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).
Shantaram
Homi Wadia