(Lowest: * Highest: *****)
Aparna Sen questions the thin line between reality and imagination in her latest venture. The movie revolves around the lives of two sisters, Mithi (Konkona Sen Sharma) and Anjali (Shabana Azmi). Mithi has been diagonised with schizophrenia and struggles to find a balance between her world, in which she is married and has 5 kids to the world around her (her sister, mother and aaya).
Spoilers follow… Read if you have seen the movie or dont plan to see it :P
The movie starts in a surreal way with Anjali and Mithi driving to 15, Park Avenue which Mithi believes his her residence. The place seems to be either not reachable or non existant. They give up and return back to home. The movie slowly unfolds and we are convinced of Anjali’s dedication to Mithi and that 15 PA does not exist. Most of the movie is a flash back to parts of Mithi’s life and it leaves the viewer in a state of pity on the poor girl.
Anjali narrates the story of Mithi’s life to the Doctor and we get to view most parts of her life from her sister’s eyes. Joydeep Sen (Rahul Bose) is introduced in the later half of the movie as Mithi’s ex fiancee. Joy narrates the gaps of Mithi’s life and this switch of narration is just perfect for this kind of film giving a combination of views to the viewer.
The brilliance of the script and the maturity of the screenplay is instantly evident… Aparna has definately put her brain child through the scanner many times before getting it on celluloid.
All the characters in the movie have been given their due… there are many that dont even effect the storyline much like Lakshmi (Shefali Shetty/Chaaya) who plays Joydeep Sen’s wife. The clear show of jealousy by her in the movie is extermely well depicted and the change in her world after she thinks her husband is still in love with his ex is really well captured.
My biggest complaint about this movie will be the sex scenes which were absolutely unnecessary… though this trend of getting bold on screen is picking up its not exactly smart to just put it in the script. I guess Aparna had her reasons for it but it seemed a little unexpected.
The biggest question is the ending… it takes a while to sink in but when it does it makes some sense. The ultimate question posed by this film is :
If everyone tell you a lie long enough and often enough will it become the truth.
The reference to this is in the part of the movie where the Doctor askes Anjali to tell him what was on the other table in the restuarant, she replies “A vase just like the one on this table” (pointing to the one on her table) he then says “what if everyone here swore it was a table lamp what then?”
My explanation of the ending is simple… Mithi’s world existed, even though people around her could not see it she could and her dedication and self belief took her where she wanted. The movie points out the we as humans try to be too logical at times and some times we must just indulge our selves and if we are lucky something truly magical happens… The ending is open to interpretition and feel free to leave them in the comments…
One spectacular reason to watch this movie is acting. Shabana Azmi is flawless and Konkona Sen Sharma is awe inspiring. Waheeda Rehman portrayal of hurt mother watching her childern fight out their demons is inspirational. Shefali Shetty/Chaaya is my favourite actor in this movie, she did absolute justice to her part and I dont see anyone else who could have pulled it off.
Final word… this movie is not for everyone, watch it if you have an open mind and are open to new and seemingly rediculous ideas(trust me most good ideas sound rediculous the first time).