Duvidha vs Paheli

The first time I saw Paheli ( released in 2005), it was love at first sight. I mean....look at it....Amol Palekar at the helm, my darling Rani...draped in the beautiful, colorful fabrics of Rajasthan, her petite frame looking spectacular in jewelry by Tanishq, and the dapper Shah Rukh Khan, and most importantly, a tale based on folklore; what is not there to love?

When I read about the making of the movie, I came to know that it was adapted from a  play by Vijaya Dan Detha " Bijjli" based on a Rajasthani folk tale. Briefly, the movie describes the dilemma faced by a newly wedded wife (Lachchi),whose "vyapaar" crazy husband leaves her to go off to a distant land the very next day of their marriage. Devastated by the imminent loneliness of the next 5 years of separation, the bride is pleasantly surprised when he returns the next day, claiming to have met a seer on the way who blessed him with a boon that he would be given 5 gold coins daily. But in truth, the person who has come back is in fact, a ghost, who had seen Lachchi when the wedding procession had rested under a banyan tree on which the ghost dwelt. Instantly smitten by the bride's beauty and innocence, the ghost is appalled when he sees her husband return to rest under the same tree, ready to embark on a business trip for the next 5 years, having left his wife alone, and his marriage unconsummated.

Love for the deserted wife and the lure of a chance at changing his destiny propel the ghost to take the form of the husband, and return to his lovely Lachchi, who is simply ecstatic and wonder-struck at his return. But not having the heart to lie to this innocent woman, the ghost confesses to his trickery. Lachchi is crestfallen at the news, and more than that, is struck with the immense dilemma she faces. On one hand, she may choose utter loneliness and the bland feelings of her true husband ;on the other, she may throw caution to the winds, embrace the love of this gentle, loving ghost, thereby salvaging the little chance at getting love and care in her lifetime. Torn between duty and desire, she finally listens to her heart. " Jaane wale ko rok na saki, aane waale ko kaise na rokun?" ( I couln't stop the one who left, how can I resist the one who's come back?")

And that is the real "duvidha" faced by Lachchi.

Shot on location in Rajasthan, the film boasts of wonderful art design, cinematogarphy, and production design. Every shot is almost like a painting, with the backdrop of the havelis and the landscape adding to the magic of the love that the ghost husband and Lachchi share.

As their love grows, we see how deeply fulfilling the ghost's love has been for Lachchi. Eventually, she becomes pregnant, and there is one poignant scene wherein the ghost is paying an ode to Lachchi's womanhood and her upcoming motherhood. " Aurat hone ka tera aisa roop pehle to na dekha".(I haven't seen this facet of your womanhood before". To which she lovingly, tearfully replies, " Bhoot hona, tabhi aise keh rahe ho" ( You say this only because you are a ghost, and not a man).

But dark clouds are just on the horizon. The real husband has begun to miss his wife, and images of her haunt him during moonlit, lonely nights. The feelings are accompanied by the soulful " Dheere jalna...dheere jalna" rendered beautifully by Sonu Nigam, although only Shreya Ghoshal won the National Award as playback singer for the female version of the same song.

So the real husband decides to write to her, only to discover later that there is already a look-alike husband in his house and his wife is pregnant, ready to deliver any moment. He is totally shocked at this revelation, and decides top go back to contest for his right and true identity. Once he arrives is his house, everyone is flabbergasted at this twist of fate. Moreover, not a single person is ready to believe in his side of the story. There is a certain pity that you begin to feel for this husband, who was, in a way, a good person, but spurred by his father's ambitions and demands, had turned into a money minded miser incapable of showing love.

But the "Paheli" ( puzzle) has to be solved, as Lachchi cannot have two husbands. One of them is an impostor for sure.When the real husband, Kishanlal, asks the ghost, who exactly is he, and why has he taken his place in the household, the ghost calmly replies-" Aurat ke man main jo preet hove, vo hun main"

 (" I am the love that dwells in every woman's heart"). What an apt answer!

So all the villagers decide to go to the ruling King so that they get justice at his hands. En route to the palace, they encounter a shepherd, played to the T by Amitabh Bachchan Sir. He intervenes and tells them that why go to the King, when he himself could solve the puzzle. So he asks the two men to do a series of impossible tasks not humanely possible. The ghost, endowed with magical powers performs these tasks easily, even though Lachchi had asked him to refrain from any such displays. The final task that the shepherd lays for them is to enter a goatskin bag that he uses to carry water in the desert. Of course it is a trap, and we see the ghost transforming himself to sand and entering the bag effortlessly. As soon as the ghost enters it, the shepherd caps it and tosses it into the endless desert dunes, and we see the bag with our dear ghost in it, lying there, while the desert sand keeps piling on it, turning it into oblivion.

So, did Lachchi, who by this time has given birth to a daughter, lose the ghost lover forever? You can watch the movie and see for yourself.

On a broader scale, isn't Lachchi's yearning for a more loving, expressive, caring husband who loves her for what she is, every woman's too?

That apart, I recently happened to watch the earlier version of this movie, or you may say the original adaptation of the play, that was directed by the acclaimed Kashmiri director, Mani Kaul Sir. It was called "Duvidha", for which Mani Kaul won the National Award for Best Director in the year 1974, and also the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film.I do not want to compare the two films as both have their merits.

"Duvidha"( 1973) is more true to it's folklore roots. The cinematography is stark and the outstanding feature of the movie is that rather that dialogues between the protagonists, the story and the internal monologues are narrated by the narrator. That too is pretty minimalist and stark, shorn of any over-the-top gimmicks. Yet, the crude rendition, at first a little hard to connect to, slowly grows on you and you become enamored to Lachchi ( played by the strikingly beautiful Raisa Padamsee) and her plight saddens you. The movie may not be technically so rich in imagery as compared to "Paheli", but shots where Lachchi's face is shown in light and in shadows, reflecting her various moods, are the best parts of the movie. I was mesmerized by the sheer weight of her beauty and what the interplay of light did to that beauty. Have a look:

I mean....just look at her...she's a vision. And the surprising bit is that at the time of filming this movie, Raisa did not know a word of Hindi as she is half- French and nor did she act in any other films after this one.

Well, a true hidden classic that I doubt many people are aware of. But a must watch for those who appreciate the art of stark, simple, elegant storytelling.

Here are the contrasting images of the puppets used in the two movies. I found them so fascinating, I had to put them here.

Also, some behind the scenes snaps of Shah Rukh and Rani with Amol Palekar while filming the movie.

Notes on similar themes in "Titli", "Memories in March" and "Listen Amaya"

      We are all possessive of the people we love. That is, in fact, one of the defining aspects of love, because when we love someone, the very idea that they may love someone else, have an equally intimate relationship with some other person, embitters us to no end. It is especially relevant when the person we love happens to be a parent, or, conversely, a child. And unlike love for a spouse or a girlfriend/boyfriend, familial love is somehow more anchored, more ironclad, more bound. Blood is, after all, blood.

     Recently, I saw some movies that bring out precisely these issues to the surface. "Listen Amaya"( directed by Avinash Kumar Singh), deals with the daughter ( Swara Bhaskar) coming to terms with her widowed mother ( Deepti Naval) falling in love with a man ( the charming late Farooq Sheikh ji), who has been a good friend to her. 

"Memories in March" ( Dir: Sanjoy Nag), that beautiful portrayal of the conflicting emotions of a mother ( the eternally beautiful and elegant Deepti Naval, again) who has to deal with the shocking revelation that her son, who died in a road accident, was actually gay and was in love with his senior colleague (played to perfection by Rituparno Ghosh).

The third one was a chance discovery on You Tube on a rainy Saturday morning, "Titli" ( Dir: Rituparno Ghosh), that dealt with similar themes of the daughter Titli ( a very young but immensely talented Konkona Sen), who is a big fan of a movie star, played by the dashing and charming Mithun, is left embittered and betrayed when she discovers that her mom ( the beautiful Aparna Sen) and Mithun had been lovers a long time ago, and is simply unable to cope with the revelation.

All three movies explore a theme that is not seen very frequently in our cinema, in part because we really do not perceive our parents as separate,sexual beings. Also, we fail to see that in the throes of raising us and our siblings, our parents, especially our mothers, seem to lose a part of their individuality, and most of them hardly assert even a minimal longing for a space of their own, having molded themselves in ways that always criss-cross our own. 

Titli's outright rejection of the very idea that her mother had been in love with the movie star she herself has idolized speaks volumes of the way children always assume that their parents are and were just that-parents, and not individuals with a life of their own. Amaya, though aware of her mother's loneliness and despite being very good friends with Farooq, is appalled when her mother tells her that she has decided to get married. As children, how selfish and myopic we become! On the other hand, as parents, we fail to understand that our kids harbor secret hopes and desires that are so different than our expectations of them. In India, this is even more so, as I myself have experienced. You are provided with the best education, are given access to the best books and media, you are lauded when you prove your individuality and uniqueness among your peers, but when it comes to choosing your career, your spouse, and even simple issues like when you want to take a stand with a particular ideology, you are expected to be safely conventional. But, that is another story altogether.

In all, it is great that there are still some film makers out there who pick these complex themes and portray the vicissitudes of life, at the same time do it so elegantly and artistically that it is sheer poetry to watch them.