Paheli 2005

The film unfolds as a folk-tale frame told by two puppets, Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, whose expressive voices guide us through a Rajasthan-set drama that blends romance, trickery, and the surreal.

Lachchi, Rani Mukerji, a bright and hopeful village girl, is arranged to marry Kishanlal, Shah Rukh Khan the diligent son of the wealthy merchant Bhanwarlal, Anupam Kher. Their journey toward a new life together begins with a long travel to Lachchi’s in-laws’ home, during which the couple pause at a dharamshala famed to be haunted by 128 ghosts. There, a ghost becomes enamored with Lachchi’s beauty, and his fixation deepens as he follows her, feeding her fears and shaping her sense of presence in the world. On their wedding night, Lachchi learns that Kishanlal plans to honor his father’s wishes by leaving the village for a distant business venture, a journey that will keep him away for five years. Kishanlal departs at dawn to Jamnagar, leaving Lachchi awash in a sense of loss, while his aunt Gajrobai, Juhi Chawla Mehta, consoles Lachchi by recalling that another family member once vanished without warning.

The ghost, having observed Kishanlal’s departure, adopts Kishanlal’s form and voice to speak with Lachchi at a water hole, lying about his travels and regaling Lachchi with a sense of companionship she sorely misses. The ghost then presents himself to Bhanwarlal in Kishanlal’s supposed absence, claiming a boon from a sage who, in exchange for five coins each morning, has granted him life and a semblance of an ordinary household. Bhanwarlal, forgetting the mage’s cautionary tales, welcomes the impostor back into the family’s circle. Only Lachchi perceives the deception, but the ghost’s persona—sensual, confident, and free—pulls Lachchi toward a different kind of affection, a tension that unsettles her prior loyalties.

As the ghost embodies Kishanlal, he befriends the real family while carefully navigating a single misstep: his treatment of Bhoja, the faithful servant, Rajpal Yadav. Bhoja suspects something is off when a letter supposedly sent from Jamnagar arrives at the house in Kishanlal’s own handwriting, and his fury at the missing communication exposes the rift between truth and performance. The family’s honor becomes a test of authenticity, and Bhanwarlal’s fear of social embarrassment pushes Lachchi and the others toward a dramatic display of loyalty and suspicion.

Meanwhile, the ghost suggests a camel-race to reclaim a vanished honor from a previous embarrassment. Lachchi’s household worries about the risks, but with the ghost’s magical tricks, the home camels win the race, reestablishing their place within the village’s social order and offering Sunderlal’s missing presence a chance to return home, too. Two years pass, and Lachchi finds herself pregnant with the ghost’s child, while Kishanlal returns quietly to confirm the rumors about Lachchi’s condition. The real husband’s presence is contested when the ghost—still inhabiting Kishanlal’s body—shows up, and the family’s witnesses struggle to distinguish the impostor from the true man.

To resolve the dispute, the group seeks the Raja’s arbitration, but a wandering Gadariya, Amitabh Bachchan, appears with three tests to reveal the genuine Kishanlal. The tests are grueling and symbolic: lift hot coals to prove true lineage, guide the sheep to prove rightful companionship, and—most telling—enter a water bottle to prove the deepest bond of love. Kishanlal attempts the first two feats; the ghost does not attempt the coal test but masters the final, entering the bottle to demonstrate his love for Lachchi. The investigator Gadariya seals the bottle to prevent the ghost’s exit, and the truth becomes undeniable.

Back home, the real Kishanlal discards the bottle in the desert, and the family returns, shaken by the revelation. Lachchi, heartbroken by the loss of her dream of the ghost, discovers another twist: the ghost has already escaped the bottle and taken possession of Kishanlal’s body to remain with Lachchi. As Lachchi contemplates confessing that she did not betray her husband, the ghost reveals his identity by recalling the daughter’s name they had planned, and Lachchi realizes she can live with both her husband and the spectral lover inside the same life. The film closes with the puppets remarking that this is a very old folk tale, leaving the audience with a lingering sense of wonder at the fusion of love, loss, and a notion of shared destiny.

This story, anchored by two masterful narrators and brought to life through a vibrant ensemble—Lachchi’s journey with Kishanlal, the secretive ghost, and the steadfast family of Bhanwarlal—offers a rich tapestry of emotion, fantasy, and cultural texture. The performances, the motifs of fidelity and illusion, and the intertwining of human and supernatural desire render a paradoxical, spellbinding experience that invites viewers to question what makes a union true and what it means to love across the boundaries of life and death.