The greatest PAHELI . Review on Paheli

The greatest PAHELI to me is , how come the bulk of the audience not like this movie? Please forgive me if I sound condescending,but it it one of the most sensitive & thought provoking movie I’ve seen in recent times. I always had great faith in Amol Palekar as a director. In this movie he has raised a very poignant issue- the status of women in rural India.

Women in India, mainly in rural & backward classes, have no say whatsoever in the major decisions of their life. They are expected to carry out their duties as daughter , wife , mother dutifully & silently.

The most pertinent question raised in this movie is that, can a women be allowed the freedom to chose between Love or Duty? I felt , this movie tried to give voice to those women who are unhappy in their married life & urges them to have an extramarital affair if that gets them love & happiness even if it lasts only for a while.

Set in the backdrop of rural Rajasthan,the main character Lacchi( played by Rani Mukherji), is a women married to man, Kishen(Sharukh Khan) who leaves her the very next day of their Wedding Night on a business venture for five years. The wedding night too was a disaster for the new Bride as her husband stayed up all night with his account books. He is a weak man who is a puppet in his fathers hands.

Enter a ghost (SRK again), who falls in love with Lacchi’s beauty. He takes the form of Lacchi’s husband & tells her the truth about his identity & then leaves the decision to her to accept or reject him. Lacchi is horrified at first , but then she realizes she has to spend 5 years devoid of Love & filled with lonliness. She also realizes that this ghost has allowed her or rather given her, a woman, an opportunity to make A DECISION, which is unheard of in her society. She takes the decision of leading a happy life even if it means with another man. She knows society wont accept it , but she is hungry for love & she gets it.

They lead a very happy life for 4 years when Lacchi’s husband returns suddenly on the day she gives birth to her Lover’s child, & then a PAHELI has to be solved as to who is the real Kishen.

The ghost here symbolizes the lover every woman needs in her life , be it her husband or someone else. Lacchi loves the ghost as he has shown her the respect every woman desires in the man they love. The ghost states in a line in the movie that she completes him & his existence as a man, to that Lacchi says that he shows respect to her only because he is a ghost, if he were human he could never had shown this Love & respect for womanhood. This is a very poignant remark as it shows that we live in a male dominated society where our men think women to be toys in their hands & nothing more.

Sorry if my review seems a bit feministic but that’s what I felt the director tried to potray in this movie.

Rani Mukherji’s acting is good as usual & SRK too has done a commendable job both as a human & a ghost. Anupam Kher (as Kishen’s father), Juhi Chawla(as Kishen’s Chachi) too have done a great job & all the other actors in the movie.

The USP of the movie is its Cinematography, the sceen looks as if it has been splashed with colours. Music by M.M.Kreem are soulful & the best part is they don’t drag on forever!! The story is based on a play called ‘Dwividha’.

All in all if one can capture the essence of the movie & understand the social message hidden within , it wont seem absurd at all & one might actually enjoy it!!