Father (2009)

A father tries to help his son cope with a rare condition that causes the young boy to age beyond his years.

Director:

R. Balki

Writer:

R. Balki

Stars:

Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan

17 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Amitabh Bachchan	...	Auro
Abhishek Bachchan	...	Amol Arte
Vidya Balan	...	Dr. Vidya
Paresh Rawal	...	Mr. Arte
Arundathi Nag	...	Vidya's mother
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Saurabh Agarwal	...	(as Saurabh Aggarwal)
Shikha Arora	...	Woman in Park
Rupali Arte
Jaya Bachchan	...	Narrator (as Jaya Bhaduri)
Divya Bhatia
Karan Bhiwandiker
Sanjay Chauhan
Nimmit Daiya	...	Abhishek
Ramakant Dayma	...	Amol's Secretary (as Ramakant Dayama)
Dhruvin Doshi

Storyline

Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent and witty 13-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated aging. He suffers from a progeria-like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks five times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) who is a gynecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is young, progressive and a full-of-ideals politician. He is out to prove to the world that 'politics' is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol's son.

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Plot Keywords:

motherhood | cricket the sport | boy wears eyeglasses | politician | school | 

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Taglines:

A very rare father-son son-father story...

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Amitabh Bachchan's makeup/prosthetics as Aurol Arte took six hours to apply.

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Goofs

The Honda accord which Vidya owns shuffles between 2000 model and 2008 model throughout the movie.

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Crazy Credits

Although appeared in over hundred films, the opening credits read Amitabh Bachchan as 'introducing', as he plays a child in the film.

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Connections

Featured in 55th Idea Filmfare Awards (2010)

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Soundtracks

Auro
Composed by Ilaiyaraaja
Courtesy of Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series)

User Reviews

You got to see this cinematic excellence.

"Paa" evidently proves that Bollywood has still not lost it all and we still have film-makers who can deliver movies at par with the other parts of the world. Yes, the story-idea may have been borrowed from Francis Ford Coppola's "Jack" and the make-up may remind you of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". But at the same time, it's also true that "Paa" has nothing else related to these two names.

"Paa" certainly belongs to its director R. Balki and the phenomenon called Amitabh Bachchan. Just when everybody thought that this man has done it all, he comes up with an extraordinary and out of the world character named "Auro". What's even more astonishing in his portrayal is that you never find the real Amitabh Bachchan anywhere on the screen in those two hours. In the entire past comprising all his mammoth blockbusters, Amitabh has always been there as a Bollywood persona hidden in his on screen characters. But here is a movie where you know that there is Amitabh featuring in it, but you still can never feel him on the celluloid. He simply adopts a completely different soul minus his world famous style and baritone voice structure. And that's the magical spell, cast by the magician actor. Truly speaking, Amitabh literally sends every reviewer in search of new words to praise his impeccable and incomparable act of 'Auro' in "Paa".

Right from the first scene introducing "Auro" in his school function, the veteran actor makes you believe what you are seeing. He humbly forces every viewer in the theater to admit that he is watching the most accomplished actor of all times who has just walked beyond any number games and Bollywood Titles. Especially in the scenes where he is interacting with his kid friends in their own school lingo and in the emotional climax sequence inside the hospital, Auro goes on to set new benchmarks for the entire Indian Film Industry. Though the script has some unnecessary references of political activities and slums which could have been easily avoided, but the spotless performances of the entire cast don't let you ponder over these needless insertions and the movie goes on impressing you continuously.

Unexpectedly Amitabh is not the only one to watch out in the movie. He is superbly supported by three highly talented people in the cast lead by Vidya Balan as a tough mother who raises Auro on her own with the help of her mother. For Vidya's effortless performance, I would only like to say that in all these years of movie watching, she is the only female actress who reminded me of Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan and her flawless natural acting.To feel what I am trying to say, just carefully watch the scene where Vidya gives Auro her approval to visit Delhi. She exactly acts like Jaya in that particular scene.

Abhishek Bachchan as the truthful politician and father of 'Auro', delivers another polished act on the lines of his "Guru" and "Yuva". He comes up with a very controlled emotional performance and never tries to outshine any other person in the scene. Both Vidya and Abhishek share a very cozy chemistry on screen which actually helps a lot in enhancing the overall impact of 'Auro' on the viewers.

The third worth mentioning act comes from Arundhati Naag, who plays Vidya's mother and Auro's naani, whom he fondly calls as Bums. Her praise worthy act emerges as a strong pillar in addition to the other stalwarts present in the movie. Paresh Rawal again remembers his immense talent after few irresponsible acts in some brainless movies. Last but not the least come all the child artists in the movie, who are intelligent enough to understand the pain and suffering of their friend "Auro" and try to help him out wherever they can. It was really nice to see that 'Auro' was not being teased in his school as suggested by the promos. In fact it was very thoughtful to show all the kids having the empathy to feel the abnormality 'Auro' was born with.

Musically, the film has the maestro Illayaraja to give exactly what was needed as per the subject. His theme music is pleasant and his songs don't act as a hindrance in the narration. R. Balki very skillfully uses the songs in their short versions and in the background wherever needed. Dialogues are intelligent, witty and well written. Cinematography by P.C. Sreeram is remarkable. He brilliantly uses innovative camera angles to portray the character of "Auro" and his abnormal body structure. But what makes "Paa" so believable is the unimaginable make-up done by Christien Tinsley and Domini Till. Kudos to the duo to achieve this herculean task and hats off to Amitabh Bachchan for undergoing such a painful process in this age.

Honestly, the main highlight of the movie is that even when the story revolves around a diseased character with an abnormal behavior, the director is simply not interested in taking you onto an emotional journey at all. So, "Paa" is not just another tear jerker as expected by many. On the contrary it's a very enjoyable movie having many light entertaining moments with 'Auro' for everyone in the family. And for that the director R. Balki rightly deserves all the praises.

In short the movie is an amazing must watch experience for everyone still enjoying the gift of life at any age. It makes you realize the importance of all your days left in the count. And on the top it has a performance which can easily be kept along with any world class act by any actor in the entire globe. In other words, only one statement can match the unbelievably expressive and impressive act of Amitabh Bachchan in the movie.

He once again proves that at present he is the only "Big Paa" for the entire Indian film Industry.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

4 December 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Father

Box Office

Budget:

INR150,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$199,228, 6 December 2009

Gross USA:

$199,228

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$230,422

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (A.B.C.L.), Mad Entertainment, Reliance Big Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1