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15 Park Avenue
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'15 Park Avenue' Sensitive

By Aparajita Ghosh
Film critic, ApunKaChoice.Com

15 Park Avenue – It is the address that exists only in the mind of a young schizophrenic girl. It is on this address her imaginary husband and children live.

Aparna Sen’s movie ‘15 Park Avenue’ is a touching film with a sensitive subject. It is a film that will appeal to selected audience, not the masses. The movie is slow paced and the culmination to the story is open-ended.

‘15

Park Avenue’ tells the tale of Mithali (Konkana Sen) and her elder sister Anjali (Shabana Azmi). Mithi suffers from schizophrenia. She lives in a delusional world that she conjures up in her imaginations. A part of Mithi’s imaginary world is her husband Jojo and her children who live at 15 Park Avenue. She is searching for the address, but can’t find it anywhere.

Mithi was not like this always. Once she was a vibrant girl and worked as a journalist. She was engaged to Joydeep Roy (Rahul Bose), whom she lovingly called ‘Jojo’.

During one of her assignments, when Mithi went out of Kolkata, she was gang-raped by a number of goons. Since then, her dormant schizophrenia became a full-blown malady.

Mithi’s mental condition became so far removed from reality that even Joydeep had to turn his back to her.

Mithi sinks deeper into her delusional world that has her husband, her children and an address. Anjali, her elder sister, too is coming to terms with her own life. She has to fend for the family, take care of her ageing mother (Waheeda Rehman) and sick sister, Mithi. Anjali is divorced and is into a relationship she can’t commit to because of her family.

Mithi, Anjali, their mother go on a vacation to Bhutan. It is here they meet Joydeep (Rahul Bose) once again. Joydeep is now married and has children.

Joydeep is deeply shaken when he sees Mithi’s condition. He decides to help her find ‘15 Park Avenue’.

Without doubt, the movie has an engaging story. But what makes the proceedings look superficial is the excess use of English at places. Also the conclusion to the story leaves many things open for viewer interpretation. Perhaps that is Aparna Sen’s way of including the audience in completing the story.

Another thing about the movie is the allusions it brings out in the story to what is real and what is delusional. Some of the dialogues have a slight philosophical tone. The overall setting of the movie is a bit surreal.

But above all, ‘15 Park Avenue’ remains a film of brilliant performances. Herself an actor, Aparna Sen knows well how to extract performances from her cast.

Konkana Sen is incredibly convincing in her delusional, schizophrenic and epileptic act. Shabana Azmi fills her performance with subtle nuances that make her character very real and believable. Rahul Bose plays his part competently. Waheeda Rehman is natural. It doesn’t seem that she is acting.

On the whole, ‘15 Park Avenue’ is worth a watch for the appreciators of serious, art cinema. Those expecting Bollywoodish entertainment can avoid this movie.

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