Prepare to laugh and cry; prepare to get overwhelmed with emotion; prepare to experience India's answer to Forrest Gump
Paa
U/A; Drama
Dir: R Balki
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal
HHH1/2
What it's about: Prepare to laugh and cry; prepare to get overwhelmed with emotion; prepare to experience India's answer to Forrest Gump. Director R Balki deserves all the accolades for bringing to celluloid a "life story" ofu00a0 optimism, honesty and love completely original and delivered minus a "message". Paa is about an 11-year-old boy, Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) and his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) who raises him on her own after his dad Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) refuses to get married and have a child and let his domestic responsibilities hamper his political ambitions.
The boy is born with a condition called progeria in which a child ages as much as six times his actual age. So while he's still in his teens, his physical frame is that of a 70-year-old man a weak heart, kidney and lung functions. 
Paa is about Auro and his relationship with his mom, grandmom, his school friends and finally his Paa. What's more, Balki seems to have broken the spell of first time successful directors disappointing with their second offerings (Pradeep Sarcar, John Matthew Mathan et al).
What's hot: In his first film Cheeni Kum, Balki gave us a fresh perspective on romance and now he has turned what would've been a kerchief-wrencher into a light- hearted, bitter-sweet drama. You walk into the theatre with doubts about seeing Amitabh Bachchan in the odd appearance with an almost-nasal, childlike voice. But he squashes those doubts seconds into the first scene.
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Auro steals your heart from the word go, which is why Paa works. Safe to say that only Bachchan Sr could've played this role, which is a breathtaking balancing act between comedy and sadness. Balki has drawn inspired performances from his entire cast.
It seems unfair that even though Abhishek Bachchan delivers his career-best performance sensitive, mature, understated it is his real-life paa's portrayal that will be talked and written about the most. Vidya Balan is back in super form.
Watch out for her in the scene when she tells her mother that she wants to keep her baby. The soundtrack, the dialogues, the costumes the film excels in every department. But one of Balki's biggest triumphs lies in the way he has captured the varied relationships. Auro and Vidya, Auro and his grandmom (the shopping scene and the general camaraderie between them) and Auro with his friends really touch your heart.
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What's Not: The whole parallel track of the slums goes a bit awry and that's when theu00a0 pace dips. The whole bashing of TV channels and media in general is also dragged on for too long.
What to do: Paa will make you smile and it will make you cry but finally, you will want to get up and do the Paa dance for a long, long time after the credits have rolled. It is worth the time and the money. Watch it for sure.
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