy pages like Minimal Cinema Posters and Minimal Malayalam Posters(MiniMa) prove that less is more.