The Namesake Review

The Namesake, based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s iconic novel, is an immigrant intimate family saga spanning two generations . Mira Nair through her fine cinematography and her choice of outstanding prolific cast renders The Namesake a gripping experience for the audiences. A move from Calcutta to New York is not an easy one for Ashima(Tabu) who complying with the customs of the time (and of today of course! We are but slow movers) , moves in with her husband Ashok(Irfan) in New York. The movie captures the dilemma of an immigrant in a foreign land, and his struggles to belong to a place which he could call his own, his home. Ashoke and Ashima’s kids Gogol(Kal Penn) and Sonia(Sahira Nair)grow up as American as any of the Caucasian kid in their school, smoking pots ,hooking up and listening to rock music( a very clichéd picture indeed but that was 2006!).They embrace the Americanism around despising every bit of their homeland. Mira Nair, keeping up with her genre of cross cultural frictions, depicts the struggles of both the generations and their failed attempts at connecting and understanding each other. The namesake is spell binding in raising the real questions of the significance of one’s roots.Amidst all the seriousness, watching Gogol is like catching up a chat with one’s distant American cousin who goes on complaining about his fitting the dual roles of an Indian as well as an American. There is obvious occasional melodrama (not as melodramatic as the unbearable daily soaps) following the harsh tragedies, lows and highs of life. It’s a packet of real life human emotions of death, suffering, bereavement, of marriages (because hey! It’s still an Indian drama), of birth all in a 2 hour movie. Go for it if you are in the mood to watch something light yet deeply meaningful.