Padosan OST: Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein
From Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein to the 6 minute song, Ek Chatoor Nath, RD Burman’s music in Padosan withstands the test of time.
Akanksha Arya
21.02.2010
Music
A comedy that enthralls and entertains, Padosan celebrates the coming together of three people, two in marriage and one an outsider. The movie in itself is a celebration of music. It is structurally concerted in such a way that one can’t but help look at music as an important element of the movie.
From the mouthing done in Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein to the battle of wits seen throughout the 6 minute song, Ek Chatoor Nath, RD Burman’s music withstands the test of time. Bhola (Sunil Dutt) uses the power of music, and in particular the song Mere Saamne Wali Khidki Mein, to woo Bindu (Saira Banu). An added bonus, of course, was the on screen performances of these (literally) breathtaking songs. Kishore Kumar along with the others adds diversity and a sense of playfulness to every word of these songs.
The songs by themselves have stood tall in the history of Indian cinema without the backing of any awards. Even today, we hum to the tunes of Main Chali Main Chali or Mere Bholam Balam, often uncontrollably so.
Leading the narrative and the main storyline, each song entangles the viewer in a plethora of emotions. While Mere Bhole Balam is the decisive moment of Bhola’s life, only through the words and eyes of Kumar, it somehow portrays a lighter side of life. Sharm Aati Hai Magar however, is of the heavier kind. Talking about the necessity of her love in her life, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice touches the heart and makes you feel the pain that Bindu engages herself in, in the movie.
Bhai Battur is like a fairytale dream where she exclaims to herself and to possibly anyone who is listening of her frail self. Instead of being taken aback by the chor that the world is metaphorized as, she instead innocently states,
chaal chaluun thalaake, bin soche balakhaake
chhaaii javaanii aise jaise nadiyaa ho bharapur
The lyrical quality, the composition, the impressionistic wave and the performance – all came together to give the world a sneak peek into the world of a believer, a believer who defeated the world, especially Masterjis and the likes. Infact, when the song was being recorded, Manna De, who was playing the role of Masterji, was hell bent on proving his skills to Kishore Kumar who wasn’t trained professionally but was a renowned artist even in those times. To add to the masala, the fact that Kumar beats De, thanks to the lyrics of the songs, is further known to have played havoc with De’s mind. Nothing, of course could be done to help console the trained (in voice) classical singer, for it served a higher purpose, that of the flow of the movie!
I remember sitting through the entire screening in 9th standard, a time of our lives when we just can’t bear an old black and white movie. But such is the magic of Padosan.
Akanksha Arya
