Paheli: An unusual riddle 05th May 2005
22.37 IST
By Aparajita Ghosh
Shah Rukh Khan ’s forthcoming home production Paheli is based on a folk tale about a woman who falls in love with a ghost in her husband’s absence.
Directed by Amol Palekar, the film has Rani Mukherjee playing a village girl who is abandoned by her husband after marriage. A lovelorn woman, she falls in love with a ghost (SRK) who takes on her husband’s appearance.
Speaking about the film, Shahrukh says that Paheli is very much unlike the commercial entertainers he has acted in so far. The film, made at the budget of Rs 14 crore, is shot entirely in Rajasthan. The sets, costumes and make-up in the film create an authentic atmosphere of a Rajasthani village.
Shahrukh plays a mustachioed ghost who wears gaudy clothes. Juhi Chawla plays his sister-in-law. Sunil Shetty is cast opposite Juhi. Amitabh Bachchan plays a cameo as a shepherd.
Amol Palekar , the film’s director, recalls the day when he narrated the movie’s story to SRK. “He heard the script patiently and then smoked a cigarette after which he asked me if he could produce this film. I was joyous on hearing that coming from a man who is used to playing larger-than-life characters in Bollywood potboilers,” Palekar recounts.
Palekar says that the film’s story is so interesting that even though it has been told many times in folk tales, it still appears so fresh.
Shahrukh says Paheli raises the question whether a woman has the right to decide about the man she wants to live with.
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Paheli: An unusual riddle
