The good thing is that 15 Park Avenue isn't just about one schizophrenic character but also the family and friends around her. It's not just about Meethi (Konkana) who lives with her imaginary husband and kids at a makebelieve address but also her mother (Waheeda) who is willing to resort to anything, even stupid mumbo jumbo, to cure her. Her elder sister Anu (Shabana) who's kept her own life on hold to take care of Meethi and about her ex-boyfriend Jojo (Rahul) who leaves her on realising he's not brave enough to cope with her agony. It's also about the skeins of relationships they are caught in and how each is renegotiated.
In effect, the film seems to have everything going for it. Not quite. Instead of exploring these intriguing associations to their logical emotional depth, Sen leaves them sketchy and open-ended. Take Jojo and his wife (Shefali). The insecurity that begins creeping up on Shefali when her guilt-ridden husband tries to help out Meethi is wonderfully articulated but just as you begin connecting with her predicament, Sen leaves the thread to pick up another strand in the narration. Similarly, Anu's growing fondness for the sister's doctor also gets sidelined after a while. These are wonderful tales of human relationships, each a film in itself, but the cursory glance leaves you strangely disengaged with the entire human drama. Some of the metaphors get heavy-handed, particularly the way Meethi is constantly seen in relation to the mad woman on the street. The allusions to Bush and Saddam also become tedious. But the basic problem remains the language. Why is it that the language in our English films sound so stilted? It's as though the characters are reading from a text than having a real conversation. Sen has gathered the most awesome cast seen in any film in recent times. Shabana's character, of course, is the most strongly outlined. However, my favourite is Shefali with a beautifully mobile and transparent face capable of changing expressions by the second. If only there was more of her in the film.
INDIAN Top 5
1. Jawani Diwani
2. Bluffmaster
3. Shikhar
4. Vaah, Life Ho To Aisi
5. Kalyug
US top 5
1. Hostel
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. King Kong
4. Fun With Dick and Jane
5. Cheaper by the Dozen 2
Courtesy: Film Information
