Paheli is not a box-office winner, but it bears a stamp of quality, class, and refinement. The film offers beautiful performances, a moving love story, an aesthetic presentation. The film triumphs on almost every level and emerges not only as one of the best films of 2005, but also as Amol Palekar’s´finest work till date who handles the film with complete understating of folk tale, rich color arrangements, and well-framed scenes .Palekar also offers us a woman and her trial and tribulation .To be more precise, Rani stuns with a pitch-perfect, sensitive, and subtly nuanced performance. Her performance is nothing but a masterpiece!
The movie opens with Amitabh Bachchan´s baritone voice going ´Barson purani ek kahani ...´ and the opening scene has the marriage scene of ´Laachi´ (Rani Mukherji) to Kishan Lal (Shah Rukh Khan) who is the son of a Rajasthani trader Bhanwar Lal (Anupam Kher). As ´Laachi´ proceeds to her in-laws house mysterious things happen on the way and a supernatural being, awestruck by her beauty falls in love with her.
For ´ Laachi´, marriage is the culmination of a dream and wedding night a once in a lifetime experience but for the business minded ´Kishan´ its just another night as he is more worried about the 5 year long business related journey the next morning (that is supposed to be an auspicious date) to fulfill the dreams of his money minded father.
´Kishan´ proceeds on his pre-planned journey with a trusted employee, leaving behind a sobbing ´Laachi´. The supernatural character (actually a ghost) takes the form of a human (Aasif Sheikh) and learns of the 5 year seperation and jumps at the opportunity and transforms himself into ´Kishan Lal´ and reaches his home and takes his place. He however is honest enough to tell ´Laachi´ the truth, who having been badly hurt by her real husband´s attitude accepts him, fully knowing that he is neither her husband nor a human. Love blossoms between the two and ´Laachi´ gets from her new relationship everything that she had desired.
In between the fake ´Kishan´ uses his supernatural powers to satisfy his money minded father and also manages to win a camel race that brings the family honor back. Things progress smoothly until real ´Kishan´ lands up at his home (before the scheduled time period).
The performances in the film are all consistently excellent. PAHELI belongs to Rani Mukherji .Her portrayal of Lacachi is of such a high standard putting Madhubala and motherIndias to the shame There´s no flaw in her performance, really nothing to improve upon -- be it diction, emotiveness, body language, and screen presence. Her performance is perfect.
Shahrukh Khan further consolidates his position as an actor of substance and delivers a solid performance, balancing intense love . Khan straddles the line between ghost and husband. A lesser actor would have played the character of Ghost as either an over-possessive or an immaturely . Shahrukh handles the character with sensitivity .
Amitabh has a small yet impressive supporting role in the film . Juhi surprises in her cameo looking too young in those maroon sari and acting with grace.
M.m Kreem´s music fits the film very well, adding to the rich ambiance and setting of the story. The songs are aesthetically picturized, especially ’’Dhhere Jalna’’, ’’laga rey’’, . Technically, the film is beautifully shot.
Everything looks sumptuous - the elegant deserts, the beautiful clothes, the sets and those village setting. The Rajasthani culture adds a classy sheen to the movie
The only flaw in the film is that the post-interval proceedings film seem extremely rushed. The characters and events unfold slowly and with such precision in the first half that the post-interval and climax make the movie seem rushed and uneven.
I would give 5 star to this cinematic masterpiece!