Over the top

I watched Paa, a Bollywood movie about a 12 year old boy named Auro, played by Amitabh Bacchan, who has progeria, a genetic condition that causes advanced aging. The movie is as hat ke as they get in Bollywood, so there was much anticipation leading up to it. I, however, was disappointed. The performances are excellent, but the writing – mainly the plot and character development – are mediocre.

Auro’s biological parents, Vidya and Amol, meet at Cambridge University, where they are both students, and quickly fall in love. Vidya becomes pregnant and Amol urges her to get an abortion to protect his political aspirations. She is angry at his insensitivity and flies home to India to ask her mother what she should do. She decides to have the baby and spitefully resolves never to interfere in Amol’s life, and career, again. She calls Amol to tell him, “your problem has been solved” and promptly breaks up with him. He is relieved, believing she has gotten an abortion, but is sad at the break-up.

12 years later, Amol meets Auro, not knowing about their relationship. He only finds out when Auro becomes gravely ill. Auro’s dying wish is to see them get married. In the closing scene, after Auro’s death, they seem to have gotten back together.

Now to my criticism: although Auro’s dying wish is to see his parents back together, throughout the movie he doesn’t seem particularly aggrieved at being, as he calls it, a “bastard child.” He shows flashes of grief about the fact, but these seem to be passing feelings, and don’t represent any deep-seated insecurity. Indeed, for the most part Auro is a confident, self-possessed boy, unconcerned by his condition or his unique family situation. When Vidya’s mom pushes her to tell Auro about his father, she retorts angrily, “why, he doesn’t even care” (rough translation). So, his dying wish comes somewhat out of the blue. The result is a disjointed plot.