15 Park Avenue
15 Park Avenue
| 06 January 2006 (USA)
15 Park Avenue Trailers

An exploration of the impact of schizophrenia on a young woman and her family in today's Calcutta. The narrative pivots around the relationship of two sisters, older sister Anjali is a successful professor with a powerful personality. She is the anchoring rock for her family and carer for her sister Meethi whose progression into schizophrenia has been speed ed up by traumatic experiences. Anjali has always dominated the life of her attractive younger sister, and jealously warded off Meethi's handsome fiancé Jojo with fear of Meethi's impending illness. Years later when Meethi and Anjali are on holiday in the Hills there is a chance meeting with Jojo, now with his new wife and children. He is shocked to discover that Meethi does not now recognize him, but lives in a world visited by an imaginary husband and children of her own.

Reviews
Jithin K Mohan

At the surface, it's the story of a Schizophreniac Meethi being taken care of by her elder sister Annu while their past is slowly unveiled. But there were so many moments that felt out of the place or repetitive or felt like pointing to something but never getting there which I thought as part of the pretentiousness of director Aparna Sen but the open ending made it all more sensible. The ending can be viewed as a very simple one and dismiss it but if you think about it there were a lot of subtle pointers throughout the film that can possibly lead to multiple conclusions about the ending. The structure of the film is crafted in a way that the more you think about it the placement of dialogues, some sudden cuts and some reveals all can mean a lot than it appeared to be.

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Peter Young

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.

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candida-100

Once in a while one come across a movie that forces one to rethink about society's reaction to people who differ from its definition of normal.Mitthi having suffered at the hands of unsocial elements,left all alone to cope with her tragedy, retreats into her idyllic world....one which according to her is the real world.....Surreal(Mitthi's world) superimposes itself on the real(her family).Mitthi, suffering from schizophrenia, forces us to reconsider our priorities about trying to rehabilitate 'patients' like them. Are we right to drag them back to our reality when all we have to offer them in ours is pain and suffering? What right have we to deprive them of their source of happiness? What right do we have to take away their joy when we are unable to help them in their sorrow? 15 Park Avenue is one of the best movies on social issues...showing us the need that any patient needs empathy and not plain sympathy.

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chanderballi

comeundone, I love you! I could not have come to a better conclusion than you did about this movie and it's ending. My family has not seen this movie yet, but I know them too well; they will hate it. But this time, I watched it alone and I found that it affected me greatly. Although the movie is long in length, I was tied to the story and amazed by the ending. I initially thought it was weird as to how she just vanished, but on some level, it makes perfect sense.But like comeundone said, this movie does not make sense of reality. Instead, it challenges it and the viewer to think strongly about what the word "normal" means. It also gives you the insight to personally think about what the ending means, I can say that I loved how it turned out and I'm happy for Mithi.

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