Schizophrenia. The word and the disease often have been reason enough to hide something. Whether it is a relative who requires medical attention or an acquaintance suffering from the same. Anything remotely associated with Schizophrenia (or for that matter any mental diagnosis) in India is either talked in hushed tones or tried to brush down under the carpet mostly to avoid social ridicule. The logic for such an action is that probably by not discussing and keeping the communication open the disease will somehow feel ashamed and embarrassed and vanish in thin air. Such stigmas!
I am sure topics like these have been written to death. But having watched 15 Park Avenue (15PA) and read a few online reviews I guess more such reviews and discussions should be promoted in order to remove the stigmas attached with any kind of mental illness. 15PA is a very open movie and a mature piece of work. It does not try to hide the subject or the patient but reveals all. A disease like Schizophrenia has been dealt in a manner that it educates viewers dispelling myths associated with it and also tries to rope in some sensitivity. (It is but natural that once the myths are removed people automatically will stop fearing those suffering from any kind of mental illness and treat them with love and care).
I normally avoid such movies. But then I picked 15PA for a reason. I wanted to know whether Konkona Sensharma is actually a good actor or is just another Ria (Raima) Sen type hyped up celebrity. Having watched Mr and Mrs Iyer there was not an iota of doubt left but still I wanted to be doubly sure. Without Konkona this movie and the character of Mithi would have made no sense. Oh yes the presence of Shabana Azmi, Waheeda Rahman, Rahul Bose (why leave him) and the direction of Aparna Sen mattered, but Konkona actually made the whole cast and the plot look complete with her superb acting expertise.
The simplest things in life have actually the most complex origin. 15PA is a simple movie. I guess I should rephrase the sentence. 15PA presents the tribulations associated with the life of a patient diagnosed with Schizophrenia and those around her quite simply. Though the story revolves around one chosen character it speaks and represents the whole gamut of such schizophrenics living in India. Mithi(Konkona) here just happens to be the most lucky ones. She is being taken care of by her elder sister (Shabana Azmi plays a professor and as Konkona’s elder sister). The concept actually is simple. Konkona is schizophrenic and throughout the movie is searching for a non-existent address - 15 Park Avenue. This of course is because of her delusional mind.
There are millions in India suffering from such mental illness. Surprisingly we are so insensitive and there are so many stigmas associated with such illness that we are not even prepared to accept the presence of such people. We act like monkeys on discovering that a person is not in the correct state of mind. Instruct children to stay away from them and create and spread unwanted notions for the same. Such patients are often socially barred and tied up. There are not enough care centers where such patients can be treated. There is not much awareness either. The worse part is we do not even have an adequate statistics. This movie thus is in a very small way takes a step in the positive direction.
It very rightly puts forward the notion that the society without even understanding the illness jumps to a conclusion. (Konkona was ridiculed and called a ‘pagal’ on being asked the address 15 Park Avenue.) Hope things will change for better.
There are so many reasons why this movie is worth watch. It deals a sensitive issue. Not appealing? Then watch it for the superb acting skills of Waheeda Rahman, Shabana Azmi, Konkona Sen and Rahul Bose (not in any order). Need more reasons? Well this one will certainly tempt you. There is a spell attached to this movie. Whoever watches this movie gets a hot babe. For the spell to work one has to watch till the end. (make sure you watch every bit of it!). Okay still not satisfied. This is just one last attempt from my side to tempt yo movie buffs. Watch 15 Park Avenue because it makes sense.
What is Schizophrenia?
There are many theories and many researches. I haven’t read even a single one. But having watched this movie I know it is not easy for the family members as well as the patient himself to undergo such a mental pain. To add to the miseries are dozens of misconceptions about the illness. Schizophrenia is a disease that is not well understood and is greatly feared. Families often find the stigma difficult to handle.
I am not a doctor and so will not make an attempt to explain the term/disease. But then a Schizophrenic is a person who exhibits varied degrees of delusional fits, has disorganized thinking, hallucinates and might not even remember things.
How do I pronounce Schizophrenia?
Okay so you think yo can help in some way. Yo want to volunteer and devote time with such patients. But then Yo cannot pronounce the term. So better keep quiet and forget about associating yourself with any such thing. This is what I call gayi baans paani mein - meaning ‘the buffalo drowns in the water! (almost).
Arrey worry not. Let me teach you the correct pronounciation.
Schizophrenia should be pronounced as Skitz-o-free-nia.
Sho shimple! So now this means you guys are actually going to something about it.