Omkar Shetty delves into the essence of parenthood and love through characters that are products of their circumstances.
Aaron review: Engaging and emotional journey of a teenager
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 07 Dec 2018 / Rated: U/A / 01hr 55min
Suparna Thombare
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Mumbai, 06 Dec 2018 16:00 IST
Updated: 07 Dec 2018 16:16 IST
Director Omkar Shetty's Aaron is the story of a 15-year-old, Babu (Atharva Padhye), from a small village in Maharashtra, who takes off on a journey to find his mother in Paris, France.
Accompanying him is his Kaka (Shashank Ketkar), determined to reunite the boy he has brought up with his mother (Swastika Mukherjee). Kaku (Neha Joshi) is an emotional wreck but happy for Babu, who has yearned to come face to face with his mother throughout his growing years.
While his mother left him in the care of his Kaka and Kaku (paternal uncle and aunt) at a very young age, his only connection to his biological mother is the letters they write to each other.
We learn about the bond Babu shares with his Kaka and Kaku in the form of flashbacks, used effectively as the story unfolds in the present. Revealing one layer at a time, Shetty constructs an engrossing screenplay.
The film is heavy on emotions as it tries to discover through the eyes of a young boy what parenthood and unconditional love really mean.
Aaron's production quality is high and the performances of the primary cast are consistent all around. The film, however, belongs to young Padhye who gets the pulse of his character.
As a good-hearted teenager who can't get his biological mother out of his mind and is coming to terms with adult subjects like drug abuse, abandonment, parenthood and being lied to by those closest to him, Padhye touches you with his performance.
The writing of all the characters comes with a justification for their actions, especially that of the mother, who failed to take care of her child when faced with tribulations in her life.
There are a few loopholes in the script (like why could they not go to the police to find the missing mother), but the director neatly covers it up with some explanations.
As many road movies go, the adventure of the characters often naturally leads to a few light moments. Aaron has a few of those to break the drama. The banter between Babu and his Kaka also creates several heartwarming moments.
A few patches do turn monotonous, especially the time when days are passing by and the search bears no fruit. Perhaps a device to connect you to all the trouble the characters are going through.
The drama and emotions unfolding on the screen are engaging enough, and the heavy, at times jarring, background score points to an overkill.
Even so, Aaron is potent with emotions of pain, longing, motherhood and the human search for love and belonging.