Remember the hilarious song ‘Ek Chatur Naar’ from the evergreen film Padosan? The song sung by the legendary duo of Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey had created history in celluloid. Performed on screen by Saira Banu, Mehmood, Sunil Dutt and Kishore Kumar, it blends great comic timing and conflict that gives an interesting twist to the narrative.
But guess what? The classic Padosan song is actually much older than the film. The original was featured in the 1941 film Jhoola sung by and picturized on Kishore Kumar’s elder brother Ashok Kumar. It was Kishore Kumar, who took inspiration from his elder brother’s work and suggested the lyricist of Padosan Rajinder Krishan to write the extended version for the film.
There’s a huge difference between the two songs. The later one, clearly stayed alive in our memories because of the unique style in which it is sung by the duo Kishore-Manna and picturized on an ensemble cast. But the root of the song stems from the older movie, whose real heroes are singer Ashok Kumar, lyricist Pradeep and music director Saraswati Devi.
The more you know, eh?