When Sunil Dutt expressed his concern about doing Padosan co-starring Saira Banu, Kishore Kumar

Padosan, the iconic 1968 Comedy by Jyoti Swaroop, completes 55 years of its release. Padosan, which starred Sunil Dutt and Saira Banu in the lead roles besides featuring stalwarts like Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in pivotal comic roles, achieved great success at box office right at the outset. Over the years, the film has own grown in its status as a cult comedy, and is counted as one of the greatest Hindi Film comedies ever, alongwith films like Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Andaz Apna Apna and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro. However, the film’s lead cast itself wasn’t half as enthused about Padosan at first.

What kind of films we are doing these days, Sunil Dutt had said about Padosan

In a throwback interview, Sunil Dutt and Saira Banu, the lead pair of Padosan spoke at length about their shooting experience for Padosan. Saira Banu, who was present at the talk show along with her husband and acting legend Dilip Kumar, recalled how Sunil Dutt was not happy about doing Padosan. Banu recalled Dutt saying, “What are the kind of films we are doing nowadays. We should do Antony and Cleopatra.”

However, Banu also recalled the entire cast of the film would always keep the atmosphere cheery and full of energy with their demeanor both on-screen and off-screen. She added, “We couldn’t finish the shoot because of multiple takes, because of such abundant laughter while shooting. Our team was filled with excellent artists - be it Kishore Kumar, Sunil Dutt and Mehmood.”

When every NRI home had Padosan VCR copy

A few moments later, Sunil Dutt too recalled the lasting impact of Padosan, recollecting an incident from a trip to United States and Canada, where he would visit many family and well-wishers. Dutt added, “So many families, and all of them had a DVD or VCR of Padosan at their home. That’t how often they would watch it.” Noting the film’s cultural impact, Saira Banu added, “ I have So many friends and acquaintances who, if they would ever find themselves bed-ridden or in hospital due to medical condition, would request me to send Padosan VCR so that they could just keep watching the film again and again.” Dilip Kumar, who was also present at the talk show, called the film ‘a fine entertainer, and a great comedy.

Padosan, which released on November 29, 1968, was the 6th highest-grossing film of the year. Although the film did not win any major awards that year, the film continues to be loved by connoisseurs of Hindi Cinema. Padosan currently holds an IMDB rating of 8.0.