Padosan 1968

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Demetrius Dade

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Aug 3, 2024, 1:02:12 PM8/3/24

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When unworldly-wise Bhola (Sunil Dutt) realises that he is of marriageable age, he comes to the city to live with his maami (aunt Dulari) who is separated from her aging, feudalistic, thakur husband (Om Prakash). He is pleasantly surprised to find that maami's padosan (neighbour) is a bubbly, beautiful, college student, Bindu (Saira Bano). He sets his heart on her and decides to woo her. When he sees that she is deeply interested in music and is taking lessons from a Tamil teacher, Master Pillai (Mehmood), he seeks the help of his friend Vidyapati (Kishore Kumar), an accomplished singer and a romantic at heart, who heads a local drama troupe.

An enraged Bindu breaks the wedding and threatens to marry the thakur, but ultimately gives consent to Master Pillai. Bhola cannot digest the turn of events and literally falls at Vidyapati's feet to stop the wedding. The dramatists cook up another sequence of Bhola pretending to commit suicide, finally evincing from Bindu her love for him.

His dhoti-clad appearance with hair parted at the centre, kohl-ed eyes, paan-stained lips, followed faithfully by his troupe members played by Mukri, Keshto Mukherjee and Raj Kishore, is enough to evoke laughter. The character is based on his real-life uncle, Dhananjay Banerjee, a classical singer.

Hats off to Mehmood as well. Even in a difficult role of a music teacher with a heavy Tamil accent, he does not allow a single scene to slip out of his hands. In the last scene when he plays the flute as Bindu and Bhola get married, he even manages to wet a few eyes.

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Padosan is a 1968 Indian comedy film. Directed by Jyoti Swaroop. It was produced by Mehmood, N. C. Sippy and written by Rajendra Krishan. It was a remake of the Bengali film Pasher Bari (1952) based on a same name short story starring Bhanu Bandyopadhyay and Sabitri Chatterjee. The movie stars Sunil Dutt and Saira Banu in lead roles. Kishore Kumar, Mukri, Raj Kishore and Keshto Mukherjee played the supporting roles. Mehmood as the South Indian musician and rival to Sunil Dutt is among the highlights of the film. It was considered as one of the best comedy movies made in Hindi film history. Mehmood's portrayal of a south Indian music teacher was one of his noted performances and a key highlight of the film. Kishore Kumar's character of a comical theater director was also well received. Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films". Music was composed by R.D. Burman and was a huge success. Kishore Kumar sang for himself while Manna Dey sang for Mehmood.