Paa is a brilliant work of art by Balki and team. I’d recommend it for Amitabh, Vidya Balan, PC Sreeram, Anil Naidu and of course Maestro Ilaiyaraaja.
Maestro has worked his magic in the "background." Balki’s use of songs and Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics fit like a T into the situations (now after watching the movie, I like the songs even better since a lot of thought has gone into giving them shape - great teamwork by Balki, Maestro and Swanand).
There are some distracting moments in the narrative but in the overall scheme of things, it is an out of the box thinking from Balki yet again, after Cheeni Kum. He is now a force to reckon with. Amitabh is nowhere to be seen in the movie. Auro completely keeps him under the covers. Vidya Balan is pretty good...she shows that she is not only pretty but a good artist too...she is quite amazing as a single mother who brings Auro up.
I was on the edge of the seat trying to closely follow the dialogues while trying also not to fall off my seat. Crisp dialogues, awesome performances, eye-candy camerawork, warm art direction (Lucknowites could live in houses with Ikea type furniture upholstered with Fabindia type fabric and accessories) - all this for under a budget of 15 crores, is remarkable.
Music was the subtlest yet the most effective part of the entire narrative. The way the 7/8 time signature and the Hichki song is used in the song sequence and then again the same altered to fit the airport scene, is just one instance of how the Music filled our hearts and minds through the movie. There is really none like Maestro Ilaiyaraaja with respect to the range and versatility of scoring for various themes and situations - be it rustic, classical or contemporary.