Director Mira Nair's The Namesake
Irfan Khan, Tabu, Kal Penn, Jhumpa Lahiri
Multicultural love story follows a family through 25 years as the parents adapt to a new country and their children learn to embrace their heritage.
The Namesake (2006), based on Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, has a promising beginning and an intriguing storyline, especially for anyone who is a fan of multiculturalism. The film initially stars Irfan Khan and Tabu, two newlyweds (Ashoke and Ashima) living in New York City having just moved from Calcutta in the late 70s. Before long they have a son (Kal Penn) and daughter, and it becomes the son's story of his inability to mix his family history with his American upbringing until significant things come to light as he ages.
The Trailer vs. Actuality
The trailer will have you believe the root of the story is the son's desire to change his un-American name Gogol to a shortened version of his intended first name, Nick (his true name is Nickolai Gogol Ganguli, as his parents named him after the Russian writer). There are very strong emotional reasons why he was given his name, though it's really his lifestyle in general that, from his teen years on, he has the hardest time relating to his parents' world. Gogol doesn't come into the story until 30 minutes in, and the difficulties with his name don't show up until at least halfway through. The film's story is also largely shared with the mother--how she adapts from her huge family in Calcutta to being alone in New York City. As she relates to a friend in one moment, she left her family to come to the US and as her children have grown up, she is without family all over again.
A Reason to Watch
The story itself and the acting are clearly the best parts of the film. Following two young immigrants and watching them raise a family is an interesting choice: the conflicts of adaptation for the parents in a new country and the tendency for their children to resist their heritage are compelling ones. Especially for a country like the United States, it should be a story more often explored than it is (it is certainly not unexplored territory, but it's not often found in mainstream or successful films). The Namesake is not without flaws: despite a running time just under 2 hours, the blow-by-blow of 25 years in a family certainly feels much longer. Considering its daunting timeline, however, it is well edited. Only crucial moments in their lives are shown, though sometimes (particularly later in Gogol's life) the story is merely plodding along.
A Charming Love
The acting really carries the film through to the end. Both Irfan Khan and Tabu are completely charming throughout their characters' lives. Ashima chooses Ashoke as a husband because she feels he was "the best of the bunch" and she "liked his shoes," but after many years together, cheekily asks him if he wants her to say "I love you," as "the Americans say." Theirs is a deeply sweet relationship. Ashima has an understandably difficult start at first in the US, but Ashoke is patient, as he himself had already spent a few years abroad. Though they have fewer lines as the story begins to revolve more around their son's life, their presence and deft acting keeps them in the foreground as Gogol struggles with his own dramas.
The story begins far more strongly than it ends, but is still a good exercise in compelling storytelling (even if it has a wandering feeling more than halfway in) and skilled acting. The two leads have a long list of films to their names, though are virtually unknown in the US. Kal Penn, of Harold and Kumar fame (and more recently, a role on House, M.D.), is more well-known and surely will have more credible films to his name in the very near future. The Namesake is a good watch for anyone interested in or familiar with bi-cultural lifestyles.
