J. D. Gondhalekar (1909-1981) was an Indian artist from a Pune family that owned a successful printing press. He studied at the Slade School of Art in London and in the 1950s served as the Dean of the J. J. School of Art in Bombay.
An interesting postcard from many angles. It is an early advertising card for a cinema in Pune, part of a series published by the proprietor A.C.
This card was made primarily for domestic audiences as the Hindi title, and secondary English title cleverly tucked into a corner vertically suggest. Note how the remnants of another postcard from a skewed cut is visible at the top.
The Chitra Shala Press in Pune was one of the first and most prominent 19th century printers in India, and an early pioneer of lithographic printing in the subcontinent, known for their wall-size prints of Hindu religious scenes, playing cards and
