Paheli

Highly intrigued by SRK's moustached mug and since it was Amol Palekar at the helm, went to watch Paheli yesterday.

Based on a folk story in Rajasthan, it is colorfully depicted and includes some Shankar-style-special effects. For once (actually twice if you consider Swades), SRK doesn't irritate you with his affected acting. The settings, the pagdis and the narrating puppets bring out the essence of Rajasthan. It feels good to experience the richness visually. BTW, the puppets (Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah) are a nice touch.

Rani Mukherjee looks simple and good, acts well, no surprises there. But inspite of depicting a village woman, she has no problems showcasing her cleavage and more. I liked SRK in this one, reminded me of his pre-star days. Juhi Chawla, o my G, is so pretty, looks younger than Rani in some places. She could have easily done the lead. Suneil Shetty shows up in 1 or 2 scenes, and you end up thinking, what was the point?

There is a subtle humor, quite enjoyable. The settings were awesome. Especially the walls which were painted with typical folk art. Elephants on the stairs was a nice touch.

Amitabh was the acme, stole the show in his one act appearance. The ending was tame, abrupt, too pat and filmy. Until then, it was a great movie. Compared to the run of the mill they churn nowadays, this is good stuff.

I have to say again though. SRK needs a quick course on how to grow a good moush :-)