The timeless comedy 'Padosan' began its journey as a short story
The timeless comedy 'Padosan' began its journey as a short story which was adapted first in Bengali and then in Telugu, both by Calcutta-based production houses. It was a rage in three languages before Bollywood even knew that it existed.
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Had Bhanu Bannerjee been alive and worked as a comedian today, he would have been in deep trouble. One of the things he was known for was the scathing social satire in his audio plays, some of which involved poking fun at politics and…religion. His skit Naba Ramayan would send ripples across the establishment. Nevertheless, Bhanu was more famous as a comedian in mainstream Bengali films, and he was active at a time when comedians were accorded the same respect given to the leading heroes and heroines of the time. Sometimes even more. In their prime, comic actors like Tulshi Chakraborty and Jahar Roy were venerated names in the industry. It was not uncommon to have a comedian as a pivotal character, the prime mover in many popular films.
Bhanu Bannerjee started his career with a film called Abhijog (1947) and went on to appear in many successful films across the three decades that followed. He eventually formed a successful on-screen partnership with Jahar Roy and even briefly featured in a few Hindi films like Dulal Guha’s Ek Gaon Ki Kahani (1957) and Satyan Bose’s Bandish (1955) in which he tries to woo Meena Kumari, with hysterical results.
But the one film that brought him on the map was Pasher Bari (1952), a situational comedy based on a story by Arun Chowdhury, who also wrote the dialogue of the film and acted in it. The film presented Bhanu as Shyam Sundar, the music teacher of a pretty young thing named Lili (Sabitri Chatterjee). While on a train, Lili runs into the blundering simpleton Kyabla (Satya Bannerjee) who promptly falls in love with her. Realising that the music teacher is a rival for her affections, Kyabla recruits Bhombol Da (Arun Chowdhury) to help him win her over. Bhombol realises Kyabla is too far gone in his love for Lili, and decides that all’s fair in love and…you know.
Pasher Bari proved a turning point for a number of people associated with it. Bhanu became a household name, and Sharey Chuattor which released the following year, only consolidated his position as an important comic actor in Bengali film industry. Both heroine Sabitri Chatterjee and director Sudhir Mukherjee had debuted with Pasher Bari. Though she had earlier been part of a film, this was her first major role. Sabitri had only recently migrated from what was then known as East Pakistan. She was a distant relation of Bhanu Bannerjee, who had hired her for his drama troupe.
Sabitri used to speak with an accent, because of which she was initially rejected for the role of Lili. But she came with solid credentials. Her performance on the stage made Shishir Bhaduri, the doyen of Bengali theatre gush about how she had upstaged all the veterans. Finally, she was cast as the heroine of the film, and Bhanu as one of her suitors. For director Sudhir Mukherjee, Pasher Bari was an important milestone as it was his directorial debut. He went on to make a number of very successful films, some of them with matinee idol Uttam Kumar. The hero of the film was Satya Bannerjee, who had also been cast as a hero for the first time. He would go on to play strong supporting roles in mainstream Bengali films for the nest four decades.
Pasher Bari became a runaway hit. Now, this was an interesting period in the history of Indian cinema, where Tamil and Telugu film industries had strong ties with Calcutta and Bengali filmmakers. Legendary Tamil poet & lyricist Kannadasan was training to be a director under Debaki Bose, and later produced a Tamil film called Ratna Deepam (1953) which Bose directed. Ratna Deepam had a predominantly Bengali cast, including Abhi Bhattacharya and Pahari Sanyal. This kind of cultural exchange between Bengal and south cinema was quite common in the 30s to the early 50s. East India Film Company, set up in Calcutta by R.L. Khemka, was at the forefront of many of these projects. Thus, a Calcutta studio set up by a Marwari business was making films in Bengali, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
Inspired by the success of Pasher Bari, East India Film Company produced a Telugu film called Pakkinti Ammayi, which came out in the same year (1953). It was directed by Chittajallu Pullaiyah. Kyabla became Subbarayudu, played by eminent Telugu comedian Relangi, while Leela - Lili in the original - was portrayed by superstar Anjali Devi, who was a big name both in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Bhombol Da’s role was transformed into Raja, who was also a singer, played by singer and music director A.M. Rajah. Pakkinti Ammayi was a huge success, prompting the heroine Anjali Devi to co-produce a Tamil version with her husband, music director Adhinarayana Rao. Adutha Veettu Penn (1960) was directed by Vedantam Raghavaiah, and starred Anjali Devi as the heroine once again, with the bumbling hero Mannaru being played by T.R. Ramachandran. Veteran Tamil comedian K.A. Thangavelu became the singer friend. And just like clockwork, Aduthe Veettu Penn also set the box office on fire.
Just like Bhanu Bannerjee in Bengal, Mehmood too was consolidating his position as a comedian in Bollywood. His early roles hardly drew any laughs. Because they were negative parts. He begun with the blockbuster Kismet (1943) as Ashok Kumar’s younger self. Some of the most landmark films of the 50s featured him in minor roles, like Do Beegha Zameen, Pyaasa, CID. Finally, it was Parvarish (1958) where he was noticed. He played Raj Kapoor’s brother. After Parvarish, Mehmood kept getting meatier roles, but mostly as funny men. By the mid-60s, he was a bankable star and often commanded fees which were higher than what some of the heroes used to earn those days. He was so staggeringly successful that scripts were being written with him in mind. It was time to venture into filmmaking. The first film he directed was Bhoot Bungla (1965), with Tanuja in the lead opposite him. He even bulldozed his friend R.D. Burman to play a role in the film. R.D. also composed the music. Mehmood and R.D. Burman aka Pancham had rip-roaring chemistry on-screen, which made him decide to cast Pancham again.
When Mehmood decided to launch his production house, the first project had to be special. The story Pasher Bari, which had already spawned three very successful films in three languages, seemed to be as credible an idea as any. When Padosan was first conceived, the leads were to be played by Pancham and Shikha Biswas - the daughter of music director Anil Biswas - say Aniruddha Bhattacharjee and Balaji Vittal in their book on R.D. Burman. Very few people could make Mehmood laugh uncontrollably, and Pancham was one of them. Yet, he was more insistent on sticking to his role as a composer, and acting didn’t seem exciting enough.
By this time, Sunil Dutt had built an impressive body of work, and was hungry for experimentation. He had just made India’s first film starring only one actor, Yaadein (1964). In the same vein, he accepted the role of Bhola since he hadn’t done comedy before and it presented a challenge. Saira Banu, whose comic timing was apparent in Junglee, was cast in the lead heroine’s role. Kishore Kumar had stopped acting to focus on his singing career. But when the role of the hero’s friend Vidyapati was explained to him, he exclaimed that it reminded him of his uncle Dhananjay Bannerjee. Cast as Vidyapati, Kishore modeled the role after the pan-chewing, dhoti-clad Dhananjay Mama. Mehmood himself donned the role of the music teacher.
Padosan created history with its phenomenal music by R.D. Burman and the impeccable comic performance of the principal cast. Over the past half a century, the charm of Padosan hasn’t diminished one bit. But it’s easy to forget that the three “regional” films which came before it were landmark films too, paving the way for their Bollywood counterpart to exist and create magic.
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