15 Park Avenue

A movie about Schizophrenia, an educational effort on the part of the director at times when most movie seem to be just about skin show. Konkana Sen is a Schizophrenia patient who lives with her sister and mother. The movie is about how the family tries to cope with this disease, while Konkana continues to live in her delusional world. I would have given a 10 to this movie if not for the ending which seemed pretty pointless. Without letting in on the ending, I must say that I do not see the point of having an ending which forces the viewers to try and understand what actually happened in a movie..15 park avenue ended up being a movie like that. I would not call such an ending intellectual, just plain lack of insight on the part of the director, or whoever was responsible for the ending, to realize that the audience would like to know everything when seeing with a movie that deals with such a sensitive topic. That said, Shabana Aazmi,Rahul Bose, Konkana Sen and Wahida Rehman are a delight to watch in the movie. Acting can never be an issue in a movie with Shabana Aazmi and Rahul Bose. I just wish that the end was different. It was the ending that let the movie down a bit. However, still a movie with such an excellent director and wonderful actors should be seen.

I must say it was a let down. Overall its great to see the way Aparna Sen has handled the issue of schizophrenia, I am not much knowledgeable on this and got whatever it was depicted in A Beautiful Mind, and here too its interesting portrayal.

But the thing that caused the let down for me was the artificial dialogues and over use of English. Its true that a new class is being formed/ has been formed in India which talks in English even at home, but I am sure its not as formal as in the movie. Moreover, Waheeda Rehmaan did not seem very comfortable talking everything in English. Charu's dialogue in Bihari tone was seemingly much more realistic and digestible.

The second thing, its about the abstract flavor she has tried to give to the movie. I generally like movies with open ending, but here there were many loose ends. Its like cut pieces are joined together to make the movie. Also there seemed no central theme to the movie. Schizophernia for sure was the main line but intermingling sister-sister, mother-daughter, adding doctor-azmi relation, no real use of brother, Bose - Bose's wife relations..... all were not required and made the audience loose track of what actually did she try to depict.

On the whole, a watch for people who like off-beat movies, a must avoid for the ones who just see movies as an entertainment tool.

If you repeat a lie enough number of times will it become the truth? 15 park avenue is the story of an alternative reality of a schizophrenic (Mithi). The movie is about her search for her home at a fictitious address where her imaginary husband and 5 children live. Aparna Sen delivers yet another masterpiece. Each and every actor of the movie was better than the other. Konkona Sen looks unbelievably convincing as a schizophrenic. She pulls off the role with such ease and maturity beyond her age. Shabana Azmi is incredible as usual. She plays the dominating and fiercely independent elder sister of Mithi who takes care of her ailing sister and aging mother. She refuses to accept that in-spite of all her strength and courage, she still feels lonely at times. This should have been a very easy movie for Rahul Bose. The role was least bit demanding and anyone could have done the role.

The ending of the movie was the most surreal part of the whole park avenue experience. It took me a while to digest that the movie had ended. It left me confused and maybe even a bit disturbed. But later on, it started sinking in. My eyes are black. But if everyone says they are blue, will I still believe that its black??!

After Mr. and Mrs. Iyer it's again Aparna Sen's take on so-called 'parallel' films, this time again with the same lead cast of Konkona Sen and Rahul Bose, both highly gifted actors. And along with them this time she's got the genius of Shabana Azmi. Now as far as the theme of the movie is concerned, I must say it is indeed very mature especially in terms of Indian cinema. It deals with a very common yet disturbing example of social problems. And Sen included many social clichés to make that flavor of this film complete. Though there are a few (romantic) subplots that I personally feel unnecessary.

I won't waste space discussing the story. It's better to dive straight into the film's analysis. Sen is indeed lucky to have a cast that deliver excellent performances altogether. Konkona is her usual natural talented self as the schizophrenic girl Meethi. After "Page 3" and this, it is quite clear that she's going to be one of those very few actresses who are remembered for a long time solely for their acting abilities. But Azmi is just magnificent as Meethi's tough and over-protective elder sister. Her performance is indeed worthy to be nominated for any international award. Rahul Bose, though appears in a much shorter duration of the film, does a perfect job as Meethi's love interest Joydeep. There are also fine performances by Dhritiman Chatterjee and Waheeda Rehman.

There are three minor drawbacks of this film, if I'm at all to discuss them. One is screenplay. Overall it's not bad, but should have been better especially when it deals with such a ripe subject. There are many places where the script lacked the necessary sharpness. And Sen sometimes seemed to forget that the characters are actually peoples of Calcutta. No Calcuttan, even when speaking English, refers to a taxi as "cab"; or the drug Diazepam is never marketed in India as "Valium" -- it's only a US trade name. Such examples only make the script appear a tad artificial. Two is background music. Well, it utterly lacked variation. Every time I paid attention to the background music it appeared as if some horror film is going on... even during Joy and Meethi's wedding. And three is the ending.

I heard many people who think that the ending is highly influenced by a famous scene in the film "Finding Neverland". I don't argue with them... in fact in a way they are quite right. I can only say that though the 'presenting fashion' of this ending is indeed similar to that scene, the substances of the two are hardly comparable as these two are completely different kinds of films. Even though I didn't like its presentation, I still think the ending (and perhaps only the ending) carries the best signature of Sen's creative genius.

After Mrs and Mr. Iyer this is yet another very good film by Aparna sen(mostly in English). In the earlier film she treated a contemporary political environment and its effect on individuals. In this film it is the impact of mentally disabled member of the family and its impact on the family. As a parallel sub theme she treats a philosophical concept on "reality". It is a film which leads to thinking after seeing the film.

Mithee the younger sister (Konkana Sen Sharma, the daughter of Aparna Sen) is suffering from Schizophrenia being taken care of by the dominant elder sister Anjali (Shabana Azmi) . Mithee after her marriage with Jojo and separation from him believes that she is still with JOJO and her five children in 15 Park avenue in Kolkotta.(there is no such address in Kolkotta-it seems there is one in New York) and she is intense in her belief. It is almost like an intense religious belief. Ultimately what is reality? In one scene she tells Anjali "if I tell you that you are not a professor but only imagine that you are a professor". The open ending reflects this reality. In a supposedly search for her home in park avenue, Mithee is lost. The penultimate scene is Mithee looking at a group of five children playing and her looking at them with joy of returning to her family and then she is lost. About this concept of reality I am reminded of another film of fifties called HARRY with James Stewart. The protagonist believes that a big sized rabbit (?), called Harry is always with him and he is always conversing with him. At the end even the doctor believes perhaps there is Harry. What is reality, is it what the protagonist believes or what other believe Shabhna Azmi dominates the film with her sterling performance as the strong elder sister with undercurrent of frustration. Konkana Sen Sharma gives equally befitting performance as the schizophrenic.

Yet the film is not as tight as Mrs and Mr. Iyer. There appear to be some loose ends. And perhaps there are too many characters. Those who want a closed ending may not appreciate the open ending here. But the ending befits the theme of the film.

Yet another good film by Aparana sen.