Paa.. Wah! Wah!

I forgot that Auro was Amitabh.

I didn’t even care much that the kid was so tall.

He was Auro. The witty intelligent 13 year old giving his friend Amol reasons why he couldn’t bring his friends for a Rashtrapathi Bhavan visit – because if he took just one of them, the others would get angry. The kid who runs away from a little girl in school who keeps coming after him to give him something. Who calls his granny ‘Bum’ because she has a big bum. Maybe he seems a bit too smart for his age when he mouths those clever lines. But forget his height, understand that he has Progeria, and Auro is just another 13 year old.

Abhishek has done a good job in his role and we get a whole lot of gyan on politics and slum problems. (We need it! No matter how much gyan India seems to get, it doesn’t change.) When interacting with Auro, Abhi is natural.

Vidya Balan is gorgeous. Her voluptuous figure only adds to her beauty. Curly hair knotted in a low bun adds sexy nonchalance. Her predominantly brown outfits in the flashback scenes and the sarees she wears later are to die for.

There are some lines which jolt you with their brilliance and meaningfulness. Auro jokes that politicians wear white (which people do only at funerals) because the country is dying. It just made me exclaim praise.

About Auro’s chimp dance… many would think it’s really cute – for a kid it would have been cute. To me it came across as way too childish and annoying – make Bachchan act as a kid, but this doesn’t work.

Coming back to the good aspects – Paresh Rawal is well cast. He is good both as a serious actor and a comedian. He did have his moment of comedy, when a bed ridden Auro tells him that there’s not much time left and he begins talking very emotionally, thinking Auro is going to die while Auro was talking about the visiting hours. (Auro does die, which is a sad ending indeed L). Bum Dadi Ma is also well cast. But I wish she’d dressed better than a maid servant.

A major plus point of Paa is that it has just the right touch of comedy and emotion. The climax is not long drawn. It is wrapped up in two scenes.

After Cheeni Kum, Balki has once again proven himself in Bollywood. Like Cheeni Kum, Paa is different (even while it has some clichés). Both the films are refreshing and relaxing with witty dialogues that make the audiences smile and writers feel proud. Will recommend Paa to a zillion people. And of course I am looking forward eagerly to Balki’s next film.