Paheli - Movie Review
Published: April 29, 2010
Starring Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Suniel Shetty, Anupam Kher
There aren’t too many places in the world more fantastic—in the truest sense of the word—than Rajasthan. The sandswept beauty, the rich culture—it’s like nowhere else. The colors there alone seem too vibrant to be real. And it stands to reason that fairy-tale lands would produce wonderful fairy tales. Paheli is a delightful story from Rajasthani folklore about a neglected wife who finds the man of her dreams in the form of an amorous ghost.
Lachchi (Rani Mukerji) is married to a man she doesn’t know and sent away from her home and family to live in his village. She’s sad to leave, but excited about her new life as the wife of a wealthy merchant. To her great disappointment, her husband, Kishan (Shahrukh Khan), turns out to be a plodding bore who’s only interested in running the family business. He finds his vivacious, sensual bride distasteful and refuses to bed her on their wedding night, despite her prodding. The very next morning, he sets off to start a business venture in a faraway city, where he plans to stay for five years, leaving his distraught wife behind. There’s a history of abandonment in Kishan’s family—his older brother (Suniel Shetty) did the same thing to his wife (Juhi Chawla). A ghost (also played by Khan) falls in love with Lachchi and assumes a human form that looks just like Kishan, and he shows up at the family mansion, pretending to be the runaway groom.
It’s an interesting double role for Khan, and he has fun with the characters—the ghost, in particular, who relishes every aspect of life as a human—the splash of water in the bath, a mother’s tender touch on his cheek, and especially the love of the irresistible Lachchi. The ghost doesn’t lie to her about who he is, and while she’s torn about being unfaithful to her husband, she gives in to the attentive and passionate ghost because he’s everything she wants. Everyone else believes he’s Kishan, and maintaining the charade, as evidence to the contrary mounts, is the source of conflict, culminating in Kishan’s inevitable return. By that time, we learn that Kishan isn’t such a bad guy—just desperate to please his father (Aunupam Kher) with profits—and he starts to long for Lachchi during his exile. He has a right to be upset because he is, after all, being cuckolded by someone who stole his identity. Why the filmmakers cultivate this sympathy for Kishan, when the ghost is the hero of the story, is confusing.
A no-nonsense shepherd (Amitabh Bachchan) offers a solution to the dilemma, and it’s resolved—as is often the case in fairy tales—all too conveniently.
Paheli is rated Worth Watching.
Community - News - Reviews - Commentary - About
