‘Amitabh Bachchan was behaving like a fool, Abhishek was being philosophical’: R Balki recalls how he came up with idea for Paa

Recalling how the idea for the film Paa came to him, he said, “It happens in a lot of ways. A strange experience is, before I was doing Paa… A lot of people ask me, ‘Oh, how did you think of Paa?’ I say, ‘I hadn’t thought of it’. I had gone to meet Amit ji for some promotions on Cheeni Kum, and for once, Abhishek had walked into the room, and he was being very, very serious and philosophical about something, and Amit ji was behaving like a fool.”

He continued, “He was pulling his leg, saying something, behaving like a kid. So, I was just looking at them and saying, ‘Who’s the father, who’s the son here? If I ever do a film with these two I need to inter-change the roles’. It was in my mind, and I found an ailment to justify this idea…”

In Paa, Amitabh Bachchan plays a 12-year-old boy afflicted with a rare genetic condition known as progeria, while Abhishek plays his father. The film received mixed reviews, but won Amitabh his third National Film Award. Balki and Amitabh have also collaborated on the films Cheeni Kum and Shamitabh. Amitabh appeared in a cameo in Chup: Revenge of the Artist, and is expected to appear in Balki’s next, Ghoomer.