Amol Palekar recalls Shah Rukh Khan’s first reaction after listening to the script of Paheli: ‘He lit up a cigarette and said…’

Amol Palekar directorial Paheli, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji in the lead roles, was India’s official entry to the 79th Academy Awards. It was a surreal concept that wasn’t a big hit with the Indian audience but gained a lot of critical acclaim. In a recent chat, Amol recalled how Shah Rukh came on board and offered to produce the film as he was so impressed by the concept.

In a chat with Rajshri Unplugged, Palekar said that he was already working on the pre-production of Paheli and was thinking of casting newcomers when someone suggested that he should rope in big stars for the film as this was the kind of concept that they would find appealing. He took the suggestion and took his film to Shah Rukh Khan. Sandhya Gokhale, who wrote the film, gave a narration to Shah Rukh and as soon as she was done, the superstar lit a cigarette and asked if he could produce the film as well. Palekar recalled, “After listening to the whole narration, Shah Rukh lit up a cigarette and the first thing he said was, ‘Sir, would you mind if I produce this film?”

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Amol Palekar said that things became “much easier” after Shah Rukh came into the picture. “I must say that not only as an actor, as a producer, Shah Rukh was a pleasure to work with. Whatever requirements or conditions I had, he said yes to everything,” he recalled. The actor-filmmaker said that one of his conditions was to shoot Paheli from start to finish in one schedule and while that wasn’t the norm in the early 2000s, “Shah Rukh made everything possible from actors’ dates to all logistical things, it was a sheer pleasure.”

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Palekar also noted that whatever cast he had in mind, be it from the Hindi or the Marathi industry, Shah Rukh made sure that everyone came on board.

Paheli, also starring Rani Mukerji, Anupam Kher, Juhi Chawla, Suniel Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan, was the remake of a 1973 film named Duvidha, directed by Mani Kaul.