Mehboob Productions Ltd.

Background
This was the production company of Indian director and producer Mehboob Khan, which he established in 1942. Khan is most well-known for his internationally successful and critically acclaimed film, Mother India (1957). When Khan died in 1964, the company ceased almost all business, and he left behind financial debts on his family. The fortunes of the studio revived in the 1970s with the rights of Mother India reverted to the family and a recording studio was added. The company is pretty much inactive as of now, with real-estate developments and a fire striking the studio in 2000, and as of 2010 the former studio is an arts and cultural space.

1st Logo (1943-1957)
Logo: We see a bunch of lightning and fog at the beginning on a red background, which then slowly reveals a yellow tombstone that contains an "M" inside the communist/Soviet emblem, below it reads "MEHBOOB" and smaller "PRODUCTIONS" below the former text. The tombstone slowly zooms in.

Variants:
 * From 1943 to 1949 (like in Humayum) the logo used a B&W version which consisted of several lightning and fog at the beginning, and after we see between lightning up to 3 times appearing very quick the tombstone, until the logo is still.
 * On Anokhi Ada and Andaz used, a still B&W version with just the announcer. There are clouds around the tombstone.
 * Some prints of Mother India have the logo in a dark blue tint. The appearance of the tombstone is also delayed, with the voiceover starting during some drawn out fog effects.
 * Some prints of Aan have the logo is in a reddish tint.

Technique: The lightning and fog, the tombstone appearing. Possibly live-action. Cel animation for the early variants.

Music/Sounds: Some thunder sounds along with a dramatic fanfare, followed by a male announcer (Pakistani musician and actor Rafiq Ghaznavi) saying in Hindi: "The Plaintiff might wish you a million ills, but what of it? That alone happens that God allows." (There are various Indian logos in which an announcer says a religious phrase rather than saying the company name.)

Music/Sounds Variant: Earlier films would have the audio being quieter.

Availability: Seen on Hindi films released by the company, such as Mother India.

Legacy: The lightning, fanfare, slowly zooming tombstone and the creepy sounding announcer have scared lots of people outside of India. This logo is otherwise a favorite in India.

2nd Logo (1962)


Logo: Against a live smoky background, we see a silhouette of the Soviet emblem on top of a pedestal. Not so long after, flashes of lightning starts to appear, revealing the entire statue including the pedestal, which consists of the words "MEHBOOB" on the top and "PRODUCTIONS PRIVATE LTD" at the bottom. Once it stops flashing (and the statue is fully exposed), the camera slowly starts to zoom in towards the statue.

Technique: Possibly live-action.

Music/Sounds: We start off with the sounds of thunder, followed by the same dramatic fanfare, but much louder than before, and then a male announcer (who is the same person from the previous logo [Rafiq Ghaznavi]) saying the same line used in the first logo.

Availability: Rare, this was only seen on Son of India.