When we planned to go to this movie, 'Paa' I wanted my husband to join us but he refused saying that "looking at Amitabh, it looks like a sad (glycerine!) movie"! So five of us, ladies and girls, went to the movie and we had a big surprise - it was nearly a comedy movie!
Before going to the movie we just knew that Amitabh Bachchan was acting as Abhishek's son and the story was about this rare disease called 'progeria', which accelerates the aging process. Only the first part was correct. It does not show Auro (Amitabh), being treated differently because of his medical condition (he acts like a 12 year old boy who looks like a 60 year old man), bringing in emotional melodrama. But Progeria is just taken as a backdrop for a drama revolving around human emotions, with Auro's great sense of humour, intelligence and sensitivity. Amitabh is the correct person for this role, with his natural sense of humour, which we have seen in many movies and 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', TV show!
The movie started with Jaya Bachchan just repeating the sub-titles (ABCL productions) and I was wondering if she was going to be the narrator of the story. But her part was over with the sub-title recitation! Thank god!
Abhishek Bachchan as Amol Arte (Abhisekh Bachchan), is a young, idealistic politician and mother (Vidya Balan), a gynecologist. The entire movie deals with the emotional turmoil that Auro’s parents go through. Abhishek's role reminds us of Rahul Gandhi in many ways! Rahul Rawail, as his father, as usual entertains us with his witty comedy lines. Arundhati Nag (Kannada actor Shankar Nag's wife, a film and stage actress and we have seen her in 'Dil Se' and 'Sapnay') fitted the role of Vidya's mother very well. Auro's and her (he calls her 'Bum'!) tantrums make the whole theatre laugh loudly!
Auro, as a student is shown as a normal 12 year old intelligent boy with lots of friends who adore and love him. The audience were laughing at the scenes where he runs at the glimpse of his classmate (the girl who is in the photo shown on top)!
Abhishek is becoming a matured actor with each and every film of his, from 'Guru', 'Sarkaar' and now 'Paa'. Vidya Balan fits in very well in the role of a single mother of a child with rare disease.
PC Sriram's camera work is very good. Some scenes show Auro as small made but Amitabh's tall frame is not that easy to conceal, I feel. Progeria is a disease which accelerates aging process, so the child's frame should be the same, logically - wrinkles and other aging features should be shown, but the director, Balakrishnan (his earlier film, 'Cheeni Kum' also featured Amitabh in a different role), a BIG fan of our 'BIG B', blindly ignored these things! Let us also ignore and enjoy this movie with very minimal draw backs!
Very rarely we come across movies with such good clean humour. This movie is for the whole family to watch together and enjoy! We get so involved with Auro that we cry when he dies, which is expected, with his desease, in the end.
I loved this song of Ilayaraja, though the tune is from his Malayalam film song:
Here, this clip shows photos of the process of Amitabh getting converted to Auro!
40 comments :
Mami! :)
Had an amazing time that day right? Been telling all my friends at coll to watch Paa! I really liked Abhishek in the movie. Even more than Amitabh! Not only does he look great but he really pulled it off as Amitabh's dad. Kudos to the Bachchan family! :)
I so wanna catch this movie Sandhya but am nt finding time :( Hope I cn make it sometime soon!
I luvvv that song too :)
Glad u enjoyed the movie so much .. gr8 company alva :)
Ashwini: So you liked Abhishek and we loved, Amitabh very much!!! Yes, they are a great family!
Swaram: I go to theatres very rarely. The last movie was 'Dashaavataaram'! When my grand nieces were in school, we used to go theatres at least to watch good movies. Now, they have gone to colleges in different places, hmmm, life changes, you know! My sons watch mostly english movies.
The girl Ashwini, who commented here, is one of my g.nieces! Olle company iddre, saadhaarana movie kooda chennagiruththathe, alvaa?! Idhu nijavaagiye chennagidhe. Khanditha try maadi nodi.
Same with me too Sandhya .. I only watch movies which are worth seeing :)
Haudalla .. company idre everything feels gud :)
Cud make out from her comment that she is related to u :)
May u hv such beautiful times always :)
Nice review! Infact, this movie is high on my "must-watch" list...
Nice review sandhya.
Liked the movie.
We will enjoy the movie more when we go with good company.
Once again a great movie review....for a person like me who once was a die hard movie-buff(still at heart)bit hardly gets an opportunity to see any ,your review is like watching one because you explain it so well....i love when you mention the mood inside the cinema hall.I bought DASHAVTARAM dvd this Sunday..let's see when can i manage to see one.I have got a pass to see PA but sob sob buhuuuu.If you got time how is DAHAVTARAM?
Enjoyed reading the review Sandhya. I hope to watch it soon. And hey, you should have a spoiler alert at the beginning of the blog post! ;) :)
Swaram: I am blessed in that way. I had good friends when I was in Hosur and here, in Chennai, good relatives.
Hope the situation in Hyderabad is improving...I read about the new agitation in the aftermath of Telangana declaration. Take care, Swaram.
Roshmi: I am sure you will enjoy this movie, Roshmi.
Varnavi: You are right, Saritha. Company should be good, for going out and enjoying these things.
Kavita: Try to watch this movie, Kavita. Your children also will enjoy - at least in DVD, later on.
For a die hard fan like me, this movie of Kamalhaasan, 'Dashaavataaram' is just OK. But you can admire him for his guts to act in 10 different personalities! If you can follow Tamil, one of his good movies is 'Anbe Sivam'. You will enjoy it.
Shail: Spoiler alert? I forgot about it. But everyone knows about the disease, which is the highlight of this movie! Shall I add it now?!
Just to put this on record.
Paa is being added to Guinness Book of records.
ok good u enjoyed...hey thanks S for passing by..cya
I finally got to watch it yesterday. I dont like the Bachchans and so took my own sweet time in watching this. I kinda liked it, but again as you said, they shouldve cast a small boy and did the makeup on him. It was very odd watching Sr.Bachchan in the role when we know what the disease is all about. Again, the whole progeria concept was just to showcase something new to the audience; and that was the only selling factor of the movie. Remove progeria and place cancer instead for a 12 yr old boy, the story remains the same. Progeria as a concept doesnt take the movie forward unlike dyslexia in Taare Zameen Par ! I donno, this is what I felt.
Great review, Sandhya! I must see the movie now!
Hmm I have to watch this movie. Atleast after reading your review, I feel it is worth watching :) Nice review. The link that you gave about the makeup at the end was interesting :)
Its on my to watch list:). I was wondering the same thing tht thye can paint the face, but his tall frame cont be changed..In WEEK..they showed a family affected with projeria..it was really sad to see the children.
Even I like Amitabh very much:)
BK Chowla: This is news to me! Can you tell me why they have selected this movie, please?
Ramesh: Are you not interested in watching movies? I have never seen you mentioning about any movie, in your writings!
vimmuuu: Your angle is nice... even if the child had cancer, the story would have been the same!
'Taare Zameen Par' was a movie about dyslexia, 100%. As you say, this movie is Amitabh's movie! Progeria is a subject to give importance to him and his make-up! He still has got stamina to go through the make-up procedure, for such a long time. We have to admire him for that! I like him as a person, vimmuuu and like some of his movies too! Loved him in 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'!
Manju: Please do. We can just sit and laugh at most of the scenes!
evanescentthoughts: Please do. As I told Manju, you too will enjoy this movie!
Make-up is the main feature, in this movie and I came across this link, which explains the procedure very well!
Renu: Please watch this movie, without fail! You will enjoy!
Hi.. I just visited ur blog.. It sounds Great.. Hope u too will Visit my blog..
Hi Sandhya. I also liked Paa. We saw it last week. AB is really good. Of course, the movie had its cheesy moments - all that shaanpatti done by Abhishek with the TV cameras and 'I should have used a condom' was a bit too much. And also I thought, everything was so pretty and nice in the movie! The houses where the characters lived, the school, the environment and even Auro! But yes - if you can overlook that (should be a problem since most hindi movies have ten times worth of cheesiness!), its a sweet, feel good movie. Worth a watch.
The movie sounds quite nice. I would like to watch it - but my movie watching is very delayed, so hopefully I will get to watch it one day :)
I am sure Amitabh must have done a good job - but yes, surely a child could have played this role - but then again, it migh not have got the kind of focus it got, if a child had played that role..
Vijay: Welcome here! Sure, will visit your blog.
Deepa: Yes, the school environment was beautiful and the house too. Everyone's acting was superb too. We felt happy to have seen this movie.
wordsndreamz: Yes, this IS Amitabh's movie!
Sandhya...just read your comment..it is fine with me,no problem.Waiting for your next post.It is little cold over here,do you experience winters at our end?
not so much ya..esp i avoid ones too sentimental or tragic...thats y i like the mgr types or rajni types..hey friend..i will be in chennai next week..if u guys r passing by Marina just buzzz...cya..thats becz i stay in triplicane hehehe
The review is really good.. :)
I am yet to watch this movie.. just waiting for a good copy with subtitles...
I heard that song.. that song is in tamil also.. in the movie Autoraja... 'Sankathil padatha kavidhai'...
Kavita, Swaram: I prepared two lists for nominations and did one post for the first list. Had second thoughts and removed that alongwith your (Kavita's and Swaram's) comments. Sheesh...still making mishtakes! Sorry.
Ramesh: My husband likes comedy movies too! Do you know, it is raining here.
Is your family here? You are welcome to come home!
Kanagu: We saw the movie in Sathyam complex and it was WITH SUB TITLES! Try to go there!
Sandhya,am on a blog-break right now. Will come back to read the post and comment in detail. I hopped by to thank you for nominating one of my posts for Avant Garde Awards. Thanks so much,Sandhya :)
Help! Cannot get anyone to watch the movie with me! Guess I will have to wait till they show it on the small screen.
Deeps: Thanks to you too, Deeps! Enjoy your break holidays!
Radha: Same problem here! I wait till my grand niece comes back for holidays (Engg.student) and go with her!
Sandhya..i have come to thank you for your lovely comments and the nice thoughts you have expressed .I want you to know one thing that i respect and regard you a lot ...a lot...and i always will.my pranam.
Kavita: I like reading your great posts and express what I feel.
Thank you and god bless you, Kavita! Be Happy always!
Nice detailed review. I am just contemplating if it would be an appropriate movie for my 5 year old who has never been to a theater before!
Sandhya: A II Std. girl (my niece's cousin) came with us and she enjoyed this movie. She was laughing throughout. Her mother who accompanied her was happy that she brought her daughter to this movie. Amitabh's Hinglish was funny for her! As far as I can remember, it is a family movie. No fights, no item nos.!
Sandhya, I can see your latest post in my reader, but cannot open the page here on your blog- why is that?
Manju: I am sorry, Manju, I have removed that post. That was a nomination list for the AG Awards. Then had second thoughts about making a post out of the list and removed within minutes! My son's advice!! He had been always right!!!
So that was the reason- I was wondering...
I have a habit of listening to my son's advice, too- when children grow up, our roles get reversed, don't they? :)
Manju: Till the children are 12-13 years old, we can expect them to heed to our ADVICE! Then adolescence starts and they wonder why they should heed to us and we still expect them to heed to US!
I feel after they get settled in a job, they are ready to ADVISE US and we should accept it! I am OK with that and moreover, their views seem to be better than mine, in lots of things, nowadays!!
in Sathyam the movie is screened with Subtitles... :shock:...
I can't believe... then I will go :D :D
I don't want to see this movie, I don't know why!
I have started seeing some of the older movies of Amithab, and must say that they are so good! I have decided to watch more of his older movies now.
Destination Infinity
Destination Infinity: Did you watch 'Chupke Chupke'? My teenage favourite Dharmendra also is there in that movie, I din't like him that much in my later years! He did very well in this movie, though!
I am a women in mid forty and recently developed a desired to learn scooty riding. I never drove any vehicle in my life before. But wen i told about my desire of learning scooty to my husband he told me first you learn a bicycle.
Then I bought a second had cycle and started learning . First my husband did not show any interest and told me why you want to do all these. But since I pressurized him he started teaching me. First I was sitting on the bycle and he was holding it from back and running behind the cycle . After 3-4 days he gradually started leaving the cycle and I started riding along. So for few days I practiced on the bicycle and now I can ride bicycle alone independently.
Now I have bought a Maestro scooter and since past few days I am learning to drive it wid the help of my husband. First two days he sat with me & I started riding. On the third I started riding alone though I was very frightened to ride alone from inside. One day I gave race and scooty moved wid speed I got freightened and could not make balance and fell down. I got some wounds also. I am learning half and hour to 1 hr daily. Still I am learning and now I am riding it independently inside park. Still I am riding only inside the park and need lot more practice to take it to the road.
ANONYMOUS: Hope you start riding on your own like a pro, soon! Please write your name Mrs.J or something like that at least. It would be easy to address you! All the best!
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