Paa, in addition to multiple awards (that I am sure it will fetch) should win the Simplest Movie of the Year award. Its a wonderfully simple story, narrated in a simplistic fashion from the eyes of Auro. It is honestly, as if watching the world from the eyes of a kid.

Amol (Abhishek Bachchan) is a politic, ala Rahul Gandhi (or Sachin Pilot, if you will). Young, suava, sophisticated, committed and single! In his normal world, he bumps into Auro (Amitabh Bachchan), a 13-year old kid suffering from a rare genetic disorder Progeria. The disease speeds up the aging process, thereby making Auro look like an 80-old year old.

But Auro is happy. He has a fantastic mom (Vidya Balan, looking at her best!) and a cool grandmom (Arundhati Naag – where was she all this while) whom he fondly calls Bum, for obvious reasons! And in his happy world, he strikes a chord with Amol, which blossoms into a wonderful relation. Ofcourse, its only the audience that knows that Amol-Auro are actually father-son!

What follows is a wonderful father-son relationship unfolding through the eyes of Auro (and more importantly experienced by the audience). The dialogues are fantastic…crisp, funny (remind you of Dil Chahta Hain) and Amitabh is at his best.

I thought of who all could have done this role, in Indian Cinema and could think of anyone apart from Kamal Hassan. Maybe Aamir?

Needless to say, full credit to the make-up artists Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till who made this look totally unbelievable and yet believable! And for the director Kalki to bring about such masters together.

A Comparison to Taare Zameen Par is unevitable, and I find the battle a little hard to resolve. Unlike TZP, Paa doesnt focus on the sensitivities of the disease. It has a few unnecessary sub-plots (political wars, love story etc). So while I would call TZP a social movie which saw commercial success, Paa is a commercial movie meant to simply entertain. Its another thing that in the process it has brought forward Progeria and some astonishing stories!

Acting performances are top-notch. ALL are awesome! Even Paresh Rawal in his teeny role! The music begins with the catchy Mudi-Mudi track and continues with the “hummable-but not fantabulous” music!

Overall, a great movie to catch, for the sheer genius of Amitabh Bachchan! And the art of simple and effective story-telling!

Rating 4.5/5