15 Park Avenue

Aparna Sen casts some great actors for this wonderful fantastical story of perception which conveys the many ambiguous faces of the human cognitive mind and imagination. 15 Park Avenue is an appreciable effort, but not fully realised, with several aspects seeking to be explored a little more. The fact that it was shot entirely in English is also quite a mystery, because it automatically makes much of it look unnatural. That said, the film is very entertaining, very slick in terms of cinematography and production, and brilliantly acted. Needless to say, it is Konkona Sen Sharma who steals the thunder. Sharma dazzles as Meethie, erasing everything she is and disappearing into the role to deliver a disturbingly convincing performance which is one of the most impressive of our times. She is just mind-blowing, dominating her scenes with amazing intensity and wavering between comic and entertaining, and moving and unsettling. It's sad that such a brilliant act was hardly noticed. Waheeda Rehman is as good as one would imagine her be, but Shabana Azmi, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is probably the weakest link. This is one of her least impressive performances, and much of it might be due to the English dialogue, which took its toll on one of the greatest actresses of Indian cinema. She often seems to be too cerebral, too thoughtful, and as a result, not very relatable. Rahul Bose and Shefali Shah provide good support. 15 Park Avenue is an interesting and well made picture which could have been better, but the performance of Sen Sharma makes up for many of its flaws.

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.

Boasting of a host of talented cast and one of the most acclaimed filmmakers, 15 Park Avenue takes us to a dark philosophical journey. It's about a young schizophrenic lady, her intellectual sister, her ex-fiancée, her mother and the people surrounding them who are looking for only one thing...something they can never find. Konkona Sen Sharma is without any doubt the most talented actress of today's generation. Her portrayal of the schizophrenic Meethi is so realistic (more so than that of Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind). Shabana Azmi is always dependable and here too she is fantastic, as is Waheeda Rehman who plays the helpless mother, Rahul Bose and Shefali Shah. The film takes place in India and Bhutan and the cinematography adds more to the mysteriousness of the world these characters live in. The film is open to interpretation and I have my own but I won't mention it as you should have your own view. I strongly recommend all to watch this wonderful movie.

i went to watch this film with my family who were expecting a neatly conclusive story like ''mr.& mrs.iyer''.and they returned home thoroughly disappointed.so,this is a warning to all ''conclusive story lovers'' to stay away.15 park avenue does not seek to answer questions or provide moral solutions on how to treat the mentally challenged.rather its intention is loud and clear.it questions every human being's,sane or not,sense of reality.in fact for me it even arouses doubts about my taken-for-granted sense of sanity.the security,bondage,satisfaction that i find in my present,is it really what i am or does it really create an illusion that all of us desperately and sometimes ignorantly cling on to just to falsely console the neglected 'meethi' which exists in all of us in some way or the other? so,why does anjali so maniacally makes it a point to show off her strength of mind when she is really harrowed by the realization that she is becoming a monster?aren't we all who think we are ''normal'' ,really monstrous and helplessly vulnerable about it deep down inside? is it not better to be happy even insanely,than to create the impression of 'normalcy' while suppressing one's fragility? meethi bravely,madly,sincerely does that.and society labels her as ''schizophrenic''.the ending did confound me at first,but then you realise that meethi bravery and sincere belief took her where she wanted to go.she found what she was searching for,not caring what society had to comment upon her search. and it is the seemingly 'real' people - anjali,the psychiatrist,and jojo- who never reach anywhere.my family thinks that i am schizophrenic too in trying to make sense of a film that is largely 'insane' to the rest of the world.anyone else willing to believe in my sense of reality...........?

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??!