Synopsis:
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 the 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 PAHELI. (taken from bollywood.allindiansite.com)
SPOILER:
The Ghost (Shahrukh Khan) tells Lachchi (Rani Mukherjee) who he really is when he pretends to come back as the husband instead of tricking her. He leaves the choice up to her if she wants to be with him. She accepts him into her life and falls madly in love with him. They eventually have a baby girl together.
When her real husband Kishan shows up, no one believes it’s him. They decide to go to the King and let him decide. On the way they meet a shepherd (Amitabh Bachchan) who decides he can figure out the riddle himself.
He says the real husband of Lachchi will perform 2 tasks…hold a hot coal and gather his sheep together by a certain time limit. Each time, Kishan tries it and the Ghost just watches. Finally the shepherd said that the man who loves Lachchi will be able to jump in his water bag. The Ghost goes against Lachchi’s plea from earlier and shows his magic in front of everyone. He gets into the bag. The shepherd (who seemed to know about the Ghost) ties up the bag and traps him. Then we see Kishan throw the bag far away.
We then see Kishan with Lachchi, finally about to have a proper wedding night. Lachchi tells him though that she can’t possibly love him as she loves the Ghost. Then Kishan laughs and tells her didn’t he say he would never leave her? The Ghost had taken over Kishan’s body and can now live with Lachchi, never to leave her.
Subplot: There is a subplot with Gajrobai (Juhi Chawla) who is the sister-in-law to Kishan. She is married to Sunderlal (Sunil Shetty), Kishan’s brother. Sunderlal had entered a prestigious annual camel race seven years ago and had come in last. He up and left out of embarrassment, leaving everyone behind. He eventually comes back towards the end of the movie and begs forgiveness from his son and wife, who accept him back.
