Sometimes you can feel a defining moment in film history. Probably, Satyajit Ray’s initial audience did. It is far more difficult to identify such a moment in commercial films. Probably Paa is.
With a standard story line, clever scripting techniques, the progeria struck protagonist Auro (Amitabh Bacchan)with very little time to live, the uniqueness of a son in real life (Abhisekh Bacchan), playing the father’s role while the real life father playing the son, and a pathbreaking make up by by Christien Tinsley (The Passion of The Christ) and Dominie Till (King Kong) , this film captivates the audience.
The director, adman R.Balakrishnan (Balki to everybody), is the National Creative Director at Lowe, who had the guts to fight for more payment to 80 deprived colleagues when IMG took over. When he was asked in an interview in 2004 as to how he preferred being known as, he replied “Simple”. That is the greatest quality of the film. Apart from a forgettable media bashing(literally) section, he keeps to telling a story of a father-son relationship, a man and woman story, a child and his family of Mum and Bum(grandmother—so called because she has a big one!!!), and a child and his school friends’ story.
Amol(Abhisekh) and Vidya(Vidya Balan) romance in Cambridge amongst the Cloisters and green fields and the library.
Amol does not wear a condom, a fact which he acknowledges to the world over a televised press conference later. The result is a pregnancy which Amol wants terminated. Amol wants to pursue his political ambitions under his rich father Mr.Atre’s(Paresh Rawal) guidance. Vidya in an overdrawn scene, is asked repeatedly by her mother Bum(Arundhuti Nag)—“Baccha chaahoge yah nahi?” She says yes and the result is Auro (NOT Aurobindo but Auro). She discovers Auro has progeria, a rare genetic disorder, in which the body ages quickly so much so that a 12 year old child may have a constitution of a 70 year old person. Naturally such patients die between the ages of 12—14. Auro is 12 and is on medicines and any abnormal stress may result in a catastrophe. But he remains like a normal schoolboy, requesting his mom not to drop him to school, refusing to eat Khichdi, and talking to the air sometimes.
Auro is told by his mother that he does not have a father, because his father did not want him. Auro’s work of a white globe is picked up by MP Amol, as a work denoting vision of a one world with no boundaries and the prize giving ceremony is transmitted on television , giving Vidya an opportunity to know about Amol’s current status.
The hounding media scare Auro, and he fires an email to Amol saying that he hates him for the media attention. Amol corrects that by an injunction from the High Court.The two chat on the Net and Amol offers to take Auro to see Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. However he forgets the date in the midst of a political battle. Auro, having told everyone , that he is going finds himself devastated when no one comes to pick him up. Amol however apologises and makes a fresh date. Meanwhile Vidya tells Auro that Amol is his father. Auro learns about the word “Bastard” at school and realises that he is one because his parents did not go “Round and Round”. He is warned by Vidya that he is not to be a “Hichki” to Amol.
Amol and Auro go to Delhi and build up a relationship, where Auro teaches Amol his famous dance involving fingering of the bum in a curiously empty Delhi Metro compartment. Auro displays his simple theory about bodyguards saying that a Potty Bomb can kill Amol because his bodyguards cannot prevent that.
On the flight back, he says that Amol has made a mistake.His last mistake was forgetting his promise to Auro. His pichli ka pichli mistake was letting the media scare Auro, and as he was trying to say “Pichli ka Pichli ka Pichli” mistake, he remembers that he should not be a Hichki.
They return home where Auro suffers a stroke after inadvertently entering the cricket field. His days are numbered. Amol learns from Bum that Auro is in hospital. He rushes to the hospital and in a memorable silent scene learns that Vidya is Auro’s mother and he is the father. Amol wants Vidya to forgive him, but he refuses. Auro tries to bring them together, but Vidya is adamant. Auro then shouts himself to another stroke. Practically on his deathbed, he receives the apology from a girl who had run away scared from him and to whom he never gave the opportunity to patch up. The girl says”Galti karnewalo ki to mauka chahiye…”. Auro forces his parents to hold hands and do the “Round and round”. He tells Amol that his “Pichli ka pichli ka pichli mistake was Auro”.
With his dying breath, he calls Vidya as Ma and Amol as Paa.
The highlight is of course the fact that Auro beat Amitabh Bacchan. In a role which will sweep every Award ceremony, Amitabh replaces his rich baritone for a nasal squiggly voice which is still very ,very audible.. His posture ,walking, movements, smiles, pouts,eye movement, are all anti- Amitabh and an unique achievement.
Amitabh modestly says that the makeup did it all. Christien and Dominie took a latex mould and fitted it over the face(Beard and all!!). they took 4-5 hours each day to paint the veins and lines on the actor’s face.The result was that even on a full screen facial shot, one could not spot any flaw. No wonder they took 6 crores of the 14.75 crore total budget. They provided a platform—Amitabh the actor then took over, to create this magnificent, unforgettable role. The Tarzan like chest thumps, the sudden sniggers, the deadpan delivery and the millisecond advancement of dialogue timing was brilliant.
Abhisekh was cool and suave, perhaps overdoing in certain areas. But he was photographed well and remained vibrant throughout. In the latter half, he showed his prowess with expressive eyes and movements. He remained a solid foil to a strong, determined Vidya Balan, who conveyed the nuances of a powerful, but caring and sentimental mother. Her role is in tune with her saris(Designed by Sabyasachi), sombre and striking. effortlessly straddling the back and foreground whenever needed.
Arundhuti Nag demonstrated her theatre training of 25 years, in little touches, her demeanour and the essential love for her family percolating through every facial expression.
For her, the role was perhaps routine, but the determination with which she built the 3 storied Ranga Mancha in Bangalore as a counterfoil to Prithvi Theatres from scratch, was very much evident as a strong woman who is unfazed by her daughter’s single mother status. Paresh Rawal was adequate, and handled the faux pas in the “Visiting Hours are over” sequence. The child actors were well handled by Balki, with Vishnu (Pratik Katare) outstanding in a sequence where he compares himself with his father-“Woh humko murder karne chahte hain aur main suicide karna chahta hoon."
Balki considers Ilyaraja as the God of music.”Even if we all live for another 5000 years to compose music, we won't get as melodious as him," he said. Unfortunately ,though the background score was good, the songs left a lot to be desired.None of the songs are outstanding, and are unlikely to be popular as Taare Zameen Par.
The cinematographer, P.C.Srinivas did a good job in capturing the Cambridge greenery, but had a tough time in the indoor sequences at Auro’s home. He used innovative camera angles to reduce Amitabh’s height and the discrepancies with his co-actors. But this necessity forced him to compromise in indoor shots in Auro’s home.
Editor Anil Naidu was competent but several of his cuttings in the initial song sequence was irritating to the eye.
Francis Ford Coppolas “Jack” had a similar theme played by Robin Williams. But it was perhaps Coppola”s most forgettable film.
Director and screen writer Balki surpassed himself.He had the advantage of a physically handicapped child as an excuse for using words potty, shit etc, and jokes related to it. Mercifully, he did not degenerate into too many PJs.His handling of the modern schoolboy mentality, frustrations, humour and friendly dialogues was spot on. His greatest success was never to let the whole story lapse into melodrama.
His mistakes included the attack on the media personalities, which was perhaps the Bacchan’s reply to nosy media speculations and unethics!!!
Another area was when Auro was going to Delhi with Amol. Can a mother of a dying boy allow her son to go unaccompanied by a member of the family and without meeting the person who was taking him and without explaining about all the tablets the son was taking? How could she allow him to get into a strange car to take him to the airport? How can Amol with all his father’s clout be unable to find Vidya who is a practising Gynaecologist, if he was so much in love with her? How can Amol send off such a boy from the airport to his home without coming to his house to at least talk with an adult of that family? All of these could have been crucial in another film, but the sheer weight of Amitabh’s role relegates everything to the back ground.
'Paa', is an AB Corp Ltd presentation in association with Reliance BIG Pictures, and is being released in 700 screens worldwide, including print and digital formats. The countries include UK, US, Canada, UAE, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
So just sit back and enjoy the movie without nitpicking.You are seeing a landmark in Indian Cinema. If a Slumdog could win at the Oscars,then Paa is in the hunt for the Best Actor.
AB Corp, you have to hype it well. You have made the right start in inviting Amir and even waiting for him to start the premiere show. You need all of his inputs for the Oscar lobbying….
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