Paheli, le fantôme de l'amour

A veteran short story writer once said about one of his stories that adults may not understand his story but children will. this film is a delightful romance. it is no use asking how can a ghost impregnate a woman. While reading some stories or viewing some films we suspend our sense of reality. there are no gruesome or handsome villains who invent new forms of coldest cruelty . There are no impossible and bloody fight scenes. True the story is mythical but quite allegorical. In one scene the ghost says that he is "love" every woman yearns for. In this film the sexuality of woman is described as something holy. In traditional societies normally the sexuality of women is suppressed on the plea of need for social stability. But in myths and folktales this taboo is transcended. The songs and dances mostly based on Rajasthani folk idioms are delightful. Rani Mukerjee acted superbly and there is a delightful cameo role by Amitab Bachan There is humor, joys and sorrows in this film. credos to Amol Palekar.

I must give Shahrukh credit for daring to do such an unconventional movie with so many risk factors--it's a fantasy film; the lead actor is a ghost; it is narrated by animated puppets; etc. SRK, unsurprisingly, gave a great performance. Rani and Juhi were also great. Amitabh was fantastic in his brief appearance. Visuals were absolutely stunning! From the bright costumes to the breathtaking sand dunes, every detail of the frame was given lots of attention to bring out the vibrant colors of Rajasthan. Songs were nice and even better were their videos, especially the one during the end credits.

The story is very unconventional, and different audiences will react differently to it. Some may find it humorous, some may find it inappropriate, while others may find it to be just plain weird. What I saw in the film was that the ghost "person"ified a woman's desire, while Rani represented every woman. In the rather traditional and conservative culture of rural and historic Rajasthan, the woman lives in a suffocating atmosphere serving her husband and in-laws. The ghost gave Rani love, respect, passion, devotion, honesty, and commitment in contrast to the real SRK who was working on his accounts and not talking on his nuptial night, only to desert his wife for five years. I thought the fact the lover is a ghost only goes to show that these passionate desires are just dreams that couldn't come true (in that time and place).

A man submits himself completely rules laid down by his forefathers. His accounts are important to him than looking at his beautiful bride. His father's suggestions and warnings are his foremost considerations; his wife's desires are secondary. His money-earning prospects are his main essentials compared to spend some time with his wife.

A woman has no choice other than that chosen by either her elders or her husband. She cannot stop herself from dreaming: dreams of colourful bangles, dreams of new dresses, dreams of her husband and dreams of a sweet love. That, dreams come true, is just a hope. And where dreams can come true is a fictitious tale.

The tale creates an invincible character, a ghost that fills the void in the woman's life: the void of love left by her man. This ghost is an epitome of all what a woman expects from a man.

This film is absolutely excellent. The film was well-made. Great script and there was plenty of time to build relationships. Unlike the recent Indian movies that seem to be pointless and fast-paced and songs placed right-left and centre. This film is much better than Devdas. The colours, the songs, the acting, directing, producing and the cinematography are just brilliant. However you should not watch this film if you are a sceptic of folk tales and myths because this story is a Rajasthani folk tale so the people who will find this 'UTTERLY STUPID' are people who hate folktales or hate Bollywood films. This will go in the classics, I hope this gets the international recognition it deserves.

We always talk about the great Indian treasure we have in the form of literature but when it comes to adapting them for films for mass consumption, everybody for some strange reason adopted a ridiculous view that this cannot be commercially viable proposition. Paheli, here not only comes as a whiff of fresh air by being original but also as a tight slap on the face of all such advocates of escapist, masala cinema. Also its not an easy cake-walk for those "Hollywood (now even other world cinema) DVDs-inspired fools". Three cheers to Shahrukh for he took a great leap by lending his hands to this film by not just acting in it but also producing it. (Never mind if he is competing with fellow actor Aamir who produced "Lagaan'). Based on book by Vijay Dan Detha, (it was adapted way back in 1973 by Director Mani Kaul for his film-Duvidha) it has captured everything with grandeur. Is it superfluous or sumptuous? May be to an extent but definitely it did not look like a patch as in cases of our Devdases and Blacks. The mind blowing Art Direction (Munish Sappel), Exotic Locations, Costumes (Shalini Sarna), Jewellery (Tanishq), everything falls seamlessly into place. Cinematography (Ravi K. Chandran) and Visual Efx (Eagle Video Films-Prime Focus) is first rate. The sequence where a ghost morphs into a Crow and then to a Squirrel, followed by a bird and finally a Man is mesmerizing. Rani Mukherji and Mr. Bachchan (in Cameo) are competent as usual. Amol Palekar, the director always delivers, never disappoints and same is the case here in his Ninth Film To top it not only he crafted an aesthetic, wonderful fairy-tale looking folklore but also manages his lead actor to perform wisely within the periphery of character, without going over the top. Look at the different number of expressions Shahrukh has given every time while mumbling same line-"Phal..Phool Gulabjal". No doubt a rare achievement. . It has some minus points too; the camel race is not shot well. May be it is difficult to capture and is also redundant. Sequence could have been shorter. Rajpal Yadav's Character is completely unnecessary and could have been avoided. Also can somebody please tell him not to play to the gallery for 'N'th time? Sub plot of Juhi Chawla and Suneil Shetty also has nothing to contribute to the narrative. Songs are too many and mostly out of situation. Also the drama quotient in climax is low, it could have been treated with more impact. Narrative of whole film would be more interesting if they played on subtle humor throughout the film. Nevertheless, all these come across as minor flaws. A word of advice for Shahrukh, stick to such cinema rather than doing those mindless NRI romances, as you will gradually find a rather larger audience never mind if it takes another 2-3 attempts. All in all, in one word the whole viewing experience can be described as "Phenomenal".