Paa

Amitabh Bachchan shows again why he is the Paa of all the actors in Hindi Film industry. Leaving behind all his personna, characteristic voice, tal... read more

Amitabh Bachchan shows again why he is the Paa of all the actors in Hindi Film industry. Leaving behind all his personna, characteristic voice, tall figure he comes out with a credible, dynamic & endearing performance in Paa. And crediting this as his best act will be a novice comment to pass on as he keeps outshining himself every now and then.


Amitabh Bachchan plays Auro, a child suffering from progeria, a condition in which one ages five times faster than his actual age. Its a rare genetic defect affecting the body not the mind. Auro has the mind of twelve years but physicaally is 60 years. New looks, an oldish tone to child's voice, bent body language, yes such a tough task but Amitabh Bachchan pulls it off immensely. Auro is son of single mother played by Vidya Balan. She leaves his boyfriend Amol Arte, played by Abhishek Bachchan, when he asks her to get aborted.
Things change and after 12 years Abhishek is young, new face to politics, bringing dyanism and energy to the politics. He comes across Auro in a school function where he is a chief guest. He finds Auro very intriguing and interesting and as things turn out they become good friends. Auro undergoes various emotions when he comes to know that Amol is his father.


Amitabh-Abhishek in real life father-son, plays opposite in the reel life. The film is mainly about the father son relationship. R Balki's sincere story telling skills are reflected in the film throughout. Neither the progeria disease nor its societal implications for the patients is the backdrop of the movie, which could have made it more melodramatic or informative. Rather its the movie of the child Auro, and his relationships with the father. The mode of getting both his parents back. R Balki uses humour and entertainment aptly to keep the entertaining factor alive so nowhere sympathy or empathetic feelings come out for the disease. And even though the story is predictable, the movie keeps you engaged and entertained.

Amitabh Bachchan surely brings out a superb performance once again. Abhishek does a decent job to a young politician. And Vidya Balan comes out with a very convincing performance for a single mother.

The movie surely comes out different way of handling a disease related condition in a lightened mode and projecting different aspects of the character rather than his disease.view less

The plot is predictable, more so the end and especially if you have bothered to look up "progeria" on Wiki. It has holes, is unbelievable in parts,... read more

The plot is predictable, more so the end and especially if you have bothered to look up "progeria" on Wiki. It has holes, is unbelievable in parts, sheds some unwanted light on unneeded details and can be, on the whole, termed inconsistent which, under normal circumstances and also given Balki, the writer-director's past track record (he seems to have a fetish for Big B in abnormal roles - remember Cheeni Kum?), is a perfect recipe for disaster. For some odd reason, Paa isn't one. And while it isn't exactly a gem, it has just about enough going for it.

So Amitabh Bachchan is too tall even when it comes to fully grown adult roles. The camerawork need to be out of the world in order to be convincing - sadly, it's not. And those of you expecting to see some tricks out of Appu Raja's book (remember Kamal Hassan's dwarf act?) will be disappointed. Then we have the unnecessary political details that are conveniently forgotten later in the film, which might be considered by some as a blessing in disguise, given that the politico-media rhetoric is not well done at all (a dynamic young MP from Uttar Pradesh who happens to be from a political family which may or may not be holier than thou - surprise!)

Inclusion of some form of political commentary seems to have become a filmmaker's benchmark of sorts and Balki fails miserably on this count, since it is obvious he could not decide what he exactly wanted to portray - the rise, fall and subsequent rise of an over-idealistic Amol (Abhishek) all of which happens within a very short span of time, doubts regarding his father's wealth and thereby honesty (thus questioning the foundation of Abhishek's 'politics is not a dirty world') or a snapshot of the sleazy reality and the associated cynicism fuelled by the opportunistic media. Also, if strained personal equations take time to heal, public perception and the media's stance does not switch overnight either.

Then we have Vidya Balan - now here's another actress who looks gorgeous but cannot act to save her life. Worse, she chooses to reprise a role from a film which owes its success to the humour, not to her wooden act (I'm obviously talking about Hey Babyy here) - the angry, young and unforgiving single mother who will obviously relent at the very end. End result - she reaffirms the faith reposed in her by her critics. The latter part of the second half where she is required to emote and hams every time she tries to do so is a pain and takes away the good memories of the part leading up till then.

So what's good? Well, Amitabh owns! Leave alone the height issue, and what we have here is a gem of a performance - the make-up not only helped in disguising him, but also enabled him to deliver the dialogues in an almost perfect child-like accent (I say almost perfect because you just know that it is Mr. Bachchan - which is hardly surprising given that his is one of the most easily recognizable voices). Every scene with him in it, inevitably cracking a smart-alec comment or two, or behaving only like a schoolkid does is a gem, so much so that the second half seems to drag only because all the melodrama hardly ever gets Auro involved directly.

His weird dance might seem repetitive after a few times, but as far as Auro's wisecracks go, while a few of them may have been a bit too mature for a 13-year-old, most of them are the kind of things a middle school-goer would say - and it's the way that they're said that seals it. Abhishek, in spite of a somewhat weakly written and insufficient role, performs adequately, as do the supporting actors Paresh Rawal and especially Arundathi Nag as "Bum" (watch it to find out why). Overall, the first half is a breeze while the second half drags - and while the music is nice, the later songs seem to have been force-fed into the scheme of things - but that's alright.

Granted, that there are many chinks in the armour - and as a viewer, you should keep that in mind while you go watch this one. And go watch this one you should (exactly once, of course) if only to relive what we left behind way back on the platform of that unknown little station called 8th standard - an uncared-for piece of baggage full of silly jokes, laughter, mannerisms along, sadly, with our innocence. view less

When I as done with watching Paa, in middle of all those obvious good things, I saw a chance. I chance to re-brand, re-establish and re-energize Do... read more

When I as done with watching Paa, in middle of all those obvious good things, I saw a chance. I chance to re-brand, re-establish and re-energize Doordarshan.

If you see the movie, you will very categorically feel a that it can be a good marketing tool for Doordarshan. When the character of Abhishek Bachchan pronounces, "Maine Doordarshan ko isliye chuna, kyonki isse sabse jyada log dekhte hain - I selected Doordarshan because it is watched by maximum number of users", it reaffirms the fact that Doordarshan still remains the Channel through which India connects.

Also, the way soberness of News on Doordashan is, I guess unknowingly, contrasted against the "Breaking News" Fever on all other channels, where only drama sells, not only daily soaps but in news, in sports... any and everything the other channels show.

Well, frankly speaking, I am not a Doordarshan support, or anything. I firmly believe that if they are not able to live up to the competition, they must die. But here, its not about this channel; its about the chance the movie has offered the channel to use in its favor. To gain publicity from a movie, that too a good movie with a good star cast, is generally sought after by media houses. Here, it comes for free, or for very low remunerations.

I am not sure if some Doordarshan fellow will read this blog and ant or react to this.
Just thought of sharing my observation and view point.

And to end, sharing one more point of view, I don't really think that Paa was an appropriate title. The story was of "Auro", and for some reason if the director was not comfortable naming it after him, it could have next best be called as "Maa", as Vidya Balan's character was pretty strong in the movie.

Anyways, with or without appropriate name, the movie is worth to watch out for. view less

'Paa', all in all, is an emotional ride that leaves you smiling moist-eyed.