Mira Nair did a lovely job adapting Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling novel The Namesake. In fact, in one of those rare instances, the accomplished filmmaker (Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair) improved upon the book. Nair shapes the unwieldy story of two generations of a Bengali family who come to America.
Seamlessly jumping forward through time, traveling to and from India (including a picturesque stop at the Taj Mahal) and the U.S., The Namesake evokes a rich portrait of a family. The Gangulis become real people; we experience with the Gangulis the joy of life and the pain of death and all that comes in between -- nothing earth-shattering, but altogether true. Plus, there are samosas frying in the pan, brightly colored saris and hennaed faces to gaze upon, and an effective score of traditional Indian music.
Kal Penn and Zuleikha Robinson in "The Namesake"
Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima (the insanely lovely Bollywood star Tabu) Ganguli are first generation immigrants, carefully finding their way in America, starting out in Queens and moving on up into the suburbs, always surrounded by a community of Indian expatriates. Their kids, Gogol (Kal Penn) and Sonja (Sahira Nair), born in the U.S., navigate through life like genuine Americans, smoking pot and listening to rock and roll and disobeying their parents. The two generations must and do find a way to bridge their differences. Ashima learns to accept to her strangely American children; whereas Gogul struggles to reconcile his Indian identity with the idea of the man he'd rather be.
The lifelike performances of Tabu and Penn especially make the film resonate. Tabu's Ashima is a mix of confused wonder and maternal sternness; her transformation from girl to woman happens organically on the screen. Penn, famous for his role Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle and the only American/Indian actor of renown at this point, is a genuine charmer: as Gogul he is alternately awkward and handsome, sweet and funny and smart. As the titular namesake, he grapples with his unfortunate name, a blond America girlfriend (Jacinda Barrett) and a sultry, independent Bengali (Zuleikha Robinson) who has her own issues.
The main complaint about The Namesake is how unobjectably pleasing it is.
