Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2312 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-07-30
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English, Hindi
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Synopsis
Like her previous films VANITY FAIR, MONSOON WEDDING, and HBO’s HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS, Mira Nair’s THE NAMESAKE is a lush, beautiful film bursting with rich colour and visual texture. Based on the bestselling book by Jhumpa Lahiri, the film follows two generations of the Ganguli family. After wedding via an arranged marriage, Ashima (Tabu) moves with Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) from her native Calcutta to New York. As Ashima struggles to adjust to life in her new home, a true love grows between the newlyweds. When they give birth to Gogol (who does not learn the true origin of his name until adulthood), the Gangolis decide to stay in American for their child’s sake, settling in the suburbs and eventually giving birth to a daughter, Sonia (Sahira Nair). While Ashima and Ashoke attempt to balance their new life with Indian traditions, their children have the very different experience of being raised first-generation Americans. With little interest in their ancestry, both Gogol and Sonia disappoint their parents by having little respect for the sacrifices their parents made for them. Gogol’s desire to change his name, and his relationship with a wealthy American girl (Jacinda Barrett), places a strain on the family which Gogol will later regret. Here, Penn proves he can play a serious role while still using his comedic skills to great affect. The actor shows impressive range in growing a clueless teen to a man his father would be proud of. Nair’s skill at directing can be felt in the film’s many great performances. Both Tabu and Irrfan Khan embody their characters so fully that the viewer really feels a personal connection to the story. As the head of the household, Khan's character will subtly make viewers laugh while breaking their heart. Packed with unique characters, THE NAMESAKE offers audiences an outlet into Bengali traditions and the immigrant experience while telling a universal story of family bonds which all parents and children should connect with. Nair excels in what is her most personal work to date.

Customer Reviews

Upwardly Mobile
This is the story of an Indian man, of the cultured Bengali middle classes, who marries a beautiful Calcutta wife in an arranged marriage, then takes her to his new home in New York City. He is called Gogol, because his father liked the 19th Century Russian writer of Shinel (here called "The Overcoat", though "Greatcoat" is a more exact meaning). The film chronicles their move not only across continents but upwards in New York or is it New Jersey suburban society (they start off in a horrid part of what looks like the Lower East Side).

Much is made of the difference between New York City and Calcutta, though in essence these two huge dirty cities have a lot in common and I wonder how long it will be before NYC has more Indians than Calcutta, just as Astoria in Queens has almost as many Greeks as there are in Athens.

The photography is great and I enjoyed the film, though in the end I just found the second half rather slow and in fact too long somehow.

Still, worth seeing.

Mira Nair returns... by bringing art back to cinema
If "The Namesake" had just been your usual coming-of-age story, it would be easily forgotten. But director Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding," "Vanity Fair") has gone beyond the usual confines of such a story to present a portrait of three people, a husband and wife, and their son, who come to moments when they lose sight of who they are, only to find through difficult times that sense of identity again. The story begins in 1971 Kolkata, a time when foreign products dazzled us and visits by expatriate relatives were pretty much the event of the year. A young Bengali settled in the US, Ashoke Ganguli (Irrfan) marries a local girl Ashima (Tabu) and they migrate to the US. Some years down the line, Ashima gives birth to a son (Kal Penn). The basic premise of the film is this: How will this child survive in American society with a name as odd sounding and tongue twisting as Gogol Ganguli? Nikolai Gogol is Ashoke's favorite author. A brilliant and eccentric man, who penned literary masterpieces like The Overcoat, he eventually starved to death.

His modern-day namesake Gogol Ganguli experiences all the usual clichés associated with people with unusual names -- his American classmates poke fun at him during lessons on Russian Literature and women raise a quizzical eyebrow at the part when he reveals his name. He grows up, very annoyed. But also, sadly, with a misconception about the origin of his name. Little does he realize that it has a more profound explanation, than he could ever imagine.

Though the premise sounds flimsy, the film breathes life into the book's characters by leaps and bounds, expanding the central idea to encompass a whole lot more. It dissects the complex lot of the American Born Confused Desi and more importantly, their attitude towards India. But sans the caricatures and the clichés. It traces a troubled son's pilgrimage back to his family and the realizations that don on prodigal children only in the face of immense tragedy. In fact, the film is a tribute to one's parents, but tackles the subject sans the emotional drama of say, a Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. The accents, the sets, the costumes and the dialogues boast of an authenticity, which is often missing in Indian films set in a foreign country. And the cinematography boasts a host of frames rich in texture, especially in the scenes set in Kolkata.

Irrfan Khan brilliantly, effortlessly steps into the shoes (which read 'Made In USA') of the very Bengali, practical, cool-headed Ashoke, accent and all (though it slips in one or two places). The chemistry between Khan and Tabu is intense! Kal Penn has a meaty role and finally, an opportunity to act. And he does a smooth job of it. The rest of the cast measure up perfectly, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Though the film begins on a somber pace (and slips back off and forth), it gains momentum post Gogol's birth. Nair makes the search for one's identity both enlightening and entertaining- a journey, both internal and external, you won't regret taking.

Family relationship film with a twist
The twist being that all the usual angst,problems and happiness were there - plus a whole pile of extra cultural ones as well. It was a beautiful, thoughful, challenging film. But if you're after action and adventure this isn't your type of film.