Saturday, January 28, 2006

15 Park Avenue...

Just noticed that my rate of blogging is once in three months. More like a quarterly report than a “blog”.

Ok, let me start with the reason for this blog…It is in the title. I saw this movie and decided I have to write about it.
My overall view is that it is an amazing movie by Aparna Sen. It is a very tragic story that may leave you frustrated at the end but will definitely send your brain into overtime.

Now, do not read any further if you haven’t seen the movie. You absolutely must see it, then you can read this and we can discuss the movie. But under no circumstances should you read this any further if you haven’t seen the movie.

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So about the movie isn’t it simply amazing?!?! Leave the ending that’s for later but the acting, the direction, the shots, the story, the places they are just so beautiful. Konkona Sen delivers one of the best performances by an actress ever. Shabana Azmi and Rahul Bose deliver as usual. The story itself is very tragic and traumatic. Watching that one scene was not easy.

Now the ending, I think it is an effort to make a bold statement. If you have proper ending then it is a happy or a tragic ending. That may defeat the seriousness and power of the rest of the movie especially if it’s a happy ending. I came up with numerous endings and read many more on the net and I’ll tell you how I think the story ends later.

The ending is totally open to interpretation and that’s the key. Maybe Aparna Sen wanted everyone in the audience to have their own endings. Each person gets to have their own, pick what you are comfortable with. Why should she do it for you, she made a movie with a story now you go pick the ending. Go spend some time analyzing which one you like and complete the story. There, now you have something to call your own instead of just accepting what she had to say.

Figuring out the ending for yourself is an exercise that may actually even tell you more about yourself. For example: I found myself thinking of positive endings because Shabana Azmi ends up finding a nice decent man; Rahul Bose stands up for what is right despite the fact that he might loose everything. All this makes me think that something positive happens at the end. Like others I also thought of “Sixth-Sense” type of endings but in my mind they are all too far fetched.

But the pick I made for my ending is that I like it the way it is. Open ended. I like the fact that every time I think of this movie I am left wondering what might have been. Every time it makes me think “how come, huh?”. It makes me think about what could’ve happened. Seriously discuss it over your next drink or get-together. Rip it apart or appreciate it but talk about it, the story, the tragedy and obviously the ending that’s what I think this movie is meant to do.