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The Namesake (2007) Director: Mira Nair Cast: Irfan Khan, Tabu, Kal Penn, Zuliekha Robinson Time: 122 min. English, Bengali and Hindi with English subtitles Rating: |
After her adaptation of Vanity Fair, Mira Nair attempts another adaptation of a novel with her version of Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake. Like its characters, who travel from India to the US and back a few times, The Namesake is all over the place, but not in a good way.
The film begins with Ashok Ganguli (Khan) in India, where he has a life-altering experience that encourages him to move to the US. He later returns to India for an arranged marriage and brings his wife Ashima (Tabu) back to the US with him. They soon have a son Gogol (Penn), who Ashok names after the Russian writer Gogol.
Many years later, Gogol graduates from high school (and college, although we don’t see that) and takes a job as an architect in New York City. He dates a Caucasian girl from a wealthy family before having a conscious-raising experience that leads him to hooking up with Moushumi (Robinson), who, like himself, is Bengali.
As this “simple” synopsis suggests, the film is a sprawling hodgepodge of events and themes, and Nair attempts to replicate this sprawling nature with a schizophrenic artistic vision. She films the scenes between Ashok and Ashima as a Bengali art film (they are Bengali characters, after all), which means these scenes are exceptionally slow, subtle, and overly long. (To dispel any doubts of this interpretation, note Nair’s nod to Satyajit Ray in the credits.)
But she films the scenes with Gogol in a fast-paced Hollywood drama fashion more akin to The History of Violence. She even throws in episodes filmed in sepia tones and washed out effects similar to Traffic. Aside from being jarring, this mashing of artistic styles creates an uneven feel as the film’s pacing continually speeds up and slows down.
Complicating Nair’s poor artistic choice is her decide to make a movie using bad source materials, a combination of a weak script and a mediocre novel. The script contains some dialogues that verge on non sequiturs; the words coming from the characters don’t correspond to the situations being shown. (No intellect, young professional Manhattanites would make fun of person’s name to that person’s face, as Moushumi’s friends do to Gogol.)
The script is also riddled with clichés. White Americans can’t “Ganguli” properly. Gogol’s thoroughly American sister can’t stand being in India when the family visits. Gogol is an angry teenager who can’t relate to his parents. The situations are similar to those explored in nearly every Indian-youth-growing-up-in-America movie.
These shortcomings can be blamed on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, which doesn’t offer much substance for the script to expand on. Neither film nor book provide a great deal of background to show how the characters have developed as they do. We have no idea why Gogol is such an angry teen or what his feelings are about dating a white American girl.
Likewise, his transformation isn’t explored properly. He suddenly goes from rejecting his Indian origins (suggested by his attraction to his Caucasian girlfriend and her family) to embracing his Bengali heritage (suggesting by his new attraction to Moushumi, his future wife). He makes an overly simplistic either-or choice rather than taking a more nuanced approach that blends American and Indian cultures.
Perhaps the one redeeming feature of the film—what actually holds it together—is the acting. Kal Penn handles Gogol well. He transitions from an angry teen stoner to the identity conflicted college graduate to the focused young man in a way the reflects the character’s growing maturity.
However, Irfan Khan and Tabu are incredible. The film allows Tabu to explore themes and emotional ranges rarely seen in Bollywood, proving she is one of Bollywood’s best female actors. And Khan is truly brilliant. He can convey tenderness, resignation, or sadness with a simple gesture or look. (The Indian head shake-nod he gives to Tabu while waiting in line at the airport says more than any dialogue ever could.)
The performances by Khan and Tabu are probably the only reason to watch The Namesake; their scenes together cinematic magic. Except for them, you would be wise to forsake The Namesake.
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