The Namesake

The Namesake

The Namesake

With the world-class cast and a break-away novel, how could you go wrong? I don't know, but "Namesake" did go awry. The cast did not capture your imagination. There was very little emotion expressed in the film. When Gogol's wife leaves, he whimpers rather than rages. When the dad dies, Gogol becomes a regretful boy eager to please his mother. The sister is nearly a non-entity in the film. When the dad dies, it takes three days for the authorities to reach Gogol's mom. Based on the film, it might have been hard for her to tell if he was dead or not even had he still been at home. I recommend against investing the time or money to watch this film.

why they are loving this title .. ? i saw it .. and it was awful !! so the freaks like me who only like thriller/suspense/stories/tragedy or similar genres ..you will have a HARD time to have this torture .!! the nutshell is nothing but an Indian guy with a foreign culture..kind of not liking his parent's orthodox n culture .. changes himself when his father dies .. marries an Indian girl.. the girl ditches him..so he gets alone thinking all the past .. then suddenly they show the guy's mother back in India .. and THE END !! movie gets over .. wow .!! what a DAM crap .. i had heard something from mira nair as "if we wont tell our stories, who will?" OK! so its fair who don't know the stories .. but being an Indian .. the crap movie was a waste of time and money and hair(i pulled them down with anger).. direction is good ..but movie lacks some story .. the thing what the movie is trying to say can even be said in a 10 minutes speech ..

I have been to a reading once a couple of years ago when the book came out. Some young people, trying to be interesting, said they read the book and they were given the chance to say something about it on television. Afterwards I heard they didn't read the book at all! They only read a bit of it. I was given the book for free, but I never read it. So the movie came out! Well, I'm not going to read the book, but I can watch the movie. One major positive point of the movie was that Irfan Khan acts in this movie. He is a great actor. But the things happening in the movie change so quick! Then The mother of Gogol is single, then she gets proposed, then she got married, then sudden she is pregnant, then she has a baby, a kid, a grown son. It does not make any sense! I have seen the whole movie and I don't care why Irfan gave his name Gogol to his son. I really don't care. Then Gogol goes with a white girl, she is a class example of white girl who start a relationship with an Indian! Then he leaves her for an Indian tramp. Why? For Gogol's story this movie did not really have a beginning or an end. It is very unsatisfying to watch.

I had no chip on my shoulder going into "The Namesake", and perhaps an extra helping of receptiveness due to a friend's interest in it. I admit that portions are indeed as moving as the studio's PR department hoped for. The early parts are anchored by Irfan Khan, subtle but commanding as the man who bestows the titular name. When Kal Penn takes center stage, the "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle" vet more than holds his own. But the film is obviously the creation of successful Hollywood types working through issues -- namely, deep, deep sorrow and regret for having had the temerity to disobey the decidedly proscribed wishes of their old-world parents. The film eventually abandons what had been a delicate tone (the first third is a complete movie in itself, and a good one) in favor of proving, ham-handedly, that only doom awaits those who disobey Mommy and Daddy. The film is shot through with all manner of clunky psychotherapeutic clichés ("nothing happens by accident", "follow your bliss", etc.) that bespeak extensive and unproductive time reclined on a shrink's leather couch. This New Age snake oil only accentuates the simplistic storytelling. Every character in opposition to the saintly (godly?) parents' values is portrayed in laughably unattractive terms. The film has no abiding interest in observing human nature in its variations, but insists on one agenda, handing out jerseys reading "Virtuous" and "Unvirtuous" to its players. Our Audience Identification Figure (Penn) stands in the middle, not a bad kid really, just confused and corrupted by awful, terrible Western society, and anyway he eventually comes around to the correct world-view, thank God. "The Namesake" seems to have been tailored specifically to delight and gratify beloved old Bengali aunties, wrapped in their best Saris, who don't get out to the movies much but, know a good story when they see one, by golly. The story is "universal" so long as one holds that the old ways are the best ways. From a different perspective, the old ways have simply had more time to build the sort of muscle that intimidates. Here is two hours of blissful surrender to that muscle.

I haven't read the book .... and the movie definitely doesn't inspire me to want to ever read it... I really liked monsoon wedding and looked forward to seeing this movie... -- it was a huge disapointement at every level... I wanted to walk out of the film ...but dug in hoping something would redeem it... but that didn't happen... I hated the movie so much ... that i have promised myself to go watch 'lives of others' once again just to get the aftertaste of this movie out of my system.... Pathetic film... i would definitely recommend against wasting your $ and more importantly your time on this one....

Meticulously observed and wonderfully heartfelt, this time-spanning 2007 family dramedy represents a return to form for director Mira Nair, who faltered somewhat with 2004's elaborate "Vanity Fair". This one is also a literary adaptation but this time from a contemporary best-seller by Jhumpa Lahiri, who wrote an emotionally drawn story about first generation Bengali immigrants to the United States and their U.S.-born children. It's an intricate book full of careful nuances, and Nair, along with screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala, captures most of them in a most loving manner. The story speaks fluently to the universal struggle to extricate ourselves from the obligation of family and a perceived enslavement to the past. Nair and Taraporevala manage to transcend the necessarily episodic nature of the novel to make it an involving journey toward self-acceptance. The film initially focuses on Ashoke Ganguli and his arranged marriage to Ashima, a classically trained singer. The young couple move from Calcutta in 1977 to Queens in order for him to pursue his career as an electrical engineer. The adjustment is difficult, especially for Ashima in assimilating into the often cold U.S. culture, and these quiet scenes show a keen eye for subtle observation. They quickly have two children in succession, son Gogol and daughter Sonia. Gogol's name is the key plot point as he was inadvertently after Ashoke's favorite writer, Nikholai Gogol, and this is revealed to have greater significance as the story unfolds. Eventually, the film switches the perspective to Gogol's as he grows up, changes his name to Nikhil and starts his life as a yuppie architect in Manhattan. At the same, the film does not abandon Ashoke and Ashima as they remain significant figures in shaping Gogol's destiny, especially as the impact of a tragic turn brings unexpected changes. The cathartic aspect of these scenes is what makes the film powerful. Moreover, with her film-making experience in her native India and the U.S., Nair brings a seamless fluency to both locales. The movie falters a bit toward the end when it starts to ramble and feel pat, but the story's old world gravitas rescues it just in time. Beforehand I was convinced Kal Penn would be the spoiler in this film, but he gives a sharp, dedicated performance as Gogol. Poised to be taken seriously as an actor even amid his White Castle and Van Wilder movies, he seems a bit exaggerated only in the early teenage scenes which recall those other movies. However, it is the superb work of Irfan Khan and Tabu as his parents that make the film soar. Both bring a level of assurance and compassion that ground the film completely, especially Tabu who makes the seemingly modest character arc of Ashima really striking. Playing yet another variation of the spoiled American girl, Jacinda Barrett again proves how fearless an actress she can be in exposing the vanity and ignorance of Maxine, Gogol's first serious girlfriend. As Moushumi, the Bengali girl who comes with the family's seal of approval, Zuleikha Robinson has a ripe presence to match her character's aspiring worldliness. Cinematographer Frederick Elmes and production designer Stephanie Carroll provide masterful work in capturing the diverse flavors of the different locales. This film is for anyone who has struggled to forge his or her own identity only to find the need to embrace the past, especially those of us who have parents who displayed the courage to move from their native lands.

I got to see this wonderfully fulfilling film by chance at a private screening.I had no expectations other than the fact that it was a Mira Nair film. The film is a journey of a couple from Bengal to America and their lives with their children in a different culture, and the ultimate realization of the main characters - brilliantly played by Tabu, Kal Pen, and Irfaan. The emotion of Loss has been portrayed extremely poignantly and beautifully by Mira, the loss of one's parents, the loss of one's children, and the loss of one's partner, leaving behind nothing but yourself and trying to find freedom and joy after the loss.This is a universal story , with universal emotions, and one that cuts across all cultures as its a film about what we all go through or will go through. Tabu and Irfaan as the main couple have delivered a knockout performance, and kal Pen works well as gogol.The emotions are subtly handled and very effectively, as besides making me laugh at many points, the film made me cry for a long time ,well after it was over. Sooni Taraporewala, has written a fabulous screenplay, and this film for me is my top film this year, Babel comes close.

As another proof that some of the recent award recipients have nothing to do with quality, here comes an assured and delicate piece of film-making that will probably not be honoured in the fair manner it deserves in next year's awards' frenzy. Just the other night, I had the pleasured to see an accomplished film for the second time: "Inside Man", and my jaw dropped when I realized that it was mysteriously absent in any "best of" celebrations. Regardless of what happens in about one year, audiences should not deny themselves the transcendental experience from seeing a movie that recognizes the beauty inside families and how their relationships are a mixture of inner and external pressures; only to all boil down to one word: Love. As the title indicates, most of the storyline originates from a very peculiar name, and how it seems to affect the main protagonist. As the plot unfolds, we become involved in a sophisticated, almost flawless, and touching, without being maudlin masterpiece. With stunning camera work, a spiritual and moving score, and astounding performances by the entire cast, we learn to identify the universal values that this marvelous film highlights. What is truly miraculous in the film is how its director weaves a story from the incongruities between two cultures that couldn't be any more different from each other, and yet, they are mirror reflections of each other. We all cry, feel happiness and disappointment. As our characters grow and change, we feel their sense of wonder, joy, and grief. Seeing them celebrate breaks down any resistance we might have to whatever foreign quality this movie might be. It's exotic, inviting, showing us that we share more than we think. In "The Namesake", a Russian name becomes essential to some of the tribulations of a Hindu American young man. It anchors the love that originates between a mother and her children. As Ashima adjusts to her new surroundings, she manages to hold on her traditions, as she learns to cope with the changes that she can't stop. In the end, she delivers one of the most inspirational speeches in movie history, and we can't do nothing but witness a superb dramatic performance come full circle. Many in Hollywood might feel a tinge of envy as her is an actress that charms us in spite of apparently not trying very hard. Her character is lovely, strong, and sometimes reads like a collection of the best moments in every female great role in the last century. She embodies the best of Scarlett O'Hara, the pain and frustration of Sophie in "Sophie's Choice", some of the regal qualities of Helen Mirren in "The Queen", and she can even sing and makes us laugh, all when a screenplay that addresses the lives of one regular family in New York. "The Namesake" deserves every single of the kudos people decide to give it. It's a brilliant film, based on an outstanding piece of fiction, and that one that never struggles to be anything else but faithful to its source material, and whose heart never stops beating, with a real and magnificent heart. Run and enjoy some of the best moments of your life.