Did you know that Amol Palekar had approached Shah Rukh Khan to know if he would be interested in acting in his film, to his surprise, after he narrated the script/story to King Khan, he (SRK) paused only for a brief moment and requested Amol Palekar if he could also produce the film himself. This only shows how impressed the star must be with the story.

A peacock spreads its mesmerizing wings underneath the scorching blue sky: vibrant puppets descend from the gnarled branches of an ancient tree: Golden sands of an endless desert keep on swirling, and a beautiful folk tale from Rajasthan comes to life in A Red Chillies Presentation, A Film By Amol Palekar - PAHELI.

Once upon a time, there was a lovely girl who was married to a man who was only interested in making money. There was a ghost who fell madly in love with her. On the wedding night itself, the husband left home for five long years on account of his business. The ghost took on the husband's appearance and entered her life.

A few years later, when the husband returned home, the villagers and the relatives were bewildered. How this situation gets resolved is the PAHLI.

PAHELI is the dilemma of the girl who had to choose between the ghost's eternal love and her husband's insensitive monotone...

PAHELI is the dilemma of the husband who had to face rejection from his own people...

PAHELI is the dilemma of the ghost who wanted to be human and yet remain sincere and honest to his love...

PAHELI is the dilemma of the parents who accepted an adorable son who was not their real son...

PAHELI is the dilemma of the villagers who had to decide whether to live with ambiguity or to resolve their riddle...

PAHELI is based on a legendary story 'DUVIDHA' written by literary stalwart Vijaydan Detha. Keeping the simplicity of the original folk form intact, Vijaydan has added contemporary dimensions in this story that stand monumental in Indian literature.

A much loved and acclaimed personality in Marathi and Hindi theatre as an actor, director and producer since 1967, Amol Palekar, launched his career as a film maker in 1981 with AKRIET, he has gone strength to strength with every successive film, ANAKAHEE, THODASA ROOMANI HO JAYEN, BANGARWADI, DAAYRAA, DHYAAS-PARVA, KAIREE and ANAAHAT. Besides being showcased in international film festivals, each of these films has received tremendous critical acclaim and appreciation at the national as well as international levels.

PAHELI is his interpretation of Vijaydan Detha's DUVIDHA. Bijji (as he is fondly called), in early '70s, had retold a Rajasthani folktale with his truly progressive touches. It is an amazing story that portrays the irony of human life through manifolds of the characters' dilemmas. Through the script of PAHELI written by Sandhya Gokhale, Amol Palekar has reinterpreted Bijji's story. He believes that life cannot be viewed in one dimension - what is socially acceptable is not necessarily fair; what is desirable is not necessarily accessible; what ought to happen is not necessarily in conformity with the reality! Amol Palekar has tried to project these beliefs through PAHELI. While keeping intact the simplicity and linear narrative style of a folktale, he has used the mainstream idiom of song and dance as well as folk motifs such as ghost, puppets, desert along with its 'once upon a time' ambience.

As a director, Amol Palekar sought to achieve a blend of the so-called parallel and mainstream cinema.  Without going into the conceptual confusions surrounding these labels, He has experienced that meaningful cinema is always welcomed by the audience. He firmly believes that content and substance need not be sacrificed in order to make a commercially viable cinema.  Each subject demands it's own parameters and treatment. He did not want to make films on calculated formulae or preset proposals ruled by market demands. In PAHELI, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee along with a galaxy of stars are absolutely inevitable because of their superb command over performance and not because of their super stardom. If this film was made in the same manner but with new faces, it would have been labeled as a niche film or a boutique film. Having popular stars directly boosts the reach of the film to the largest audience, which reflects on its commercial viability. He hopes that PAHELI will prove to be perfect synthesis of meaningful and mainstream sensibilities.