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Abode of the stalwarts

Aparna Sen's "15 Park Avenue" has just hit the silver screen. RANA SIDDIQUI speaks to Waheeda Rahman and Konkona Sen Sharma to get their take on this unusual film

AN AVENUE TO EMOTIONS Konkona says it was reliving a difficult life

While watching this film Javed Akhtar cried like a child. Waheeda Rehman would stop in between shots to control her tears. Shabana Azmi, emotional as she is by temperament, could be seen wiping away tears and Konkona Sen Sharma who plays the role of a schizophrenic patient, was reliving the experiences of a close associate. Yes, we are talking about 15 Park Avenue, another jewel from Aparna Sen's kitty released this past week.

Says Konkona, "I have been regularly visiting this patient who is a close member of our family. Watching her was a painful experience in itself. I also met several psychiatrists to play the role. For me it was like reliving a difficult life which so far I was a mute spectator to."

As by now everyone knows this patient is a member of the Sen family, it has been a little disturbing for them when people infringed upon their personal lives. But Konkona says, "We are all big-hearted people. We can face real life challenges."

Meaty role

For Waheeda Rahman, the role of the mother of both Shabana and Konkona was "meatier" than her other film roles as a mother of late. Says Waheeda, who doesn't like the phrase `comeback', "I was always there. It was a small gap that I gave voluntarily to work in better films."

For Waheeda, the characterisation came as a surprise. "I asked Aparna, `How can I be a mother of both Shabana and Konkona? Three is a huge age gap between them?' So she told me that Shabana would play my daughter from my first marriage. Her father dies and I remarry. Konkona comes from my second marriage," says she about the role, emphasising that playing a mother has hardly been more different than in this film. She is a suffering mother and a second-time widow. And she had her share of genuine tears rolling down her cheeks too. She recalls, "In a scene, Shabana, who sacrifices the pleasures of her life for her half-sister, chides me saying `You don't understand what I am doing for my sister and you keep doing what your mind says'. In reaction, I start crying in pain and shock. She realises her mistake and apologises, saying, `I am your bad daughter. Please forgive me' to which I say, `No, you are my best daughter.' We all got very emotional during this scene. It was difficult to control the tears."

So, a sad affair it may be. But isn't it good to cry for a reason than to laugh watching a corny comedy?

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