Vidya Balan on R. Balki's offer of 'Paa': 'I thought why would he come to me to play Amitabh Bachchan’s mother?'

Directed by R Balki, Paa is one of those rare films where a real-life father and son duo played up their relationship on-screen, but with their roles reversed. While Paa introduced Amitabh Bachchan as a 13-year-old boy (Auro), suffering from progeria, a rare, progressive genetic disorder, Abhishek essayed the role of his father (Amol Arte). The film also featured actress Vidya Balan, who played the role of Amitabh’s mother (Dr Vidya). While the film was well received by the audience as well as critics, did you know that it was not an easy choice for Vidya to accept the film? The actress was initially shocked over receiving the offer from director R Balki.

While speaking during an interview, the actress had once admitted that she got the film’s script read by some of her friends before accepting the offer.

Why was Vidya Balan left shocked after receiving Paa’s script?

In an interaction with the Humans of Bombay, the actress shared how she was left in shock after R Baldi came to her with Paa’s script. “Firstly I thought, ‘What kind of story is this? He’s mad’. And why would he come to me to play Amitabh Bachchan’s mother?”, she said further adding that it was the only script that she shared with her friends. 

“As an actor, I wanted to jump at it, but I wanted a few people to read it and tell me what they thought. And they all said, ‘My God, you must do this.’ But it took me a while to say yes. It wasn’t a calculated decision. But I was responding to my gut,” Vidya added. 

After the Kahaani actress agreed to the role, she nailed it to perfection. Notably, Vidya Balan is not the only one who was hesitant to work on the movie. Abhishek Bachchan also wasn’t much convinced about the film and initially refused to act in it. On the occasion of Paa completing 10 years, the actor shared a long post noting how R Balki spent an entire day to convince him. 

For the unversed, the film also marked Abhishek Bachchan’s debut as a producer.

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