If Bollywood movies are to be believed, life in India is just one long song-and-dance routine, replete with swirling colors and dazzling costumes. And it matters not whether the subject be comedy, drama, romance, politics, poverty or - as in the case of "Paa" - Progeria, an incurable genetic disorder that causes a person to age at an alarmingly accelerated rate, so that a mere child will have the appearance and body of an octogenarian before hitting puberty (think of it as Benjamin Button in reverse). It is a condition that invariably ends in premature death around the age of thirteen. Such is the fate facing Auro (an adult Amitabh Bachchan in prosthetic makeup), a bright and spunky twelve-year-old boy with the physical condition and ailments common to a man in his 80s. Auro is plucked from relative obscurity when the newly elected MP (Abhishek Bachchan) takes a liking to him – only to discover that Auro is his very own son whom he abandoned years ago when his girlfriend, Vidya (Vidya Balan), became pregnant and led him to believe she was going to have an abortion.Like many Bollywood productions, "Paa" suffers from excessive length, an overabundance of sentimentality, and a too-cheery disposition towards the vicissitudes and hardships of life – and, of course, the seemingly insatiable need for the aforementioned musical numbers. However, in this instance at least, saner heads seem to have prevailed, since such scenes are kept to a reasonable minimum, even though the running time of 136 minutes is still far too long for the story it has to tell. The movie, written and directed by R Balki, also can't entirely resist the temptation to make Auro an object of humor (though not of ridicule), and it really turns on the waterworks as it heads to its predestined tragic conclusion.All that being said, "Paa" has moments of genuine originality and charm, and its subject matter itself is so unusual and compelling that many of its imperfections can be readily forgiven.

After strong recommendations, reviews and mass approvals for this movie, I was slightly disappointed after watching it. No doubt Amitabh Bachhan's (AB) performance was brilliant - largely attributed to his make up and the lisp to talk like a 12 year old. What was disappointing was that the movie lacked emotion. The movie was staged around a 12 year old boy suffering from this rare disease - Progeria, but it failed to give it's central theme more depth and understanding of the character. The boy's life is shown to be perfectly normal, school life is superb with a lot of friends and no social stigma whatsoever. Traditionally you will see this flaw in some other Balki directed movies as well - "Cheeni Kum" wherein you have this extremely happy cancer suffering girl "Sexy". The whole personification of some of his characters lack reality and seem to be overtly precocious. By the end it seemed just like any other Bollywood flick with the only difference being a child born with Progeria.Maybe I was benchmarking the movie to "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and in comparison the movie definitely failed. Also, in comparison to the movie "Taare Zameen Pe" which was staged around the central theme of Dyslexia where the character was an 8 year old boy, Paa was not a comparison. While it was a novel idea and a great performance by AB, I felt the movie could have been so much better for the 2.5 hours time that it ran for. Poor dialogues and average music did not make things any better. The great thing was the movie did not waste its time on showing the early romance between Vidya Balan and Abhishek Bachaan, which ideally should have given more time to focus on the central character- 12 year old boy. It should have focused more on challenges faced by the boy, his emotions, his understanding of the disease and the world as seen from his vision.In all, the movie lacks to integrate and have a unified central theme. The only take away from the movie is the brilliant make up done for AB and his performance which truly has no parallel. For only that, I recommend you make time for it and watch.

Again i had high expectations from this movie , but then again this movie disappointed me. Abhishek characterized as his father's father was a fairly interesting and ironical plot, but the director didn't even come close to making an exceptional film. The plot was extraordinary, this doesn't mean that the director should add some regular, non-interesting mirch masala in it. The relationship between abhishek and vidya was irredeemably stupid, and the end was as always obvious. Some instances prove that amitabh is really intelligent whereas some say that he believed he was lucky to be considered as intelligent. For e.g: In the beginning abhishek is impressed with amitabh's 'out of the box' thinking to make that white globe, but later amitabh confesses that he forgot to paint it and had no such idea of world unity. Patients suffering from Progeria(or pregoria or whatever) don't look like that, no one has SUCH A BIG HEAD when he is 12 still i witness people admiring the make up of amitabh like anything. This movie did'nt 'move' me , not even on ONE instance. The hospital drama was supposed to be touching and heart-breaking but i didn't shed a tear, i didn't even get shivers down my spine , i just sat with hands folded, waiting for these desperate little attempts which were trying to 'move' me, subside. Paresh Rawal was hardly shown in the film. They should have used him much more , at least for the sake of some quality and fun in the movie. In the end, i tried to hide my criticism about the movie, but i just couldn't cover it. Anyways, for the little one liner jokes in the movie which i did like, i rate this movie... - 5.5/10

I have never heard of R. Balki or watched his previous film. This film was an experience in lot of senses. This movie is akin to "Elephant Man" who lived in England and suffered myriad of agony, albeit those times there was no genetic studies. There were few incredible scenes that melted the die-hards. Same token, there were few scenes that could have been written with more depth. The one scene-when Auro first comes to know about his father-the way the photo is shown and the emotion displayed and the time traversed is not in tune with the rest of the emotionally tugging scenes. The trick camera work that makes a Big man into a little person is amazing. Techinically, Indian Cinema has marveled but it was the story and screenplay that lacked behind. The story is very poignant and the actors excel in portraying. Amitab is an Icon who was born to act, but the best acting belongs to Vidya Balan as "Dr.Vidya". I have seen better acting from Abishek. Good movies have few things in common-they are written and produced by the same person. Balki's dialogs are good but too many references to a four letter word was not necessary and the point about pollution could have been made by other means. The movie is good when a story is well told and good references made to moral bankrupt(the couple consulting Dr.Viday for abortion-with there sole reason being too busy to have a child.) Suffice to say we need more movies like "Paa" and less movies like "Kurbaan" "Three Idiots" just to name a few. Rotten actors like Aamir Khan should be kicked out of the industry since their sole purpose is to enrich themselves at the expense of the unsuspecting audience. This movie should be an Oscar Nominee and a not a demeaning crap like "Lagaan".