Padosan : The perfect antidote of sad mood !
Padosan is a sure shot killer of sad and depressive mood. With the height of buffoonery, but a classy one, involved in the film, its success rate as a mood enhancer is very high.
Padosan is to enjoy and laugh without any inhibition.
Padosan has got good dialogues and lyrics by famous poet and author Rajendra Krishan, good acting by Kishoir Kumar, Mehmood, Sunil Dutt, Om Prakash and Saira Bano and other actors, good music by R D Burman and good direction by Jyoti Swaroop. Jyoti Swaroop has got a good thriller film Parwana also to his credit.
Padosan is a gift of Producer Mehmood to the hindi cine lovers.
Mehmood was one of the first persons who gave independent charge to R D Burman to create music for his films in 60s.
Just 5-10 minutes in to the film and a wonderful song is there.
And as song’s lyrics suggest
[ Ye Fizaa Ye Havaa, Ye Nazaare Ye Samaa
Ab Pyaar Na Huaa To Phir Kab Hogaa
Koii Khel To NahiiN, Ye Hai Pyaar Merii JaaN
Tujhe Pataa Bhii Na Chalegaa Ye Jab Hogaa
MaiN Chalii MaiN Chalii ... ]
if one does not smile or laugh even after watching or during watching the Padosan then this is 100% sure that there is some lacking in his mind and he has crossed the boundaries to be in normal mode and has become an abnormal person. Those are the gone cases who can’t enjoy Padosan.
Padosan has got top class comedians like Mehmood, Om Prakash, Mukri, Keshto Mukharjee and top of all there is Kishor Kumar, the champion comedian, the supreme king of comedy. Director has also got tremendous success in using Sunil Dutt as a comedian. Sunil Dutt had played a villager and a bhola bhala in Mother India and Milan also but here in Padosan he gives one of his best performances.
Everybody has tried his best to make Padosan a wonderful comedy film. Anecdote says that after the very first day of shooting, Mehmood and Sunil Dutt were shocked to see Kishor Kumar’s brilliant performance as he was making his Vidhapati, a wonderful character and Mahmood cancelled the shooting for few days as he and Sunil Dutt feared that Kishor Kumar would be completely over shadowing them and once resume the shooting, he appeared in a get up of a south Indian musician and Sunil Dutt had taken get up of a simpleton. But whatever truth is, Kishor Kumar in his relatively short role comes as brightest performer and a sure shot winner. His histrionics are treat to watch.
His sweet scolding to Bhola (Sunil Dutt), with wonderful suffixes like Bangroo, Ghanchakkar, moorakh etc, adds value in his performance. His body language, his hair style and his facial expressions and above all excessive use of movements of eyes, all the factors make his performance top class and time less.
When he gets to know about one side love of Sunil Dutt to Saira Bano and after seeing Saira Bano he says,” Ahha Ahha, Bhole cheez to tune wo dhundh nikali hai ki yadi front par bhej do to dushman to aise hee mar jayen”.
After seeing Saira learning music from Mehmood he suggests that Sunil Dutt should win her heart by singing but Sunil Dutt and singing are two ends of a river which can’t meet.
His saying,” Bhole, mana ladki romantic aur forward hai par hai to khandani” is able to bring an open laughter among audience.
KK is thinking, walking here and there in the room with one hand on his head and one hand at his back and he has maintained this level of dramatic mannerisms, all through the film.
He listens a song of Rafi on radio and his mind catches the idea and he jumps with happiness.
That’s a scene to watch where he says,” Bhola kaam ban gaya. ….. Tum bas honth hilana aur gana mein gaunga.. matlab chehra tumhara aur awaj meri”.
And then he is so pleased on his own idea that he repeats this dialogue before all his friends cum disciples, Awaj meri aur chehra tera. And he moves his head in self praise as if he has done something great.
And it’s a feast for eyes to see him swinging and enjoying singing the song Mere Samne wali khidaki mein ek chaand ka tukda rehta hai
Mere Samne wali khidaki mein ek chaand ka tukda rehta hai
When Sunil Dutt confess to KK,” Guru ab Bindu bhee mujhse utna hee pyar kartee hai jitna ki mein usse” and then he says that” mein sochta hun guru ki ab use sab sach sach bata dun ki mujhe gana wana nahin aata mujhe to tumse pyar karna ata hai bas haan, tumhareee kya rai hai Guru?”
and KK says with full drama,” apnee to ye rai hai Bhole, ki jab tak aisa chalta hai”– and he takes a pause and nods his head and takes approval of Sunil Dutt and says further,” ek baar shadi ho jaye uske baad sab bata dena” and enjoys pleasure on such a good advise.
Best comedy scene in the film comes when Sunil Dutt is acting to sing the song Kehna hai … and Saira Bano’s friend sees KK and as she knows that KK is very good singer so she carries Saira to the room where all this drama of singing is happening.
Sunil Dutt is swinging his body and moving his lips as if he is the one who is singing and KK is completely involved in the singing with closed eyes and first Sunil Dutt sees Saira and her friend in the room and he is unable to think what to do in such situation? He is trying to continue acting of singing and at the same time he is trying to stop singing also and he is trying to making KK alert also. That’s a scene of class. Both KK and Sunil Dutt have done wonder in that single scene and it can be best scene of Sunil Dutt in his entire acting career.
And one has to enjoy the scene when KK also sees Saira Bano and her friend and tries to escape but Sunil Dutt catches him and he is wriggling and then he surrenders before the situations and says, “Anuradha”. Mixed expressions of shy, shame and fear all are there on his face and his body language is amazing and he is behaving like a shy kid who has been caught red handed and whose half pant is loose and who is trying to pull it up with the help of his elbows. KK is standing in such a position that if Sunil Dutt does not hold him then he w’d fall down.
If the scene when Sunil Dutt first time sees Saira Bano and her friend in his room belongs to Sunil Dutt then next scene which is pre climax scene of this event belongs completely to KK.
Om Prakash is the first person who brings smile to audience when in the very first scene he is engaged in self pleasure by watching photo of a young woman and dreaming about his second marriage. He has used his catch-phrase – Hum bhee azeeb hain, in very effective manner at appropriate places in his dialogues.
In the begining he says to Sunil Dutt,” Are Bhola Prem Shashtra to naujawanon ke parhne kee cheez hai” and he expands his chest to feel inside that he is also a naujawan and then he tries to conceal his activity, and with such small gestures he makes his performance very good.
Then Sunil Dutt takes charge as soon as he is introduced with the scene where he is reading the book Sansar shashtra and saying that now he has become 26 years old and now he should enter in to the married life.
When he says to Saira Bano and her friends who all are swimming in the river,” Mujhe sharm kyon ayegi meine to kapde pehne huye hain, sharm to tumhe ani chahiye jo ladki hokar bhee nangi nadi mein naha rahee ho” then he gives full introduction to the mentality and mental level of his character.
Same simplicity is shown when Saira Bano shows him Shoes and duster and asks what purpose they can be used and he says,” Mujhe nahin pata”.
People have been great fan of Mahabharat scene of Jane Bhee Do yaron and its origin can be seen in Padosan when first time Kishor Kumar is shown and Sunil Dutt reaches directly at stage where KK is playing a drama along with his group and he is sitting in the get up of a sage. They start discussing love problem of Sunil Dutt then and there only at the stage and audience have no clue what is going on the stage.
Saira Bano is also a very good part of Padosan.
She sings the song
When Sunil Dutt finds that she is his new neighbour.
Its pleasant to listen the stress on the word “jayenge”. Lata ji has sung this word in a different manner with giving stress on “n” in between and at the end of the word she has inserted sound of another “n” and this makes this song special.
Saira Bano has also opted good body language and mannerisms. In the scene at river where she and her friends are laughing on Sunil Dutt she has given very good performance. When Sunil Dutt boasts on his being a young man of 26 years then she teases him by saying to her friends,” Ladkiyon ise apne 26 saal ka hone par bada garur hai”. She stands on her toes and speaks her dialogue.
and soon after she again ridicules Sunil Dutt by saying to one of her friend,” Sambhal ke kahin aisa na ho tujhse hee shadi kar le”. Here again her body language and dialogue delivery all factors make her performance good.
She had to play a bit dumbo and stubborn girl and she played it with good skill.
Another song Ek Chatur naar
has been a favourite song for many male singers singing as a pair in any competition. KK was not classically trained singer like Manna Dey but we have to listen this song to know his abilities and above this his acting in this song makes it more beautiful.
Then there are three solos sung by Manna Dey (Aao Aao Sanwariya), KK ( Mere Bhole Balam) and Lata Mangeshkar ( Sharm aati hai magar).
Mehmood’s south indian musician is bit over the top but still a good watch and when he plays Shehnai in the end then he steals heart of audience.
From Direction point of view, Jyoti Swaroop has maintained a good continuity and has taken care of small things. In the scene where Kishor Kumar along with his friends cum disciples goes to meet and convince Om Prakash then he reaches there along with three of his friends and audience may wonder where Mukri is?
But script has got sense also and in the very next scene when KK along with 3 of his friends goes to Sunil Dutt’s home then Mukri is sitting besides Sunil Dutt. Sunil Dutt is suffering from rejection in love and Mukri has stayed back with him so that he does not do some wrong thing. A small thing but film gets authenticity with such care.
Padosan has a great repeat value and one can watch it many times in a year.
There were rumours that somebody is going to remake Padosan. It may not only be foolish thing to do but a suicidal attempt also.
When a classic is so alive in the memory of audience then its silly to go for the remake. How actors will be able to go beyond KK, Sunil Dutt, Mehmood, Om Prakash?
And because in old film actors had played the characters so wonderfully that now new actors will not be playing characters rather they will be trying to imitate these actors and hence will look caricatures of same characters.
Padosan is not a forgotten film and it will be difficult rather impossible to play these characters in entirely different ways.
When Padosan itself can bring the joy then why to make a duplicate.
Enjoy the original.
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
It is said that “Mere Bhole Balam” was made on the spot by Kishore Kumar while shooting the scene. Later RD was roped in to give the music for the song and the lyrics were extended further. Off course all this only an anecdote, the truth may never be known.
Another priceless scene was “Bhola neeche se Bhola, neeche se”. Sunil Dutt’s subsequent reaction and actions were unforgettable.
Nice write-up… brought up a lot of fond memories.
I agree with your sentiments regarding the futility of a remake but I bet it might actually happen :(
thanks RK.. this is one of those rare ones (along with golmaal and angoor) that never gets old or tiring to watch. been a few years since i watched it, so thx for refreshing my memory.. will give it another viewing
Have seen this film once and did not like it that much. I don’t think it is that great. Because, it doesn’t have a repeat value. (If a film has a repeat value then it is a good film, in my book) I have the DVD but don’t ever feel like watching it again. I found it too mushy – especially the ending.
Honhaar ji ..yeh kya baat kar rahe ho bhai.!!!
In my house the whole family can sit an watch Padosan any number of times and I am the South Indian Bahu in the house.!! They openly apologise to me (jaise maafi maang rahe hon) and then all of us enjoy it together.
Movie ho to aisi.
Kishore kumar amar rahe. What a performer !!!!
But then histrionics is a given in each of his films. Mehmood definitely met his match in this one. Sunil Dutt looked every inch a Bhola. !!!
I think the younger generation doesnt quite enjoy it as much. Thoda rustic aur brainless hai humour Padosan mein. I love it though.
RK ji ….ekdum maja aagaya padhkar hi. Phir dekhni padegi ye pichchar is hafte. The boys in my class in college used to love this movie. “More Bhole Balam” was a favorite at all times.
Padosan remains one of the best comedies ever in Hindi films along with Golmaal,Pyar Kiye Ja,Angoor,Andaaz Apna apna anf Half Ticket
Kya haal hai RK ji!
I have watched this movie countless times…it is really a funny movie. That cycling song ‘MaiN Chalii MaiN Chalii’ too was a sort of tread setter( or maybe a following an already existent tread)
About Ek Chatur naar
I have heard that the film makers had a tough time convincing Manna Dey to loose out to Kishore in that song. His reasoning: How can a classical singer loose out to a amateur singer!
But it’s great that they managed to convince him, else we would not have got this song.
Didn’t work for me either. Everything is over the top and both Sunil Dutt and Saira Bano are so irritating!
@Sudhir,
Yes, there are many more funny scenes and apt dialogues have spiced up these scenes more and brilliant performances have made many scenes just superb. Small things but very significant in such a script.
Small but very significant gestures opted by Om Prakash, Kishor Kumar, Mehmood, Kishor Kumar and Saira Bano in their performances make film a very good film as far as performances are concerned.
Film has not got any dull moment and thats the USP of such buffonery based film. Film maintains an energetic level since begining and never comes down from that level.
In one scene KK comes to Sunil Dutt house, completely absorbed in his enjoyment and asks Sunil Dutt,” Whats happening.
Sunil Dutt’s shy confession to KK,” Guru ab Bindu bhee mujhse utna hee pyar kartee hai jitna mein usse”
But he is disturbed also because Saira Bano has asked him to sing on her Birthday.
—
and on Birthday, when Saira and her friends are waiting in their room and Sunil Dutt comes to window of his room with a rose in his hand and he is so happy and humming something.
His way of saiyng ” Namaste Ji”.
Padosan is full of amazing scenes. One ha sto watch it for brilliant performances.
—
In remake , a great problem is the character of Saira Bano.
Then it was acceptable and a matter to laugh, to see a girl who has been failed 3 times in high school.
and then other characters also need relevant changes.
In reality she has no place in todays scripts and a great work is needed to change other characters also to make them authentic and it does not look possible now a days.
Comedy film’s characters of present days films, dont represent contemporary society and this is the basic lacking in present films.
@Striker,
You will enjoy it more now. Everybody with more and matured understanding about performance levels and films as such enjoys it more.
Being an actor you will be knowing what is so tough to do and how easily these actors had done that.
Many others after this film have tried to immitate performances of Padosan. Kishor Kumar’s Vidhapati can be seen in many of Govida’s performances and AB’s act of Apni murgee ko rakhna sambhal ke in Jadugar, can have inspiraton from KK in Padosan- in get up and in body language etc.
@HG,
Which recent comedy film has not got Mushy ending?
KKG, HeraPheri etc etc ?
What is hurry, you have got DVD and some day you may catch the right context of Padosan.
You may see it with different motives also. You have started taking interest in Kishor Kumar and see from his characters POV.
Performances and dialogues and music and songs are the USPs of Padosan.
Consider these things, please suggest better films than Padosan, having these elements and covering similar territory.
In your own words you are not cine lover in true sense so that you can watch film as film and can look for its merits and this can be another reason and because film really has got standard and you have not caught that and have not liked the plus points of the films so it has less to with film but more to do with your own mood when you watched it.
@darkndusky,
yes in films this is a thing of major importance that actors play the characters the way they have been conceptulised.
Bhola of Padosan is Bhola and can not be Birju of Mother India or Suave character of Humraj or Gumrah. There is a set up for a film like Padosan and actors have to respect that set up and have to do full justice to the characters.
Characters belong to a certain era and their mannerisms have to be true to that era. Later we have to see those characters as filmi characters and we know in present society it may be difficult to see such characters but being cine lover we have to have understanding that what director had visualised, actors have fulfilled his vision.
We can not criticise characters shown in old films on the modern definitions. their we have to accept bounadry lines of characters and actor’s performances have to be judged on that basis.
@Anindya,
yes in his comedy filmy Padosan remains one of the best films of Kishor Kumar along with Chalti ka Naam Gadi, Half Ticket, Pyar Kiye Ja, Man Mauji, Mr X in Bombay, Shreeman Fantoosh, Sadhu aur shaitan, Jhumroo etc
Highly competent comedy based actor. one of the best in Hindi cinema.
@Vinayak,
after a long time you are found here.
I like all the songs in Padosan and their picturisation.
It seems Saira Bano did not know very well how to ride a bicycle:) because if you see the song Mein Chali Chali—
camera is on her and not on her cycle, during close ups, unlike other girls. either she is shown from a distance where any double could have done that or in close ups its her face and upper body and hands till elbows which are in camera.
Ya I also have read about Manne Dey’s resevrations regarding KK’s singing style as he feared that KK’s histrionics will kill the spirit of semi classical song but ultimately he found that he was wrong and he admitted merits of KK.
@Neerja,
Sunil Dutt and Saira Bano irritating?
You mean their characters or their performances?
Please watch Audrey Hepburn’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s and How to Steel a Million (if you have not seen before) and if seen before and still find Saira Bano’s performance (not character) irritating then its personal disliking and it has nothing to with her performance.
Both, Sunil Dutt and Saira Bano are completely in sync with their characters and have played very well.
They had not generated their characters on paper but they made them live on screen.
Ah, this one is a classic. Growing up I always thought it was about Kishore Kumar but the more often I watch it, the more I realize it’s simply the whole product.
It holds a special place for me because it is the one movie that my whole family loves. Any one who knows my father and my uncles would tell you what a feat that is.
So many Friday afternoons in Dubai spent lazing around and watching Padosan! Love it, Love it, Love it!
I must say it does not have repeat value in full, as in, I would never be able to sit there alone and watch the whole movie with all my attention. It’s one of those movies you watch while hanging out with your cousins and talk and laugh and basically, enjoy…and at certain given times, mouth out the songs or dialogues.
Cousin 1: Mere bhole balam…
Cousin 2: Mere pyaare balam…
Cousin 1: Mera jivan tere bina…
Cousin 2: Oh mere piya…
Cousin 3: Hai voh diya…
Cousin 4: Jisme tel na ho…ke jisme tel na ho
All together: Oh mujhe apna bana le, Oh bhole apna bana le
alright, enough of the emotional flashback.
awesome movie.
@Pakoda Kadhi,
Humanbeing is compelled to repeat something from which s/he gets joy.
If joy has been there then s/he will try to repeat it many times.
People even search joy in pressing swolen gums
Nice scenario among your cousins about Mere Bhole Balam.
RK,
What a film.. a laugh.riot!
Padosan was a remake of Bangla film Pasher Baadi (early 50s, based on a bangla novel by Arun Chowdhury) , which had music by Salil da (Satya Banerjee played Sunil dutt and dhananjay played Kishore).. a few years later a telugu film “pakkayinTi ammaayi” was made on the same. Infact Padosan was more closer to the telugu version than Pasher Baadi (Mehmood’s character was not there in bangla). But I think none of the version could reach the heights of Padosan, primarily due to the contribution of four mahagurus, Kishore-Mehmood-Sunil Dutt-RD Burman in Padosan.
*-*-*
Sunil Dutt was a revelation in the character of Bhola.. It really needs Guts for a star to accept a Role like Bhola and Dutt saab brilliantly portrayed Bhola onscreen..
Kishore da as Vidyapati was Brilliant as ever!!! very well supported by his team of Mukari, RajKishore and Keshto…
The timing and scene improvisation by the group is something to watch for again and again.. (though the screenplay is creditted to Rajendra Krishna and the direction to Jyoti Swaroop, I strongly believe, the captain of the ship was Mehmood)
*-*-*
As for the Manna da incident is concerned, I have a recording of interview where Mehmood confirms that Manna da did not refused to loose to kishore as such, but he did refused to loose to kishore in the competetion of CLASSICAL song).
Mehmood :
Waise to kaafi samajhdaar hain, magar gaate waqt bilkul chhote bachhe ban jaate hain bole “main.. main kishore ke saamne kaise haaroonga”
maine bola “dada.. ye meri situation hai… mujhe haarna hai”
bole “mehmood… dekho..suno meri baat suno… ye kishore gaayega sargam mere saamne?”
“dada nahin gaa sakta… lekin ab kya karein usne khud banaya hai ye gaana, apni sargam usne khud banayi hai”
“are ye koi sargam huee… humm dhaam.. hum dhaam”, and finally agreed to record…
*-*-*
As for the remake is concerned, recently it was remade in Kannada (Pakkadmane Hudgi featuring Raghvendra Rajkumar and Anant Nag) retaining a couple of original Padosan songs, but I heard film failed..
RK ji I was also saying the same thing. That the whole humour in Padosan is quite rustic and of that era too.
It was always “Vilayat se aaya hai” “rai sahabs” and mausis and “salgirahs” in those movies.
What I was saying is that younger generation may not relate to that kind of language , mannerisms, getups and hence not enjoy it as much today.
I used to love Dev Anand movies and even love his mannerisms in the 1980s when I was 11/12 but cannot relate to them at all now. Cannot stand a run on the mill Dev Anand movie these days. There are exceptions of course.
I guess our tastes change as we grow older and get more exposure.
@RK
yes, took a break.
@Pavan Jha
that was informative. Thanks!
@Pavan (18)
Thank you Pavan for informative comment. Did not before that padosan was a remake of a bangla film.
You are right about collective contribution of many creative people in Padosan.
I had seen one interview of Mehmood which he gave during his last days where he was saying that these heros like Dharmendra and Jeetendra used to provoke him by asking him what to do in certain situations and he used to tell them many different versions to enact those scenes.
He was also one of the most versatile actors Hindi cinema ever had.
@darkndusky,
yes our tastes change though not necessarily and it also happens that once we are grown up we dont like what we used to like during childhood but after some years we again start liking those things which we used to like in childhood.
Like before bermuda phase , boys used to hate half pants once they come in class 6th but same boys used to love half pants again once crossed 25 years of their age.
Now poor half pants remained same silent objects but understandings and likings showered selective liking and disliking on them.
Same happens with food. These are phases.
anyway i was not objecting your previous comment but taking things further from where you had left in your last lines.
i luv padosan.. kishor kumar nd mehmud r heros in film
http://in.rediff.com/entertai/2002/dec/05dinesh.htm
nd song mere samne wali khidaki nd ek chatu nari r my favorite
related article ( with regards to Comedy in Hindi Cinema ):
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=19&theme=&usrsess=1&id=208164
When scriptwriters are at their wits’ end to come up with comic scripts, they blame the public for lacking a sense of humour, writes Derek Bose
The way comedies are bombing at the box office is not funny. While way-out mindless action dramas like Race and Jannt are turning out surprise hits, not a single ribtickler has made its mark this year. Even serious, issue-based films like Black and White, Shaurya and now, Aamir are finding eager audiences. But nobody seems to notice, let alone remember the names of comedies that are being released, week after week, with unfailing regularity.
The last big hits in this genre were Priyadarshan’s Bhool Bhulaiya and Anees Bazmis Welcome, both released in 2007 and powered by Akshay Kumar. So was Sajid Khan’s Heyy Baby, released earlier in the year. But the last real non-star comedy hit was Bheja Fry, a delightful adaptation of the French film Le Diner de cons which had Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey bumbling about like nobody’s business. That was in April 2007.
Today, all those who took films like Munnabhai MBBS, Golmaal and Hera Pheri as precursors to a ‘new comedy wave’ in Hindi cinema, are wondering what went wrong. It is not as though we lack the talent. From the tried and tested Paresh Rawal and Satish Kaushik to relatively new but competent specialists like Pathak, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi and Ritesh Deshmukh, there are more full-time funny men around than ever before. Then why is everybody bemoaning the death of comedy in Hindi cinema? Is it too much of a good thing gone bad?
A look at some films released recently would help understand the tragedy that has beset comedies:
Krazzy 4: In this bizarre rip-off from The Dream Team, Irrfan Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Arshad Warsi and Suresh Menon play a motley group of loonies on a mission to rescue their kidnapped doctor (Juhi Chawla) who unwittingly gets drawn into a political power game. From nowhere Shahrukh Khan and Hritik Roshan pop out to perform item numbers (as does Rakhi Sawant) which eventually prove to be film’s main attractions.
Don Muthu Swamy: Mithun Chakraborty returns with his famous ‘Krishna Iyer MA Narialpaniwala’ act from Agnipath, only that he is now an ageing goon out to reform himself. While he grapples with his Tamilian-Hindi, his daughter (Hrishita Bhatt) is caught between two lovers played by Mohit Rana and Rohit Roy. Enter another girl and what is supposed to be a laugh riot, becomes a completely convoluted exercise in crudity.
Hastey Hastey: Here it is the guy (Jimmy Shergill) who is caught between two girls ~ one, good (Nisha Rawal) and the other (Monishka), as bad as they come. This so-called romcom has neither romance nor comedy. But the scene stealer here is Rajpal Yadav who has a triple role here, all as sidekicks of varying ages. If only the director Ramanjit Juneja paid some attention to his job…
Quick Gun Murugun: With characters like Rice Plate Reddy, Gun Powder and Mango Dolly, this is Shashanka Ghosh’s spoof of a Hollywood Western with a South Indian bumpkin (Rajendra Prasad) waging an epic battle on behalf of cows. The adversary is a world conquering restaurant owner wanting to start a chain of outlets serving McDosa with beef stuffing. The larger issue is about vegetarians versus carnivores.
Mere Baap Pehle Aap: This Priyadarshan film takes its title from a young man (Akshaye Khanna) who insists on playing matchmaker for his father (Paresh Rawal), a widower. There is another old man (Om Puri), a prankster and inveterate skirt chaser. A young lady (Genelia D’Souza) shows up from London and her guardian (Shobana) turns out to be an old flame of the old widower. The inevitable happens.
This is a sampling of five recent films made in the best tradition of comedies in Indian cinema. Each one is high-spirited and hyper-nutty, bristling with raunchy numbers, visual gags and double entendres, intended to raise a few laughs. In the past, the irreverence of it all struck a chord with the audience. But today, the humour has become so jaded, repetitive and predictable that they do not extract even a chuckle. The worst part is that kids have warmed up to the risqué jokes and are giggling uncontrollably in the company of elders at every lowbrow adult one-liner on screen.
The other effect of prolonged exposure to such films is that audiences have learnt to not only differentiate between various sub-genres of comedies (such as slapstick, burlesque, parody, lampoon and deadpan), they can identify comedy hybrids ~ romantic comedies, comedy thrillers, musical comedies and so on. They have become more mature and discerning. Gone are the days when slipping on a banana peel or say, poking fun at the physically challenged would keep the audience in splits. Filmmakers would have to do better than that.
Comedy is indeed, serious business. Traditionally, filmmakers counted on two distinct streams – comedian-led (with well-timed gags, jokes and sketches) and situation-led (with strong narrative support). Either way, the cultural reference point has been the monkey god Hanuman who played the hero’s best friend and provided all the laughs. Thus, we have had a host of boisterous funsters over the years, from Noor Mohammed Charlie and Gope Kamlani to Rajendranath and Johhny Walker to Kishore Kumar and Mehmood to Johnny Lever. Their sense of timing and quicksilver act provided dramatic relief to serious plot situations and more importantly, sustained a genre of hilarity and good fun in cinema for close to a century.
Amitabh Bachchan upset the applecart when he started playing the monkey in some of his films. Gradually, the good old funsters were edged out and situation-led comedies took over. Before long, every hero came up with (often irritating and unnecessary) comic capers and some like Govinda and Akshay Kumar began concentrating on playing the comic hero with astonishing success. The current trend of screwball comedies is an extension of that phase with all actors ~ be it Sanjay Dutt or Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan or Saif Ali Khan ~ expected to match their histrionic skills with a sense of comic timing. Some like Paresh Rawal and Om Puri changed tracks from villainy to comedy. And then, there is always the new generation of specialist comedians like Rajpal Yadav, Vijay Raaz, Vinay Pathak, Arshad Warsi, Suresh Menon…
All this has put scriptwriters under tremendous pressure. For a while everybody took the easy way out by flogging sexually-loaded jokes and erotic fantasies in the guise of comedies. It suited frothy entertainers and skin flicks like Masti, Neal ‘n’ Nikki and No Entry, which were low on costs and high on returns. But for how long can you keep regurgitating the same old stuff? Audiences want variety. And when it does not come, they look elsewhere. Sadly, this is the truth about comedies that no filmmaker or scriptwriter, is prepared to acknowledge. They will not admit to running out of steam. They would rather blame the public for lacking a sense of humour!
King of Comedy
Mehmood is the only comedian in post-Independent India who commanded equal billing with the top heroes of his time. He debuted in 1943 as a child artiste in Kismat and made his mark in 1958 with Parvarish. But it was not till the mid-sixties with films like Love in Tokyo, Bhoot Bangla and Gumnam that he got into his elements.
Present-day youngsters may find Mehmood’s style of comedy intolerably gross and would cringe at his lungi-uthake mannerisms. But there can be no denying his attention to language and diction, particularly while playing a Tamil or Hyderabadi character. As Masterji in Padosan, his portrayal of a South Indian music teacher is a classic. And who can forget the part when he scared the daylights out of Om Prakash in Pyar Kiye Jaa by recreating a graveyard scene with sounds like ‘toink toink… wao wao… kud kud kach kach kach…’?
He was just too good!
Sudhirji@1 – Yes the anecdote is true.
HG@3 – Its surprising ! Padosan is one of the most entertainign film of all times ( Comedy genre ). There cannot be a better comedy movie than this one.
darkndusky@4 – I fully agree when you say ” think the younger generation doesnt quite enjoy it as much. Thoda rustic aur brainless hai humour Padosan mein”. Thats the way comedies have to be seen. If you like these kind of movies then you will love other movies like “Half Ticket”
Anindya@6 – The music of PKJ & AAA were a let-down. Otherwise I agree.
Neerja@8 – IMHO you have watched this movie in some irritated mood ( prior to the movie )
RK@9 – I agree that there was never a dull moment – but my son when he was 4 years old, he had Padosan by-heart, scene by scene, song by song, till the song “Sharm Aati Hai”. Something to ponder over ?. Maybe after this song the film got a bit dragged for prople who wanted sheer comedy ( barring a few scenes like you said when SD gets caught ). BTW – wonderful article man..I am in total agreement with you on every point. Just a small mistakes like “Dushman apne Hathiyaar daal dein” etc !
RK@14 – the brilliance of song pic is “Bhai battoor” – the place where Saira Baanu says to her maid “La La La La…La La La La….La La La Laaaaaaaaa” !! Sheer brilliance from Pancham and the director ! Also the old movie songs played on the radio ( like Rafi song before Mere Bhole Balam ) or humming by the characters, is a deep study in itself.
PK@16 – I have seen the movie in theatre 5 times ( in a week – morning shows ) and every time I have seen people dancing to “Mere Bhole Balam” in the aisles !! it was overwhelming experience
Pavan@18 – Yes I agree. SD was superb in Bhola. I dont know how R D Burman would have done that role ( as you are aware, he was supposed to do it ) ! Also slide 3 & 4 explain further about the making of the song : http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/66376/05_2008/being_mannade2/being-manna-dey-the-modest-musical-maestro.html
Padosan was trashed in the reviews of those days. Only Kishore was praised. Anyways…As Pakoda & Kadhi says in point no 16, its the full product, that is wonderful. Adwiteeya !!
derek bose has not researched well…
i like mehmud but i know he ll ve 2 fight with johny walker nd kishor kumar b4 he is declared as king of comedy nd it ll b a draw match…
mehmud was more than a comedian… he directed films also…he sang songs also… he played hero…villain…emotional roles also that way he ll defeat johny walker but not in comedy… and over all also he ll ve 2 compete with kishor kumar…
this is also wrong 2 say big b started playing comedy himself… its result of poor research…i recntly saw few old films tere ghar ke samne…paying guest…munim ji nd devanand did comedy roles there…i also saw azad nd ram aur shyam nd dilp kumar played comedy roles there…raj kapooor shri420 anandi are comedy films…
when big b joined films then gud comedians were not there…asrani paintal jagdip were not able 2 do what mehmud nd johny walker cd do…
nd whts wrong if hero can do better comedy than comedians?
kamal hasan did many comedy films pushpak..appu…chachi 420