The film was made against the backdrop of communal tension at the formation of Muslim League. Shantaram attempted a theme showing amicable relations between the Hindus and the Muslims. To achieve a better geniality he had Mazhar Khan, a Muslim playing the role of a Hindu and Gajanan Jagirdar, a Hindu play the Muslim character. With _his_ trio of social films and especially Padosi, Shantaram has been cited by author Bajaj as the third best director pre-1960 in the top ten rating following P. C. Barua for Devdas (1935) and Homi Wadia for Miss Frontier Mail (1936), followed by Mehboob Khan for Mother India (1957). <sep>, Pronoun: his