Paa-wonderful film.
This is Amitabh Bachchan’s Opus majus. He has already made a special place, very special place in our cinema by having scripts written around a man who is past his sixty. Today he can hang his boots not with just the satisfaction that he has made his quota of tons of money (or enough for a few others) but also for having his best. Every bollywood star first works to create an image of his own. Latter this image eats into the actor. The actor shrinks proportionately to the growth of the image of the star. Most often, this is a choice that the artist makes and lives with. Cultivated and treasured, the image is larger than the persona. Sooner than later the star completely consumes the artist. So is it with Bachchan. In this context Paa comes as a whiff of fresh air. It is thus wonderfully refreshing to see him overcome his cultivated image. Completely stripped of all the props and trappings that made him the super star : the brood, the sophistication, the anger, the baritone, are all not hidden but buried in the immensely likable 80 year old looking teenager Aura. He lives every moment of the script and ensures that the film does not go over board with tears. In the final moments it sure touches your heart but on the way to the climax, he ensures that you enjoy the character and his wit.
Vidya Balan is not just awesome but in the pre interval script effortlessly and with class reaches out to you like no contemporary actress – save Dimple could have. This is truly a compelling performance and a reiteration that our cinema will continue to part with millions without making the difference between the wheat and chaff. Porcelain vulnerability and internal strength make a classic combination. Take your hat off but slowly – even that may hurt here. As an interpretation, this is one that should stand alongside some of the best. It is a reminder that art is about subtlety. It is about depth. It is also about reaching within, to reach beyond. For an actress who has for long attracted flak for her sense f dress, she turns out gorgeous and her dress designer has got her a wonderful wardrobe of cottons. As a single mother who not only has the trauma of a child with a fatal genetic disorder, but a past catching up her she brings great credibility and respectability to the role. This far, it is truly her best film.
Abhishek Bachchan yet again points out that he is best doing challenging roles. It is good to see him in roles outside of the clichéd. He plays the new generation politician, trained in management and who is focused to ensure that the electorate and does it with sincerity. There are some who believe that the script needlessly meanders into politics etc. I beg to differ. Director Balik obviously moves a little away from the main narrative to ensure some balance and space for the audience. Abhishek thus carries the onus of having to keep interest in the goings on and this he does with great success .

Technically if the stars- sorry the actors, add great credibility, the technical support is just as good. Take Illayaraja”s musical score. It has class and concern written all over. Take for instance the brilliant cinematography of Sriram and you realise that the team has truly invested its soul into the film



Paa is a wonderfully scripted film of a differently placed person. It is neither a sympathy seeking nor a sermon giving indulgence. In contrast, it is an attempt (very successful one at that!) at telling a simple tale of a victim of progeria – a genetic disorder. Auro grows up and lives with his single parent Vidya (Vidya Balan), a practising gynaecologist and his grandma Bum (Arundhati Naag). He goes to a school, where children are normal and not vicious as ever so often portrayed in our cinema. The school and his friends specially Vishnu (Pratik Katare) deal with him in a near normal way. The Chief Guest at a school function Amol Atre (Abhishek Bachchan) takes a liking for him. Auro wants to see the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in the Capital. Amol makes the promise, but forgets about it, in the midst of his life as a politician fighting for better living conditions of his electorate.
Push back a little and Vidya a student at Oxford meets up with Amol a management student. They begin to see each other. Vidya becomes pregnant. When Amol perceives the arrival of the stork as a career hindrance, she walks out of the relationship. She takes up the challenge of rearing the progeria affected child without Amol. She does not want to be a hiccup to the political dreams of Amol.. With dignity in tact she just disappears from his life ( a watershed role in our cinema of a self respecting woman) No tears, no wailing no complaints. She simply moves on. Tragedy shadows her in the form of the son being affected by progeria. She fights it wonderfully. She is often tempted to tell her son that Amol is his father. Amol and Auro spend a day together in Delhi and return. A chanced reference to the expression: Bastard, accelerates the coming together of the parents in a smooth finish.

Watch the film for Bachchan. Amazing. Even by his standards this is truly a riveting performance. Stripped completely of his mannerisms of decades, he reaches out. He has been completely ‘deamitabhised’ and from there he delivers. It is a stand out performance and something that is to be seen in the context of Bollywood cinema where nothing of this kind is to be seen any where near abouts.
Finally the film is truly a Director’s achievement. From its conception to its execution, you can see the sensitivity. The tragic tale appeals more than gnaws. Do not miss the smart one liners and repartee and you will understand that you are seeing a truly class film- a rare experience. Those who thought that Cheeni Kum was a good film, would enjoy this even better. Paa in a context is more Maa thanks largely for Vidya Balan.
It is not a film you must see. It is a film you must see again.
L.Ravichander.

De Dhana Dan: Starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy, Paresh Rawal Direction: Priyadarshan
Got to watching this Indian film at a multiplex theatre one very cold night in New York. If nothing, the film was worth watching for the decibel levels of the sound system in the theatre and the behaviour of the crowd. We often talk about how are film makers do not make the grade? Do we as an audience? Perhaps our cinema is loud because our audience is such. Yet another strange factor is that if the same predominant Indian audience can be so well behaved outside of the country where is it lost within?
Priyadarshan has a signature of his own and the choice therefore is that of the viewer. Caveat Emptor. The yardsticks of evaluating a humour piece are different. Good comedies with a sense of humour , more than just the slap stick variety have eluded our cinema surely in more recent times when our cinema has left the subtle and has chosen the loud as its defining style..
Chaos, the illogical, speed are factors that energize a Priyadarshan script. He has surely made for himself a place that is very different from the one cultivated with style and concern by the likes of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Chaterjee.. Like many of his earlier films he sets out to present a laugh riot. This is a riot truly..
De Dhana Dhan gives aplenty . Good or bad is very individualistic in perception. One golden rule to comedy is brevity. This is a great challenge to our cinema. Schooled in the belief that a film should necessarily last over two hours , directors tend to go overboard and this could defeat the purpose of a well meaning comedy. Resultantly the audience begins to stop laughing at the gags. They begin to ask questions and look for logic. This can be counter-productive in the space of comedy cinema.
The narrative is people and incident packed. The story revolves around two friends Nithin (Akshay Kumar) and Ram Mishra (Sunil Shetty) who are no gooders. Both are hoping that fortune would walk in through the door. Nithin’s shrew and master (Archana Puran Singh) makes life difficult and his love life with Anjali(Katrina) is a prey to the vile of her dad (Tinu Anand) Ram’s girl Manpreet (Sameera) is scared that Dad (Manoj Joshi) would have her married to some money bag. Out there to marry her is Nommy Chada (Chunkey Pandey) the son of Chada (Paresh Rawal) who too is looking for the shortest route to wealth.
For different reasons all of them land up In a hotel Pan Pacific . A motley collection of people which includes Misa Heerapurwala (a lecherous Shakti Kapoor) the girl he hops to wed or bed Anu chopra ( Neha Dhupiya), a former Ambassador Lamba (Vikram Gokhale) a supari killer Kala (Johnny Lever) Mamu (Asrani) and Inspector Pereira (Sharat Saxena) . Chaos rules with crisis of identity or purpose and everyone is trying to conceal or reveal something. This part of the script has tremendous potential for a hilarious finish and you are hoping that it is going to be just great. Then comes the climax which literally takes you off guard.
A film like this does not give too much time or space to an actor to leave an impression. With characters walking in and out they are given time just to deliver and not leave an impression. However from among those who have some time it is the Priyadarshan favorites : Akshay and Paresh who get the best lines. Unfortunately when most things are happening, the script does not need Akshay and in a way this is the undoing of the narrative. Paresh’s timing and Akshay’s energy contribute to the film. The rest of the cast does nothing to leave any impression and this includes the inform Katrina and the dazed Sameera.
The film is recommended for the simple reason that beyond a point a laugh does not harm, even if you get the lurking feeling that the director too is having it at your expense.
L.Ravichander