Paa – The Review

Take out your handkerchiefs and get ready to cry a river because Paa is the most emotional and heart touching movie of the year 2009. Directed by R. Balki, the movie has Amitabh Bachchan playing a 13 year old child, Auro who is suffering from rare genetic disease called Progeria. The disease is causing him to age five times as fast as a normal person. Thus, Auro is a child trapped in the body of a 60 year old.

Even though, Big B’s performance is aided by great camera work and make-up which helps him look like a 13 year old, but nothing can discount his performance in this movie. The way, he has captured the mannerisms and body language of a preteen school boy is simply astonishing. Considering the fact that the actor is 65 years old, the performance is almost magical.

Paa also stars junior Bachchan, Abhishek who interestingly plays Auro’s father and a MP, Amol. Vidya Balan plays Auro’s mother. Auro is brought up by his mother who had him out of wedlock after Amol leaves her high and dry after finding out that she’s pregnant. 13 years later, a chance meeting at Auro’s school brings Amol close to his son. Soon, Amol realizes his mistake and starts working on building a relationship with his son.

Before its release, there were many speculations about Paa being a remake of a number of Hollywood movies, including recent ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.’ But the good news is that Paa is neither a copy, nor a remake of any other movie.

Another good thing about Paa is that it is not at all manipulative. Unlike most movies involving children struggling with diseases, it’s not overly melodramatic and sentimental. It doesn’t preach us about the disease or on parenting. In fact, the whole angle of Progeria is just used as a background to show the sweet father-son relationship. 

This is Balki’s second directorial venture after ‘Cheeni Kum’ and just like in his previous movie; he has taken a light-hearted approach towards a subject that could have easily become a melodramatic tearjerker. Balki’s distinctive sense of humour comes through the witty one-liners that Auro recites throughout the movie. He also touches on other subjects like politics, media, parenthood etc. without ever losing the track.

The climax will definitely bring a lump in your throat. The emotions of a sick child and his helpless parents are enough to make even the most stone-hearted people reach for tissues. The makeup of Amitabh Bachchan looks absolutely authentic and it’s hard to spot the actor on screen. You only see Auro and his beautiful eyes.
 
Amitabh Bachchan will definitely and rightfully deserves all the awards this year for his performance in Paa. This role is another feather in his already highly decorated hat. Way to go Mr. Bachchan!!! Looks like Junior Bachchan’s production has hit the right note from the word go.