Padosan

Jyoti Swaroop's Padosan (1968) is among the most rewatched comedies in Hindi cinema. Sunil Dutt plays a naive man newly arrived in the city, Saira Banu the young woman across the road who is taking music lessons. Unable to speak to her, he enlists his theatre friends, and what follows is a courtship conducted by singing in someone else's voice. The moment burned into memory is the musical duel, sung by Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey. Two musical traditions colliding on stage is as interesting for the history of the music as it is funny. Kishore Kumar both acts and sings. Watched now, the film has an obvious problem: the South Indian music teacher played by Mehmood is a caricature built out of accent and manner. That mode of representation, common in Bombay cinema of the period, is both the most laughed-at part of the film and the most dated. Who it's for: those who love classic Hindi comedy and sixties film music. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by regional caricature; here it sits at the centre of the film, not at its edge.