U, 148mins
In Paheli, a vibrant Hindi folk-tale, Shah Rukh Khan takes two roles — the neglectful new husband of Rani Mukherjee, and the lovelorn ghost who takes his shape when he learns that the husband is planning to be away on business for five years. The bride, heartbroken at being abandoned in a desert palace, accepts the spirit impostor into her life. Complications arise when she becomes pregnant and her real husband returns.
It’s a film of considerable charm that captures the jewelled hues and the exuberant traditional folk music of the northern state of Rajasthan. It also boasts some of the most enormous, ostentatious turbans I have ever seen.