50 Years of Padosan: Comedy as Hero

Jyoti Swaroop’s only big hit as a director, Padosan, celebrates its 50th birthday this year. It is one of the first hits in Indian cinema where humour is the subject, comedy is the hero and the music and songs are the stars. This balance was made possible because the film created an ideal amalgam of the best comedians of Hindi cinema of the time from Om Prakash through Agha, Mukri, Keshto Mukherjee, and Sundar, led by ace comedian heroes Kishore Kumar and Mehmood. Shoma A. Chatterji pays a tribute