Kishore and Mahmood all the way. Review on Padosan

How many Hindi movies have you seen where the most memorable characters are not the ''billed'' hero and heroine ?And how do you make a comedy that does not have vulgar or crude jokes, but humorous situations with a touch of sophistication and well defined characters. Watch Padosan and you will know....

On to the story, Sunil Dutt plays Bhola, a simpleton youth who is ready to get married because he is ''twenty-six '' years old. He runs into Bindu (Saira Banu) who happens to be the neighbor that the title suggests and is hooked at the first meeting. Bindu, though, is not interested in the simple Bhola. So Bhola confides in Vidyapati ( Kishore Kumar), a drama artist and his ''guru'' about his wish to woo Bindu.

In spirit with the title, the proximity of the windows of Bindu and Bhola's rooms in their repective houses allows a clear view of what's happening next door, provided the window is open, and forms the backdrop for a lot of the key twists in the plot. Bindu has a music teacher Pillai (Mahmood) who plays a stereotypical South Indian Brahmin trying to use his art to woo his student. Vidyapati suggests to Bhola that he would need to learn to sing to stand any chance of getting his beloved's attention. However, it turns out that Bhola has a horrible voice and so they come up with a plan that will allow Bhola to lip-synch to Vidyapati's tunes. It does'nt take long for Bindu to get interested in Bhola in his new singing avatar.

After a singing contest performed across windows to match their talents, Pillai admits defeat to Bhola ( aided by Vidayapati behind the scene )

Things seem to be smooth between Bindu and Bhola, when that inevitable request for another song from Bhola comes up and Bindu, no thanks to some comments from a few skeptics eventually unmasks his lip-synching talent. Bindu calls off her relationship with Bhola and is decides on the rebound to marry her music teacher, Pillai. The rest of the movie deals with the resolution of these twists and is pretty much standard Hindi movie fare.

There is also an insignificant sub-plot that eventually peters down which involves Om Prakash as Bhola's uncle who is on the search for a new wife and as expected, has a proposal for Bindu.

What makes this one unique are the performances by Kishore Kumar and Mahmood. Kishore is in his element as Vidyapati and this must surely be one of his best performances. A couple of songs are quite well known '' Mere Samne wali khidki main'' and ''Ek Chatur Naar'' and are part of the sequences that involve interactions through the windows of the neighbours. Mahmood is brilliant in his stereotyical portrayal of the Madrasi with accent, brahmin plait, the dhoti and mannerisms, et al. Sunil Dutt too is excellent as Bhola. Saira Banu is adequate but there is not much depth to her character other than being the typical hindi movie heroine. Watch Padosan for two great performances, by Mahmood and Kishore Kumar !