Before writing about the movie experience, I would first like to comment over the intelligent, controlled and subtle promotional campaign planned by the team of “Paa”. It was indeed worth praising that despite of the fact that the film revolved around a rare disease causing serious physical and mental disorder in a person, the campaign never showed any signs of a complain looking for some sympathy from the viewers.
The marketing team very pleasantly came up with a positive feel in its promos accompanied by some soothing music and captivating dance movements featuring the main character “Auro”. The balanced amount of promotion hesitated in creating any over hype for the movie and that’s where the makers won half their battle at the box office.
Talking about the movie itself, it evidently proves that Bollywood has still not lost it all and we still have film-makers who can deliver movies at par with the other parts of the world. Yes, the story-idea may have been borrowed from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Jack” and the make-up may remind you of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. But at the same time, it’s also true that “Paa” has nothing else related to these two names. In fact it undeniably surpasses both the above mentioned flicks in terms of director’s approach, his characterisations and the emotional portrayals by his actors.
“Paa” certainly belongs to its director R. Balki and the phenomenon called Amitabh Bachchan. Just when everybody thought that this man has done it all, he comes up with an extraordinary and out of the world character named “Auro”. What’s even more astonishing in his portrayal is that you never find the real Amitabh Bachchan anywhere on the screen in those two hours. In the entire past comprising all his mammoth blockbusters, Amitabh has always been there as a Bollywood persona hidden in his onscreen characters. But here is a movie where you know that there is Amitabh featuring in it, but you still can never feel him on the celluloid. He simply adopts a completely different soul minus his world famous style and baritone voice structure. And that’s the magical spell, cast by the magician actor. Truly speaking, Amitabh literally sends every reviewer in search of new words to praise his impeccable and incomparable act of ‘Auro’ in “Paa”.
Right from the first scene introducing “Auro” in his school function, the veteran actor makes you believe what you are seeing. He humbly forces every viewer in the theater to admit that he is watching the most accomplished actor of all times who has just walked beyond any number games and Bollywood Titles. Especially in the scenes where he is interacting with his kid friends in their own school lingo and in the emotional climax sequence inside the hospital, Auro goes on to set new benchmarks for the entire Indian Film Industry. Though the script has some unnecessary references of political activities and slums which could have been easily avoided, but the spotless performances of the entire cast don’t let you ponder over these needless insertions and the movie goes on impressing you continuously.
Unexpectedly Amitabh is not the only one to watch out in the movie. He is superbly supported by three highly talented people in the cast lead by Vidya Balan as a tough mother who raises Auro on her own with the help of her mother. For Vidya’s effortless performance, I would only like to say that in all these years of movie watching, she is the only female actress who reminded me of Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan and her flawless natural acting.To feel what I am trying to say, just carefully watch the scene where Vidya gives Auro her approval to visit Delhi. She exactly acts like Jaya in that particular scene.
Abhishek Bachchan as the truthful politician and father of ‘Auro’, delivers another polished act on the lines of his “Guru” and “Yuva”. He comes up with a very controlled emotional performance and never tries to outshine any other person in the scene. Both Vidya and Abhishek share a very cozy chemistry on screen which actually helps a lot in enhancing the overall impact of ‘Auro’ on the viewers.
The third worth mentioning act comes from Arundhati Naag, who plays Vidya’s mother and Auro’s naani, whom he fondly calls as Bums. Her praise worthy act emerges as a strong pillar in addition to the other stalwarts present in the movie. Paresh Rawal again remembers his immense talent after few irresponsible acts in some brainless movies. Last but not the least come all the child artists in the movie, who are intelligent enough to understand the pain and suffering of their friend “Auro” and try to help him out wherever they can. It was really nice to see that ‘Auro’ was not being teased in his school as suggested by the promos. In fact it was very thoughtful to show all the kids having the empathy to feel the abnormality ‘Auro’ was born with.
Musically, the film has the maestro Illayaraja to give exactly what was needed as per the subject. His theme music is pleasant and his songs don’t act as a hindrance in the narration. R. Balki very skillfully uses the songs in their short versions and in the background wherever needed. Dialogues are intelligent, witty and well written. Cinematography by P.C. Sreeram is remarkable. He brilliantly uses innovative camera angles to portray the character of “Auro” and his abnormal body structure. But what makes “Paa” so believable is the unimaginable make-up done by Christien Tinsley and Domini Till. Kudos to the duo to achieve this herculean task and hats off to Amitabh Bachchan for undergoing such a painful process in this age.
Honestly, the main highlight of the movie is that even when the story revolves around a diseased character with an abnormal behavior, the director is simply not interested in taking you onto an emotional journey at all. So, “Paa” is not just another tear jerker as expected by many. On the contrary it’s a very enjoyable movie having many light entertaining moments with ‘Auro’ for everyone in the family. And for that the director R. Balki rightly deserves all the praises.
Everyone remembers the golden era of Hindi Films when all the talented directors were more interested in telling fresh stories with a simple treatment. “Paa” is a perfect example of a movie made on the similar lines of those timeless classics. It is a fresh story told in a simple way with many incredible performances to cherish.
In short the movie is an amazing must watch experience for everyone still enjoying the gift of life at any age. It makes you realize the importance of all your days left in the count. And on the top it has a performance which can easily be kept along with any world class act by any actor in the entire globe. In other words, only one statement can match the unbelievably expressive and impressive act of Amitabh Bachchan in the movie.
He once again proves that at present he is the only "Big Paa" for the entire Indian film Industry.
Rating : (4.5 / 5) It straight away moves into my list of “Movies To See Before You Die”
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