Dec 24, 2009 02:44 AM
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Balki had delivered brilliantly with his first movie “Cheeni Kum”, and the extensive publicity for Paa and the interesting relationship between Amitabh and Abhishek meant that Paa was a must-see for me.
The story of the movie is about an illegitimate child, who learns about who his father is, and works to getting his parents together. Simple, isn’t it? Not when the child is suffering from a rare condition called Progeria and the father is a famous young clean politician.
The movie begins with Member of Parliament Amol Atre(Abhishek) visiting a school in Lucknow to judge and hand out an award, which he decides to give to Auro(Amitabh), a 13 year old child suffering from the rare condition of progeria, due to which a child ages at a rate 5 to 6 times faster than normal. As it turns out, Auro is Amol’s child, born out of wedlock, when his mother(Vidya Balan) and Amol were dating in University. Amol was not ready to be committed at that time, wanting to make it big in politics, determined to bring clean politics to India, and prove that politics is not a dirty word. The story progresses with Auro bonding with Amol, neither of them knowing of their relationship with each other.
Though the child has been shown to be affected by Progeria, the movie wastes no time in sympathies and sentimentality. All of Auro’s friends in school treat him like one of their own, while knowing fully well when to look after him if he suffers from any age-related problem. Amol’s character as a clean politician also serves as an interesting backdrop to the story; showing the challenges that an honest person would face if he were to choose politics as a career in our country.
Amitabh’s acting as the 13 year old teenager Auro is absolutely brilliant, and very convincing. Progeria as a condition only affects the physical growth of the child, and mentally, the child is as normal as one would expect otherwise, and Auro is an extremely amusing and loveable child. The script is delightful with Auro coming out with “bum and potty” jokes throughout the movie, keeping a smile on our lips the whole time. Auro’s relationships with his mother, grandmother, Amol, his friends in school and the life-size King Kong puppet at home are all eminently likeable. I liked Abhishek and Vidya Balan’s acting too, though neither was in the same league as Amitabh. Paresh Rawal, as Amol’s father, was rather wasted I thought. Arundhati Nag as Vidya Balan’s mother has done a great job.
There are a few shortcomings however. The movie tends to drag once in a while, especially when Auro goes with Amol to see Rashtrapati Bhavan. Amol’s character as a clean politician, while very good, is unrealistic at times, especially when he chooses to confront the media, a scene which seemed to be somewhat amateurish.
But these are small blemishes in a movie which is otherwise eminently watchable. As my title says, this is yet another feather in the already overcrowded cap of Bachchan Sr. In recent times, I have loved him in Black, Cheeni Kum and now Paa. Just for him, I would want to watch this movie a couple of times more at least.
