“When I dream, I do not doubt its validity. Does it mean that dreams are real? Or, is reality a dream?” is a question that most moviegoers are left to reflect upon at the end of Aparna Sen’s 15^th Park Avenue. It is a movie that aesthetically, and yet shockingly, questions our idea of the Real; it is a film that is open to multiple interpretations.

The film depicts the troubles of a schizophrenic girl, Meethi, who constantly swings between the two worlds, the Real and the Unreal. Meethi is a rape victim, who claims to have married her ex-fiancé, Jojo. On the contrary, Jojo had backed out from the relationship after the incident. Thus, the Real versus. Unreal theme is at once established. This conflict is intelligently portrayed in the scene at the restaurant where Anu, the victim’s elder sister, is discussing her progress with her doctor, Kunal Barva. Anu can see a vase on a table that Kunal refers to as something else, and this throws Anu into uncertainty. If a false claim as to the actuality of an object shatters the confidence of an intellectual like Anu (she is a Physics professor at the Calcutta University), then it is worth questioning if “reality” is a relative concept.

The most common criticism that the film has faced is that it is not a true depiction of schizophrenia, and needless to say that the critics who have critiqued the piece on these lines have missed the point, entirely. The film is not about schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a means in the movie, and not an end in itself, and the director does not have any obligation to be factually correct, at least as far as she manages to provide an aesthetic experience to the audience.

The most touching scene of the film, perhaps, is its ending. Most people find it quite depressing, the fact that Meethi is lost in her world of illusions. I prefer to differ from that conclusion. Meethi gets what she wants, no matter if it is real or not. She at least has the conviction, despite being so-called “not normal”, which ironically enough is missing in most of us who are “normal”.