A New Goldstandard. Review on Paa

It becomes some time important to take time out and write for something which deserves applause and salutation for the remarkable job in their field. Paa deserves this for manythings. It could be arguably counted as the best original movie in past 10 years at least. Perhaps the only movie in the past 10 years which you can call an Indian movies instead of tolly or kollywood or bollywood as the protagonist is from North while the director, music director, editior and cinematographer are from south. Out of 4 most important actors in the movie 2 are from south. But the most distinguishing thing of this movie is the impeccable job done by Amitabh Bachchan, for which all awards will fall short. It is such a difficult role done so easily by this grand man that it dwarfs almost all the actors and their performances so far done in so many decades of, at least Hindi cinema, and arguably for all cinemas from India.

A 70 reaching old man playing kid of 12 years so convincingly.never done before and so unimaginable! You keep on trying to catch any style of Amitabh in every frame of Auro and you get disappointed to find any style of Amitabh, .not a single body language of Amitabh is there. So impeccable is the performance that you are lost in the charm of Auro. In fact the charm of Auro is the reason that you keep on wanting more of Auro all the time. Perhaps this is the reason that many found Abhisheik's politicians and media part of the movie a bit longer though in my eyes it was required one.

Storyline screenplay and direction carry great freshness. Though the story of the movie could be sensed as a bit earlier before but due to its excellent presentation, baseline of progeric condition of the protagonist and his zest for life, the message is more strongly and more convincingly delivered. How Auro is brought up single handedly by a strong unwed mother and how Auro pays back to reunite everything, is the punch of the story. But the way everything has been directed and presented has been excellent.  The hidden intelligence and intellectual approach towards the life by the director, Balakrishnan, is well reflected.  He has very carefully emphasized over various parts of the movie. He has reasons to keep the romantic part between Vidya and Abhishek limited to one song, telling everything of that part in short and coming directly to the point. Some reviewes reported that some extra time has been spent over blasting over media. But from my point of view it was required to capture the feeling of let down in Auro due to broken promise by Abhishek to visit Delhi and Rashtrapati Bhawan with him. It was required. The screenplay of the movie has been fast enough and how fast 16 reels pass off, you don’t realize.

Performance: This is the strongest department of the movie for which every superlative will fall short of.  Yes it is the truth that Amitabh outshines every actor in this movie with his performance….but Amitabh’s Auro does not outshine only the actors of this movie but perhaps all the actors performances done so far in, at least, in hindi cinema and perhaps among the best performances of all time in Indian cinema. You are mesmerized and taken away, are made lost in the charisma and charm of Auro. Amitabh has achieved something with this movie which will be perhaps unachievable by the present lot of known actors here. One can keep on writing and writing over his performance and Auro. It has become the new Gold Standard.

Though Amitabh has eclipsed all but that does not mean that rest don’t deserve mention. This is perhaps the best performance by Vidya Balan. Perhaps this has been the most matured and perfect performance by any actress of present time. Her commitment to her child despite of work pressure is excellent. There are lots of touching scenes between these two.

Another terrific performance has been by the kannadiga theatre artist, Arundhati Nag as the Grandma of Auro. She is excellent. What a performance madam! Absolutely perfect dialogue delivery .perhaps one of the best one in recent time. She had been given wide ranges of emotions to display and her perfect pause and strecthng of dialogues is something to learn by all actors.

Abhishek has done seasoned job. This movie puts him in negative light due to whom Auro felt like as a “Bastard”.  But the fact is that Abhishek has given top class performance for his role. Watch him for the scene when he discovers that Auro is his son and now dying. As a young politician too he has done justice to his role.

Besides this all child artists have done great job. All the conversations between Auro and his best friend Vishnu have been hilarious.  One to catch is the telephone talk between the two.

Songs: This department of the movie has been average. Illayaraja has done the music and it is OK. But not great. Yes but the entire background music of the movie was in total sync.

Technicals: The movie has good editing. But could be enhanced more. Cinematography is of top class. Keeping it in the mind that very less foreign shooting has been done abroad, still the visual has not been compromised. It has managed to adjust the height of Auro perfectly and capture frames correctly. Sound quality has been good one.

The final words:  Paa is a brilliant movie. It is not like that it is a flawless movie. But its all flaws are eclipsed by the towering and phenomenal performance of Amitabh Bachchan, who creates Auro so much lovely and like a charmer that you get lost in him. You always keep on waiting for the scenes of Auro, his witty humorous lines, his vulnerability and his smartness. It is something to tell you that what makes Amitabh Bachchan the great. You laugh with him, you cry with him…his every frame is a heart winner. Perhaps after a long time you fall in love with some character who you will remember for long time. It is sure that he wil sweep all awards of this year( if politics not involved). It is such a performance that deserves awards for every coming years till you get another superlative or equal performance from elsewhere!
It’s a light hearted smartly made intelligent movie which touches your heart deep.
Recommended as a Must Watch!