Customer Reviews

Paa (New Amitabh Hindi Movie / Bollywood Film / Indian Cinema / DVD)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Paa is one of the signs that Indian Cinema is changing and keeping up with the times. In breaking the mold, Indian movies are thus attempting movies which are viewable, interesting and give you more reasons to visit the movie theaters.
This movie is not similar to Jack or Benjamin Button. So the comparison does not exist.
Amitabh Bachchan is Auro a 12 year old boy who looks like he is 80 years old and suffers from progeria, a rare genetic disease. The story is of Vidya Balan and Abhishek who meet many years ago at college in London. They have a brief fling and Vidya becomes pregnant, since Abhishek nurses political ambitions he suggests that she have an abortion. They separate and Vidya brings up Auro as a single mother. Years later they meet again when Abhishek has become a Member of Parliament and visits his son's school. The rest of the movie follows the life of Auro and how he is ultimately responsible for getting his mom and dad together after many years.
Director Balki delivers a much more polished product than Cheeni Kum, I can say that he is a director to watch out far.
The make up team comprising of Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till is absolutely superb removing every trace of Amitabh Bachchan from Auro and transforming him in to an old man child. Through Auro he has undergone a complete makeover, gone is the famous voice and face.

Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan deliver great performances as well. Auro's friend, Pratik i.e. the kid with the glasses is extremely funny. Paresh Rawal and Arundhati Nag as Auro's grandmother add considerable support. The movie belongs to Amitabh Bachchan who manages to deliver a superb performance as Auro, although I found that the chimp gestures were excessive and irritating. How I wish he had the chance to make such cinema in the 80's and 90's.
A good movie that is not a tear jerker but a light fun filled entertainer given its topic and ending. I gave it four stars.2/1/10

Yes, it's candy coated, but so what!

This is the story about a virtuous man who has vision. It is also a story about a woman who has another. Both are meritorious and are touching. But moreover, it is a story about a boy who is not so innocent, highly intelligent, and has high self esteem. It is a captivating story that demonstrates many wisdoms: Virtue, integrity, being straightforward. But it also demonstrates that nobody is infallible. People make mistakes. People have pain. People have can have morals and strengths, and when they stand up and behave responsibly, even this can bring peril. But responsibility is the theme here, and this film makes that message clear.

For every action, there are people who would undo you. For every action, there are consequences, even when the action is noble and virtuous.

Paa is the kind of film that makes you think. It shows you alternatives. It teaches you wisdom. And carefully and subtley, it is also very entertaining! There is much charm in it. There are gripping plot twists in it. Both will keep you watching this film. I highly recommend it to anyone who has both heart and a little wisdom.

sidebar: Though some reviewers of Bollywood films accuse them of painting a perfect world or of moralizing, many of them contain wisdom that is not taught by Hollywood films. Bollywood offers something unique and different, and from many of their films, there are things about life worth learning. Paa is a good place to start, and Paa deserves a place in your library of films, right alongside National Velvet, and Charlie Chaplin's The Kid.

p.s. This film is available from Netflix. If you doubt what I say, rent it first, then decide. I'm sure that many who have both heart and brains will add this to their collection.

If Bollywood movies are to be believed, life in India is just one long song-and-dance routine, replete with swirling colors and dazzling costumes. And it matters not whether the subject be comedy, drama, romance, politics, poverty or - as in the case of "Paa" - Progeria, an incurable genetic disorder that causes a person to age at an alarmingly accelerated rate, so that a mere child will have the appearance and body of an octogenarian before hitting puberty (think of it as Benjamin Button in reverse). It is a condition that invariably ends in premature death around the age of thirteen. Such is the fate facing Auro (an adult Amitabh Bachchan in prosthetic makeup), a bright and spunky twelve-year-old boy with the physical condition and ailments common to a man in his 80s. Auro is plucked from relative obscurity when the newly elected MP (Abhishek Bachchan) takes a liking to him - only to discover that Auro is his very own son whom he abandoned years ago when his girlfriend, Vidya (Vidya Balan), became pregnant and led him to believe she was going to have an abortion.

Like many Bollywood productions, "Paa" suffers from excessive length, an overabundance of sentimentality, and a too-cheery disposition towards the vicissitudes and hardships of life - and, of course, the seemingly insatiable need for the aforementioned musical numbers. However, in this instance at least, saner heads seem to have prevailed, since such scenes are kept to a reasonable minimum, even though the running time of 136 minutes is still far too long for the story it has to tell. The movie, written and directed by R Balki, also can't entirely resist the temptation to make Auro an object of humor (though not of ridicule), and it really turns on the waterworks as it heads to its predestined tragic conclusion.

All that being said, "Paa" has moments of genuine originality and charm, and its subject matter itself is so unusual and compelling that many of its imperfections can be readily forgiven.

The opening credits of Paa read: "Introducing Amitabh Bachchan." If only this were indeed his film debut--then audiences would get to enjoy him for another lifetime. But Paa at least gives us the chance to see him in the autumn of his career as if it were for the first time. The 67-year-old Bollywood legend, who has worked in the industry for 40 years, plays a 12-year-old boy so convincingly that it's startling.

Bachchan is a towering figure with a booming voice, a thick beard, and a handsomely lined face. But he strips himself of any trace of his mature masculinity--and even somehow shrinks his impressive stature--to become a boy on the cusp of manhood, with slouched shoulders and furtive eyes, an awkward stance and nervous laugh. The makeup helps and so does the writing that perfectly captures childhood banter, but Bachchan's transformation is largely his own doing. His character, Auro, has a complication that makes Bachchan's performance even more challenging. Auro has a genetic disorder called Progeria, which causes accelerated aging--he's a preteen with the body of an 80-year-old. The point is not lost on the audience: the actor is only able to play a child by forsaking the physical attributes that age will claim from him sooner rather than later. The repeated image of a clock's moving gears--shown in flashes so rapid they're almost subliminal--is a reminder that everyone's youth vanishes in the blink of an eye.

But while time is regarded as linear in the West--as measured by clocks and calendars--it's cyclical in the East, where life is thought to be always circling back. There's yet another interesting twist in the film that reveals this Eastern understanding of the passing of time: Amitabh's real-life son, Abhishek Bachchan, plays Auro's father. Abhishek's character, Amol, falls in love with Vidya (played by Vidya Balan) before he's ready for marriage and family. They break up, she gives birth to his son without his knowledge, and he doesn't learn about the boy's existence until it's nearly too late. The younger Bachchan, who produced Paa, struggled for years to prove himself as an actor, which surely must have been difficult with a screen icon for a father, and yet, Abhishek seems comfortable in the long shadow Amitabh casts. Still, there's always an expectation for sons to eventually eclipse their fathers--and so, this son makes a film about a character who becomes a man by discovering he's the father of a very old son, played by none other than his own famous father.

- The Bollywood Ticket: The American guide to Indian movies (Subscribe: The Bollywood Ticket)

If any part in this movie has to be nominated - it should be for the prosthetic makeover for the progeria afflicted "kid".

Just like the Indian politics is dominated and infested by the "Gandhe" (not "Gandhi"!) dynasty, Bollywood seems to be dominated by the Bachhan family to an obnoxious extent. Even Jaya *had* to play some part in this movie - the reading of credits by her has a tendency to turn one off - (she faltered while reading the Music director Ilayaraja's name!) - come on, a twelve year old can do better!

Aishwarya did a wise thing keeping out of this one!

Except for a two minute mention of progeria - there was no dedication to the affliction in the movie. Paa relies heavily on the age-old masala usually found in Bollywood movies - Paresh Rawal's political image, dependence of sentimental scripting, lack of decent editing.

The only take away (for me) from the movie is the one song "Mudhi Mudhi (or Udhi Udhi) ittefaq se" by Shilpa Rao, lyrics by Swanand Kirkire.

When it comes to addressing and highlighting a topic of interest / issue as a meesage in a movie, I believe Aamir Khan's choice in storylines for movies take the cake. Just consider, "Taare Zamein Par", "Rang De Basanti", "3 Idiots", "Ghajni" (though it was a retake), "Lagaan" among others. Wise man, Aamir!

Movies should be used to convey a message to the masses, besides providing a "fantasy" mode to break away from the mundane monotony of life.

Amitabh would do well to remove himself from any equation and put the message ahead of him - there is still scope for him to change the fortunes of his empire for now, and his image for posterity!

My father asked me to watch this film. Being away from India, I miss watching Indian films and have a good run of late watching all of Ranbir Kapoor films and loving them. I'm a fan of Amitabh Bachchan, who isn't, you're wondering. I saw Paa on Dvd last night and I must say the film is painfully written and directed.


Despite very good acting performances from the father and son duo, the film has absolutely no scope because the story is so poor. The editing is so choppy and the way scenes are cut, makes the film look like rather ill prepared. Despite a good start, the film loses favour with very confusing and cheesy political agendas. Like a lot of Yashraj studio films, this film tried to do three things at once and as a result of that the film was far too boring to be taken seriously.

Forty minutes into the film, it was just very difficult for me to take this film seriously. Vidya Balan was attrocious and I don't mind her usually. I would've given it three stars but I don't lie to myself. Not worth watching. The story is the biggest flaw in the film, the direction second and the editing was a bit of a masaala joke. To the film's credit, it has a good ending which can evoke a tear but make me a director and I can make you howl too, I promise.

You will not miss anything if you don't watch this film.

If anyone has seen a child with the rare disease progeria, this is not it! A grown man plays the role of the child 12 going on 13 and the doctor states his body is 80 years old. A real progeria patient has a small and the "frame" is very frail; the arms are spiderveined, thin, bony; the body is weak.

Using a full-grown man was a joke, as this body is not that of a frail sickly, thin 80 year old body. You will never see the height and weight of a progeria patient ever reach 170lbs and 6 ft tall. Here, you see a full-bodied healthy looking man with a hint of appearance of a progeria head. The 80 year-old kid has more energy and spunk than a 5 year-old.

The film is too lengthy with a political theme interspersed in the life of a wealthy family. His father does not know about the kid, as it was kept from him at birth. On top of that, the storyline is boring.

I can never understand why these India/Hindi films are part English. The people speak Hindi and next thing they speak English. Someone explained it to me once and I can't remember.

You may need to skip past the intro where a lady "reads out loud" every name associated with the film.

This is the second film I have see with Amitabh Bachchan, and the first was just as bad, Baghban. ......Rizzo