15 Park Avenue

A car is driving fast and racing past the streets of Kolkata. Those familiar cornersfamiliar signals and the familiar landmarks. Its boarders- Meethi and her elder sister, its destination- 15 Park Avenue.
Meethi knows the address, and even the exact details of how the house looks with its wrought iron gate, the names on the name placetbut yet shes lost. She does not know how to get there.

But the question really is not whether Meethi reaches there, the question is actually is does the address really exist?
Treating the character of Meethi as a microcosm to represent that side of every human being, which is constantly suffering from the dilemma of distinguishing real from unreal and trying to figure out the boundary where the reality ends and imagination starts.

Meethi is schizophrenic. She happens to believe that she is married to Jojo her one time fiance who had actually left her, and that she has five children from him. She describes her world with as much minute details as we would describe ours. She interweaves different socio-political events with her life and sets fragments of persistent memories from her past, especially that of her affair with Jojo, in the form of a jigsaw puzzle to reinvent a present that does not exist.

Meethi happened to be the half sister of Anu ( Shabana azmi) a physics professor and they stay with their widowed mother played by Waheeda Rehman. Anu is almost 18 years older to Meethi and so Meethi is more of a daughter to her. Anu is a divorcee and a tough lady who stands by her family through thick and thin and yet you wont be able to categorise as the all sacrificing elder daughter types. She has her needs, her pleasures. Sanjeev is a close friend and Anus colleague.
As the family goes for a vacation to Bhutan following meethis ill health in Kolkata, they come across Joydeep Roy ( alias Jojo) whos come there on a vacation with his wife and two children.
Once having loved Meethi and being engaged to her Meethis sight instigates Joydeep to get in touch with her and apologise for having left her alone during a crisis and breaking off the engagement.
Meethi does not recognise him but she trusts him to be her only confidant, who could help her get to her desired abode of happiness. Though Anu is pissed off with Joydeep yet she has seek his support, as Meethi somehow does not trust her intentions in spite of the fact that Anu has given it her all for Meethi.

There in follows turmoil of trust, confidence and the battle in human minds surrounded by different dilemmas over circumstances and relationships.
And in the process not only Meethi, all the characters go through a series of changes in their persona and fates.

The movie boasts of marvellous story telling and awesome plot. Aparna Sen is at her best.

All the veteran actors are par excellence. From cameos to full-length roles, from music, to make-up to costume to cinematography, every department is just perfect.
Shabana Azmi is the soul of the movie. And Konkona Sen Sharma, its flesh and blood. Konkona deserves laurels for her natural rendition of a mentally challenged girl. Rahul Bose is as charming as ever. Shefali shah makes a good come back and she definitely looks better as Rahul Boses consort, than she did as Amitabh Bachchans spouse in Waqt.
Waheeda Rehman and soumitra chattopadhay are excellent as expected of them and so are Kanwaljit singh and Dhritiman chaterjee.

The exotic locales of Bhutan and its raw beauty add a soothing touch to the movie.

The movie also handles issues such as rape, black magic, politics that supports right over wrong and science versus superstition, literacy versus illiteracy subtly. Schizophrenia, the disease and its origin are explained in the story.

A socially relevant movie with a mesmerising story and a journey down the winding corridors of human mindthats 15 Park Avenue for you. It should be every movie goers compulsory halt!

 

 

Plus Points: 1. Story
2.Direction
3.Performance
4.Cinematography

 

Minus Points: This is just one of those movies with which you find almost no flaws...u know what i mean!
The background score cud hav been a bit better..perhaps.