#14 Padosan: Top 100 Bollywood Albums

Music: RD Burman

Lyrics: Rajendra Krishan

Label: Saregama HMV

Director: Jyoti Swaroop

Of Kishore Kumar's many superlative musical skills, the one that remains (and will remain) totally unparalleled is perhaps his way with comedic songs – the man was absolute genius when it came to the genre, with his wacky improvisations and the like. The pinnacle of that craziness was the hilarious musical duel Ek Chatur Naar from Padosan. While his opponent Manna Dey was brilliant with his mock-carnatic rendition as the voice of Mehmood, Kishore's crazy ad libbing (he is supposed to have made his own additions to Rajendra Kishan's already wacky lines) made him a fitting winner at the end. Though Ek Chatur Naar still remains the star attraction of Padosan, RD Burman had a lot more light-hearted treats in offer throughout the soundtrack – some lovely romantic melodies set to equally ingenious arrangements.

Best Song of Padosan: Despite the madness of Chatur Naar, my favourite from the album is the other jocular composition, Meri Pyaari Bindu. Pancham based the song on traditional Baul music, both the melody and the arrangement therefore carried prominent folk flavour. Once again the star of the song was Kishore Kumar, with his rendition of Rajendra Kishan's endearing rhymes in a perfect mix of folksiness and playfulness. At one point, instead of "Bindu", Kishore goes "Anuradha" – this was apparently a tribute to KC Dey who utters the name in this scene from the 1937 movie Vidyapati (incidentally Kishore's name in Padosan).

On a related note: In Ek Chatur Naar R D Burman incorporated references to three older songs. While the titular line and tune derived from the 1941 movie Jhoola (already part of this list), the song also parodied Ban Chale Ram Raghurai from Sant Tulsidas and Chanda Re from Ziddi.

1. Main Chali Main Chali (Singers: Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar)
2. Bhai Battur (Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)
3. Mere Samne Wali Khidki (Singer: Kishore Kumar)
4. Ek Chatur Naar (Singers: Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mehmood)
5. Kehna Hai (Singer: Kishore Kumar)
6. Aao Saanwariya (Singers: Manna Dey)
7. Meri Pyaari Bindu (Singers: Kishore Kumar)
8. Sharam Aati Hai Magar (Singer: Lata Mangeshkar)

Listen to all the entire album of Padosan here:

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