The Namesake

Director: Mira Nair
Cast: Irfan Khan, Kal Penn, Zuleikha Robinson, Konkona Sen Sharma, Jacinda Barrett, Glenne Headly, Tabu, Brooke Smith

The Namesake - An Oscar Material

Each year when Oscar awards are announced, Indian feel disappointed but this year perhaps they might be elated as Mira Nair's The Namesake is worth an Oscar. Mira Nair has brilliantly adapted Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, and has added emotional over tones that makes the movie poignant and engrossing. The saga of new cross-cultural family conflict that is fast becoming common among the Asian parents and their Western cultural influenced children has been recently tackled in Hattrick (Paresh Rawal's character) and Namastey London
but unlike these two commercial Bollywood flicks, Mira Nair gives a realistic touch to the subject, the kind Shyam Benegal or Ketan Mehta, the 70's art cinema specialists, imparted to their movies. Thus we see both Calcutta and New York in realistic hues.

The director has emphasized both the wintry harshness of New York and the colorful liveliness of '70s Calcutta, from the scorching railways and breezy domiciles of Calcutta to the wild snowfall of New York City; it's fascinating to see India and Indian culture so vividly and intimately portrayed. The Kolkata episode specifically — when the family visits their ancestral home, right till their journey to Taj Mahal — are amongst the interesting moments of the movie. The movie becomes intense after the interval when the children grow and
their son Gogol [Kal Penn] rejects his Indian roots and his name and thus follows a cultural clash. To Ashok, ( Irrfan Khan) American culture is something to learn and pick the ripest ideas, while for Gogol his tradition is western culture and his attempt to learn his parents' culture becomes an strenuous task —until the unexpected death of his father that brings Gogol back to his ancestral heritage.

The screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala is just perfect so is the breathtaking cinematography. The film has some brilliant performances. Tabu essaying the roles of a Bengali wife as well as the aging mother is excellent. Irrfan Khan is impressive, particularly the Bengali accent and the English that he has spoken is marvelous. So also Kal Penn is first-rate. He matches up to Tabu and Irrfan's level in the latter half.

B4U spoke to Mumbaikars about the movie:

Siddharth Sen, 35: The Movie is outstanding particularly the performance of its lead characters Irrfan Khan and Tabu. Note Tabu's expressions when the voice on the phone informs her that her husband passed away after a heart attack. You'd agree, she's a world class actor.

Meenakshi Chavan, 21: The sequences that hold your interest are mostly those that feature Irrfan and Penn. Their last interaction together — when Irrfan explains Gogol about the secret behind his name in the car — gives you goose bumps. The film becomes an emotional journey thereafter till the climax when Gogol goes back to his roots.

Peter Gonsolves, 45 : The Namesake is sometimes too sketchy — you want more of the episodes, never less — yet it's a movie that will speak to anyone who has ever felt pulled in different directions by his own heart. Truly, an Oscar material.

Suzy D'souza, 35: It is really bold of Nair to cast Penn, the deadpan comic star of 'Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle', in the complex role of Gogol, whose love-hate, relationship with his family and his final realization to his tradition and ancestral heritage. The actor has immense talent and justly deserves an award.