Director: R Balki
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan
Rating: 
PAA HINDI MOVIE REVIEW:
To be or not to be Amitabh Bachchan? Years after having every bit of Bachchan being broadcast in biographies and beyond, it makes more sense to not be Amitabh Bachchan and still deliver bigtime. Director R. Balki does exactly that. He takes away everything from brand Bachchan from his persona, baritone, height to mannerisms and presents him in an absolutely another aura as Auro.
PAA STORY AND FILM ANALYSIS:
Paa is certainly not inspired from Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack (1996) where Robin Williams had a similar aging disorder like Auro. If you have to, you can find remote references in films back home like Dard Ka Rishta (1982), Kaash (1987) or more recently Heyy Babby (2007) where a child is instrumental in getting his estranged parents together.
Vidya Balan kinda restores her role from Heyy Babyy playing a single mother who brings up Auro all alone when his biological father Amol (Abhishek Bachchan) suggests abortion. The couple is alienated for years until Amol accidentally meets Auro at his school’s annual function and awards him for his artistic excellence. Auro was born with a rare genetic disorder called Progeria wherein a child ages fives times faster than his actual age. So at 13, Auro physically looks and functions like a 65 year old but is mentally as stable as his real age.
From its very outset, Paa is not designed as an educational or informative film on Progeria unlike Taare Zameen Par that took a serious look at dyslexia. The disorder is just used as a backdrop to make way for a basic human drama. And Balki has an absolutely different definition for drama. His storytelling is supremely simple and subtle. Much of the plot is predictable but the director’s lighthearted approach to a subject, which otherwise could have been melodramatically reduced to a tearjerker, makes it different.
Balki has a distinctively dry sense of humour which comes out through his witty one-liners and seemingly the director incorporates a lot of his personal views through the dialogues and screenplay. Through his crisp writing, he touches peripheral issues from politics, civic sense, media to motherhood without being preachy or paltry in any and making his narrative multidimensional.
Like in Cheeni Kum , Balki has a penchant for having child characters in his story and also imparting them with maturity, somewhat beyond belief. Like the intelligent underage Swini Khara from Cheeni Kum , Auro too seems to be clever beyond credence in working towards his parent’s reunion. But then again one can’t rule out that possibility in this speed-age and it’s certainly more believable than an Anjali trying to hook up her father with his ex in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai . The climax is sure to bring a lump in your throat and even the stone-hearted will end up with moist eyes.
The prosthetic makeup by Christien Tinsley ( The Passion of The Christ ) and Dominie Till ( King Kong ) is absolutely authentic removing every trace of Amitabh Bachchan from Auro and imparting him an absolutely new identity. PC Sreeram’s cinematography and Anil Naidu’s editing are just perfect. Ilaiya Raja’s musical score soothingly works on a subconscious level.
Without a doubt Amitabh Bachchan deserves all the awards and accolades for his portrayal of Auro. With a new voice, face and body language here is one character of Big B which will undoubtedly stand out in his filmography for being delightfully different and charmingly childish. Vidya Balan is brilliantly expressive and shares great maternal chemistry with Auro. Abhishek Bachchan puts in a poised performance as a politician and pal-turned-Paa to Auro. Pratik Katare as Auro’s schoolmate Vishnu gets the funniest one-liners. Arundhati Nag as the grandmother puts in a confident act. Even Paresh Rawal is pleasant in his extended special appearance, much charming that his recent full-length, blown-out, loud comic acts.
Paa is certainly not inspired from Francis Ford Coppola’s Jack (1996) where Robin Williams had a similar aging disorder like Auro. If you have to, you can find remote references in films back home like Dard Ka Rishta (1982), Kaash (1987) or more recently Heyy Babby (2007) where a child is instrumental in getting his estranged parents together.
Vidya Balan kinda restores her role from Heyy Babyy playing a single mother who brings up Auro all alone when his biological father Amol (Abhishek Bachchan) suggests abortion. The couple is alienated for years until Amol accidentally meets Auro at his school’s annual function and awards him for his artistic excellence. Auro was born with a rare genetic disorder called Progeria wherein a child ages fives times faster than his actual age. So at 13, Auro physically looks and functions like a 65 year old but is mentally as stable as his real age.
From its very outset, Paa is not designed as an educational or informative film on Progeria unlike Taare Zameen Par that took a serious look at dyslexia. The disorder is just used as a backdrop to make way for a basic human drama. And Balki has an absolutely different definition for drama. His storytelling is supremely simple and subtle. Much of the plot is predictable but the director’s lighthearted approach to a subject, which otherwise could have been melodramatically reduced to a tearjerker, makes it different.
Balki has a distinctively dry sense of humour which comes out through his witty one-liners and seemingly the director incorporates a lot of his personal views through the dialogues and screenplay. Through his crisp writing, he touches peripheral issues from politics, civic sense, media to motherhood without being preachy or paltry in any and making his narrative multidimensional.
Like in Cheeni Kum , Balki has a penchant for having child characters in his story and also imparting them with maturity, somewhat beyond belief. Like the intelligent underage Swini Khara from Cheeni Kum , Auro too seems to be clever beyond credence in working towards his parent’s reunion. But then again one can’t rule out that possibility in this speed-age and it’s certainly more believable than an Anjali trying to hook up her father with his ex in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai . The climax is sure to bring a lump in your throat and even the stone-hearted will end up with moist eyes.
The prosthetic makeup by Christien Tinsley ( The Passion of The Christ ) and Dominie Till ( King Kong ) is absolutely authentic removing every trace of Amitabh Bachchan from Auro and imparting him an absolutely new identity. PC Sreeram’s cinematography and Anil Naidu’s editing are just perfect. Ilaiya Raja’s musical score soothingly works on a subconscious level.
Without a doubt Amitabh Bachchan deserves all the awards and accolades for his portrayal of Auro. With a new voice, face and body language here is one character of Big B which will undoubtedly stand out in his filmography for being delightfully different and charmingly childish. Vidya Balan is brilliantly expressive and shares great maternal chemistry with Auro. Abhishek Bachchan puts in a poised performance as a politician and pal-turned-Paa to Auro. Pratik Katare as Auro’s schoolmate Vishnu gets the funniest one-liners. Arundhati Nag as the grandmother puts in a confident act. Even Paresh Rawal is pleasant in his extended special appearance, much charming that his recent full-length, blown-out, loud comic acts.
FINAL VIEW:
At times you should not be yourself to show the world what you really are. Amitabh Bachchan does just that and shows the world he is the Paa of performing arts. This is the film of the year 2009.
At times you should not be yourself to show the world what you really are. Amitabh Bachchan does just that and shows the world he is the Paa of performing arts. This is the film of the year 2009.
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