Paheli

A visual extravaganza that has missed the real point of the original story.

Vijaydan Jetha’s Duvidha is a story of a woman who, left to choose between love (sex) and longing, chooses love.

The woman seeks pure pleasures of the flesh, the carnal stuff, the hot passionate hugs, the smothering kisses, the wholesome fucks, the orgasmic peaks, and the rest of the sensual-sexual stuff, here and now. She cannot wait. She would not like to waste her million dollar worth Saawan for her husband's worthless career or Karobar. It is quite a modern story that debunks the classical idea where longing forms the essential ingredient of spiritual love. It also trashes grand traditional precepts like Pativrata Stri, and Sati in a way. This is how I look at Jetha's portrayal of the character named as Laachi in Paheli.

Amol Palekar’s Paheli is a Ghost's love story.

He limits the scope of the subject by this interpretation, leaving himself very little room to carry forward his narration in a wholesome way. Consequently, he resorts to the use of artifacts, designer Lehnga-cholis, Pagadees, Jootees, and similar kind of stuff best symbolized by chroma-keyed, and artificially colored blue skies. He also has ‘Kathputalis’ as Sutrdhars to underline his theatrical credentials. Now, think of a highly descriptive and ornamented story and its entertainment quotient. You put it away after the first two pages. Paheli suffers from this very debility. The original, Duvidha, avoids this pitfall, as it follows the folk traditions of telling tales with complex themes as simply and naturally as possible.

There is yet another area where Palekar has failed. Performances. They are too stylized. The leading man of the film is a master of stylized, footage-khao acting. He takes a hundred pauses, moves his lips to generate dimples in his cheeks, rolls his eyes in quarter, half, and full circles, raises his eyebrows from left to right, and then delivers his two word dialogues with his signature smirk and stammer. All this must have made him the darling of the Kareenas and the Kajols and the Karans of the world but it does not help his twin characterizations that consume almost seventy five percent of the film’s space. SRK simply caricatures his characters.

As far as Rani is concerned, her moments in the film have not been developed. It is not her story anyway.Where is the scope for the woman to show her histrionics sandwiched between two stammering, smirking, and long pausing SRKs? Three most crucial moments that had scope for Rani to excel as an actor pass by as minor incidents in the story.
 

1. Lachi’s separation from her husband when he goes on a business trip. It could have been a heartrending sequence underscored probably by a sad and soulful song. It could be a playful thing as well like 'Hai Hai yeh...' song from Roti, Kapada, aur Makaan or 'Bindiya chamkegi...' from Do Raaste in Rajasthani folk style.
2. Lachi’s acceptance of the ghost as her paramour. It is the mainstay of the story, Lachi’s state of ‘Duvidha’ and her willingness to have a ball with a guy outside her marriage for various reasons. This could have been delayed to increase the length of the film and to create many more dramatic moments.
3. Lachi’s suppression of the truth when her real husband appears on the scene. She was the only one who knew the truth. This moment should have been underlined.

Palekar either ignores or underplays these moments for reasons better known to him.

Palekar has added a few sub-plots to the main plot. The Juhi and Suniel Shetty track was not needed. It has obviously been created to bring  a camel race into the story. Instead of complimenting the plot, it compromises it. It does not work in storytelling terms. Palekar had sufficient material in the original story to make a 150 minute film. The ghost's attempts to prevent the communications of the real husband with  his family could have been exploited further to create tense cliffhanger moments. The original story also talks about the helpful nature of the ghost. Palekar should have worked on the storytelling possibilities in all these. If nothing else, an antagonist, a kind of a villain, should have been introduced to make the story interesting. Sadly enough, Palekar opts for rank stupid options.

This is yet another lost opportunity. However, Paheli is a better film than Parineeta, Sarkar, Bunty & Bubly, D, E, F, and ….Z films. It also has a few well-choreographed songs, especially the one where Farha has used Rajasthani folk dancers.

 MS