I have decided not to write any review for this film. I don’t think any review will be needed or suffice to say the least.
I would surely had done this for any other film or a different situation but today I choose not to. I choose not to because I want to share some experiences with you.
I had already established my anticipations with this movie through my earlier post and after experiencing this film I must say that it had been worth every moment!
Paa is an experience, a journey which you have to watch without any strings attached, without any expectations.
The movie opens with credits which are in a narration mode by Jaya Bachchan. You can see the pride in her face, the twinkle in her eye when she says “Introducing Amitabh Bachchan”. I have seen so many movies but none so far where you have a person speak out the names of the cast and the crew. First step… I was sold!
The next scene moves into a situation where there is a school competition and Abhishek (Amol Arte the MP) gives out the trophy to Amitabh (Auro the kid). Auro’s entry is just too good. Step 2… Bowled!
There are many such scenes which are so unique and written in a novel like manner…
- Auro telling his mom why he needs pickle
- Auro’s class mate talking about his relation with his dad
- Auro calling his mother “MUM” and Grandmom as “BUM” (When asked why… he says she has a big bum!)
- Auro telling his friend why there is X and Y
- Auro telling Amol why it is okay to do potty in public
- The last scene where Auro’s classmate comes and give him the gift and the reason why she’s sorry
- Auro’s just one scene with his grandfather (Hospital scene)
There are too many to list down but I could just randomly place these ones quickly in print.
A journey as incredible as this has to be watched with your kid. I mean I had tightly gripped my son sitting on my lap and hugging him as much as I could with all my arms enjoying every moment that it could offer. (I must admit my son was busy toying with my iPhone and that was okay to me!)
Paa is a well written film. A well researched film. You never feel at any time that the characters are out of place or the situations that they are in!
R. Balki the writer, director of this film must have put enough efforts to make a film of this level. Balki is an Adman by profession. He makes TV commercials. Imagine telling a story in 30 seconds. Then imagine telling a story in a two and a half hour time frame. For sure a person of his stature would understand the importance of time and above all the telling the story without wasting much of our time.
The dialogues are very crisp and essayed beautifully by all the characters and you feel that they fitted the role perfectly to the T.
They say language has no barriers. So do emotions. The cinema hall was filled with Kuwaiti local people who were keen to watch this movie (With Arabic subtitles) and I couldn’t believe that they all were crying while watching the movie. The family sitting next to us were in complete awe of this movie and cried uncontrollably. Such is the power of cinema.
Special mention must be given to Balki
- For putting the novel idea that a real life father play a son’s role to his own son
- Making a 60 year old veteran play a 13 year old kid
The power of Big B’s performance just rises with each passing film, setting new benchmarks in cinema today. Kudos to him for playing such an incredible kid. You just feel like giving him all your love…
At no point in the film you feel that this kid is faking the emotions. It is reported that Big B found it difficult to even drink, eat and even breathe after putting the make. He used to take almost 1-2 days off for each and every shot.
Kudos to the team who did Big B’s make up… simply awesome!
The supporting cast Vidya Balan, Arundhati Naag, the kids in the school all have done praiseworthy performances. Paresh rawal’s role was reduced to few minutes in the film hence didn’t have much to do in the film.
Illaiyaraja’s songs and the background score takes the movie to a different level. Lyrics by Swanand Kirkire (Of Parineeta fame) blend very well with the movie’s story telling!
I would highly recommend you to go and watch this movie.
Paa is a positive film.
Watch it and enjoy the incredible journey…
Pa
Director: R. Balki
Actors: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Arundhati Naag, Paresh Rawal
Music: Illaiyaraja
My rating: ****1/2 out of 5
(The missing 1/2 star is for those few and passable political scenes which slows the films pace)
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