Paheli is one of a rare breed of films as not too many film-makers possess the courage to venture into this genre. In that respect, I salute the director Amul Palekar for his passion for this script and Shahrukh Khan for agreeing to act in it and produce it too.
The film is based on a folktale. Although no particular era has been mentioned, the folktale appears to relate to a very ancient time since the movie shows no currency in use by people - all trade is purely in gold coins. The charm of the ancient era has been brought out quite effectively and accurately to a large extent. The murals on the walls of the Shahrukh’s house, the clothing and the landscape in general do a convincing job in taking the viewer hundreds of years back in time. And yet, the most adorable part of the movie is the animation used to characterize the ghost or the spirit which forms the main protagonist of the movie. You will fall in love with the scene in which the spirit creates a pool of rose petals around Rani Mukherjee out of his love for her.
The name of the movie was originally ’’Duvidha’’ (dilemma) which is also the name of the novel by the original writer of the story. Shahrukh Khan, as the producer, renamed it to Paheli before releasing it as he preferred a feminine name for the movie as dilemma was for Rani Mukherjee. The music is great and loyally follows the ancient theme of the film.
Watching it is a must. I plan to buy the DVD too - the film does have enough appeal for repeated viewing over time.
Cheers,
Deepak