The three-day film festival organised by Chhavi Series of Classical Cinema featuring the best of V Shantaram was concluded with the film Padosi at Anrang Hall, Bharat Bhavan here on Thursday.
While talking to The Pioneer, incharge of the Chhavi series of classical cinema Prem Shankar Shukla said, “This time also we received a good response from the public who watched the film. last time at Shakespeare film festival there was a better response but people have shown interest in watching such movies dealing with social issues as well.”
Elaborating further he said, “The movie lovers of the city enjoyed watching V Shantaram’s classics on big screen.” Moreover, the screening of Padosi evoked a better response.
Released in the year 1941, Padosi is one of the major films of V Shantaram, the master-director of the thirties. With a didactic tone Shantaram tells the tale of Hindu-Muslim unity. It self-consciously addressed the theme of communal harmony in India and harshly criticised the British policy of divide and rule.
The film is a social drama, revolves around the relationship of two neighbours (Padosi) one Hindu and another Muslim whom the villagers consider as their guardians. An industrialist comes to the village to build a dam against which was opposed by the guardians. The industrialist works out a plan to separate the two and he succeeds in his venture. The film concludes with the reunion of the neighbours as the giant dam collapse and eventually they die in each other’s hands.
It has another version in Marathi called Shejari. The movie is written by Vishram Bedekar, Music by Master Krishnarao, produced by Prabhat Films, the film stars Mazhar Khan, Gajanan Jagirdar and Anees Khatoon.
The colourful torch dance and the romantic interludes make the film all the more beautiful. The climax scene of this pre-independence film in which the dam collapses stands testimony to the director’s craftsmanship and his inimitable excellence in realistic presentation. It was a wonderful experience for the audience to watch such classic on screen.