The Namesake

The Namesake is a film about the precariousness of straddling two cultures, especially after the passage of time. When Ashoke Ganguli takes his bride, Ashima, from Calcutta to New York City, he has already lived in America for a few years, but to her it is a totally alien place, and she is frightened. Their children, though, are completely Americanized, born and bred in New York. Ashoke and Ashima are liberal parents, and don't force-feed the old ways to them. Instead, they let the children embrace traditions when the need arises.

The plot thread through this film concerns their son's name. The Indian culture usually bestows two names upon a child, the pet name and the "good" name. However, since the son is born in a country where a name is required on a birth certificate, he is named Gogol, after the Russian writer. Upon entering college, Gogol Ganguli finds that his name is unwieldy, and he changes it, even though his father has a deeper purpose in giving him that name than just simply because he's a fan of the writer.

The film is directed by Mira Nair, who succeeds with this sort of film (I also admired Mississippi Masala) more than she did with films like Vanity Fair. Though the script clunks a bit, being adapted from a long novel by Jhumpa Lahiri (several years are skipped over in a blink of an eye), I found much of it moving, even though there is a melodramatic plot turn toward the end. Irfan Khan, as Ashoke, is remarkably good, as is Tabu as Ashima. And I felt so good for Kal Penn, a very likable actor who until this point had largely made a name for himself in frat-boy boob and beer films. He makes the most of his opportunity.

A few things didn't ring true, such as Jacinda Barrett's character, Gogol's white college girlfriend, who is more of a plot contrivance than a real person. But aside from that, this is a very well done film that raises fascinating questions about heritage and cultural identity.