Just a few days back, all of us in our family went to the movie PAA.  Many say that this film is inspired by the 1996 Ford Coppollo’s film Jack with Robin Williams essaying a similar role with ageing disorder. But R. Balakrishnan (his screen credit put his name as R. Balki) who directed and scripted the film clearly said that his primary objective of the movie was to reverse the roles of the father-son duo Amitab-Abhishek.

The movie itself bears out the director’s testimony. Progeria at best is like a background, floating in and out of the drama unfolding on the screen. I immediately felt the distinct contrast of PAA with Taare Zameen Par – a movie that took a very serious look at the disorder of dyslexia. One reason could perhaps be the vastly differing statistics. While only one in 8 million could have Progeria, almost one in 100 children have some form of dyslexia, hence making it a more socially identifiable disease.

Of course the biggest feature of the movie is undoubtedly Amitab’s essaying of the Progeria affected Auro. The Economics Times review speaks of to not be Amitab Bachchan and still deliver bigtime. To be able to deliver a stunning performance without the characteristic features that identify him (his height, voice etc) calls for some superlative skills. Of course, the make-up skills of Christien Tinsley (The Passion of The Christ, Catwoman) and Dominie Till (King Kong, Lord of the Rings) – taking all of 6 hours to put on – deserves an equal mention.

Another interesting comparison of PAA is with the Scott Fitzgerald’s 1922 novel “The curious case of Benjamin Button” and made into a movie in 2008. Here, Benjamin is born as a 70-year old person and ages backwards! 

India has a very distinct link to Progeria too.  Bisul khan and Razia Khatooon’s family in Chhapra, Bihar has seven children, of which five are Progeria patients. It is the only country in the world with such an unenviable statistic. Out Of the five, three daughters, Guriya, Rehana and Rubina are dead; having passed away at the ages of 17,24 and 13 respectively.Two children Sanjita (21 year old) and Gulab Shah(7 year old) are normal. Of the two sons Ikramul (23) and Ali Hosain (22), Ikramul died about a week back. His unfulfilled desire was to meet Amitab Bhacchan who played the title role in PAA.

Overall, PAA was a very enjoyable movie for the simple reason that there were some real funny one-liners and rib-tickling moments that take away the weary feeling we all have at the end of a tiring day. And that is what happened to all of us that day!