15 Park Avenue

15 Park Avenue, well the name mystifies initially being an address from New York and film being set in Kolkata. However as the story unfolds, one realize the thin line that director tries to walk between Relationships, Social Cause and of course the world of Schizophrenia. I would say Aparna Sen is one director who has so much more to say and has so less time at disposal. Well no doubt she has managed to make a good movie. In a way she makes us realize that probably each one of us is looking for our own '15 Park Avenue'. Its an unending search within each of one of us...

The powerhouse performance from Shabana Azmi is a treat to watch. Her screen presence brings whole lot of life into the scene. Indeed it was surprising to see her in such a powerful act after long because I expected it to be all the way Konkona Sen's terrain. Shabana makes you feel skin deep of an elder sister who is running the whole show for a rather unfortunate family and during this time she almost forgets to live her own life. She burdens all her ambitions and desires with ailing 18 year younger sister ( who is more like a daughter to her ) and an aging mother played by veteran Waheeda Rehman. As for the leading actress from Guide ( that's how I can recall her instantly ) there is hardly anything to say except few lines and tear drops here and there. Ever dependable Rahul Bose plays another pivotal role in the film, he shows the emotions of a middle age man with repent on his face to near perfection. This man really amazes me with the variety of work he has done. From a musician in Jhankar Beats to a liberal Muslim in Mr. & Mrs. Iyer and so many others…. He is one versatile I really wish if he had some more shots in the first part of the movie as well. The cameo in the movie is by Shefali Shah (remember Satya and Monsoon Wedding). She looks really beautiful and depicts the role of a mother of 2 kids with real ease. She gives you a glimpse of today's Indian woman who is modern in approach but still conventional when it comes to her husband's prior relationships.

The focus of camera has been Meethi, portrayed by Konkona. She and her schizophrenic world constitute the nucleus of 15 Park Avenue. She has really worked hard for the character but there are times when she is not able to relate with the audience. The fateful accident of her life tries to rope in sympathy and it has been only partially successful.

The movie tries to address quite a few things in one go starting from the unique world of a disabled person to the unequal status of a female even in today's modern India and also the twisted relationships in a tattered family. And I believe Aparna has succeeded to certain extent. The helplessness of Meethi while she works as a journalist in a rural eastern state really gives us all a naked picture of the country we are so proud of.

Well after I finished 15 Park Avenue, there was a sense of unquenched thirst within me. I wanted more out of this movie to drench me emotionally. It has been a commendable effort on the part of director except few hiccups. Must watch for all those who like to see a different cinema, something with a strong purpose.

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??!

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...........?

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.