The Namesake | |
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![]() Promotional poster | |
Directed by | Mira Nair |
Screenplay by | Sooni Taraporevala |
Based on | The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri |
Produced by | Mira Nair Lydia Dean Pilcher |
Starring | Kal Penn Tabu Irrfan Khan Zuleikha Robinson Jacinda Barrett Sebastian Roché Sahira Nair Ruma Guha Thakurta Sabyasachi Chakrabarty Supriya Devi |
Cinematography | Frederick Elmes |
Edited by | Allyson C. Johnson |
Music by | Nitin Sawhney |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 121 minutes [1] |
Countries | United States India Japan |
Languages | English Bengali |
Budget | $9.5 million [2] |
Box office | $20.14 million [3] |
The Namesake is a 2006 English-language drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sooni Taraporevala based on the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. It stars Kal Penn, Tabu, Irrfan Khan and Sahira Nair. The film was produced by Indian, American and Japanese studios. [4] The film was released in the United States on 9 March 2007, following screenings at film festivals in Toronto and New York City. The Namesake received positive reviews from American critics. [5]
The Namesake depicts the struggles of Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, first-generation immigrants from the state of West Bengal to the United States, and their American-born children Gogol and Sonia. The film takes place primarily in Kolkata, New York City, and suburbs of New York City.
The story begins as Ashoke and Ashima leave Calcutta and settle in New York City. Through a series of miscues, their son's nickname, Gogol (named after Russian author Nikolai Gogol), becomes his official birth name, an event which will shape many aspects of his life. The story chronicles Gogol's cross-cultural experiences [6] and his exploration of his Bengali heritage, as the story primarily shifts between the United States and Kolkata.
Gogol becomes a lazy, pot-smoking teenager who is indifferent to his cultural background. He resents many of the customs and traditions his family upholds and doesn't understand his parents. After an eight month long trip to India before starting college at Yale, Gogol starts opening up to his culture and becomes more accepting of it.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, much to his parents' annoyance, Gogol legally changes his name to "Nikhil", (the name he had supposedly refused to be addressed by when he was in kindergarten). In college, Gogol uses his "good name" Nikhil (later shortened to Nick). He works as an architect and dates Maxine (Jacinda Barrett), a white American woman from a wealthy background, who is clueless about their cultural differences. Gogol introduces her to his parents, who struggle to understand his modern, American perspectives on dating, marriage and love. They are hesitant and guarded when meeting her. Gogol gets along with Maxine's family and feels closer to them than he does his own family.
Before he goes to Ohio for a teaching apprenticeship, Ashoke tells Gogol the story of a nearly fatal train accident that he had suffered years ago back in India and how he came up with his name. Shortly after, while Gogol is on vacation with Maxine's family, Ashoke dies. Grieving, Gogol tries to be more like what he thinks his parents want him to be and begins following cultural customs more closely. He grows distant from Maxine and eventually breaks up with her.
Gogol rekindles a friendship with Moushumi (Zuleikha Robinson), the daughter of family friends. They begin dating and soon after get married. However, the marriage is short-lived as Moushumi, bored with being a wife, starts having an affair with an old boyfriend from Paris. Gogol divorces her, while Ashima blames herself for pressuring Gogol to marry a fellow Bengali. Gogol returns home to help Ashima pack the house when he finds the book (a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol) which Ashoke had gifted him on his fourteenth birthday. Searching for comfort, and accepting his new life alone, Gogol finally reads the stories written by his namesake on the train home.
As well as depicting Gogol/Nikhil's experiences, the film describes the courtship and marriage of Ashima and Ashoke, and the effect on the family from Ashoke's early death from a massive heart attack. Through experiencing his father's funeral rites on the banks of the Ganges, Gogol begins to appreciate Indian culture. Ashima's decision to move on with her life, selling the suburban family home and returning to Calcutta for part of each year, unifies and ends the story.
The film has cameo appearances by actor Samrat Chakrabarti, academic Partha Chatterjee and visual artist Naeem Mohaiemen.
Initially Rani Mukerji was considered for the principal lead, but due to scheduling conflicts with Karan Johar's Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna , the role then went to Tabu. Kal Penn was recommended for the movie by John Cho and strongly requested by Nair's son, who was a fan of Penn in Harold and Kumar. [7] [8]
The soundtrack has varied music: Indian, Anglo-Indian (by Nitin Sawhney, influenced by Ravi Shankar's music for Pather Panchali), [9] and a French piece. One British Indian electronica piece is State of Bengal's "IC408." The ringtone from Moushumi's mobile phone is the song "Riviera Rendezvous" by Ursula 1000 from the album Kinda' Kinky; this is the same song that is played when Gogol and Moushumi first sleep together. The Indian classical pieces (performed on screen by Tabu) were sung by Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik, a New Jersey-based musician.
The film received favorable reviews from critics. As of 23 February 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 86% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 126 reviews. [5] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 82 out of 100, based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [10]
The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007. [11]
Mira Nair is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spheres. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion–winning Monsoon Wedding, and Salaam Bombay!, which received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Nilanjana Sudeshna "Jhumpa" Lahiri is a Indian origin American author known for her short stories, novels, and essays in English and, more recently, in Italian.
Kal Ho Naa Ho, also abbreviated as KHNH, is a 2003 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Nikhil Advani in his directorial debut with a story written by Karan Johar with dialogue by Niranjan Iyengar, and produced by Yash Johar. The film stars Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, and Preity Zinta, with Sushma Seth, Reema Lagoo, Lillete Dubey, and Delnaaz Irani in supporting roles. In the film, Naina Catherine Kapur (Zinta) and Aman Mathur fall in love, but a secret prevents him from reciprocating his feelings and results in a plan to set Naina up with her best friend, Rohit Patel.
Kalpen Suresh Modi, known professionally as Kal Penn, is an American actor, author, and former White House staff member in the Barack Obama administration. As an actor he is known for his portrayals of Lawrence Kutner on the television program House, White House staffer Seth Wright on Designated Survivor, Kevin, a psychologist and boyfriend to Robin in How I Met Your Mother, and Kumar Patel in the Harold & Kumar film series. He is also recognized for his performance in the film The Namesake. Penn once taught at the University of Pennsylvania in the Cinema Studies Program as a visiting lecturer.
Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, written by Sabrina Dhawan, and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi. Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in a week while in Columbia University's MFA film program. Although set entirely in New Delhi, it was internationally co-produced between companies in India, the United States, Italy, France and Germany.
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Irrfan Khan was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in world cinema, Khan's career spanned over 30 years and earned him numerous accolades, including a National Film Award, an Asian Film Award, and six Filmfare Awards. In 2011, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour. In 2021, he was posthumously awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Salaam Bombay! is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film, directed, co-written and co-produced by Mira Nair. The screenwriter was Nair's creative collaborator Sooni Taraporevala. This was the first feature film directed by Nair. The film depicts the daily lives of children living in slums in Bombay, India's largest city. It stars Shafiq Syed, Raghuvir Yadav, Anita Kanwar, Nana Patekar, Hansa Vithal and Chanda Sharma.
The Namesake (2003) is the debut novel by American author Jhumpa Lahiri. It was originally published in The New Yorker and was later expanded to a full-length novel. It explores many of the same emotional and cultural themes as Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning short story collection Interpreter of Maladies. The novel moves between events in Calcutta, Boston, and New York City, and examines the nuances involved with being caught between two conflicting cultures with distinct religious, social, and ideological differences.
The Killer is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Hasnain Hyderabadwala and Raksha Mistry, and starring Emraan Hashmi, Irrfan Khan and Nisha Kothari. An adaptation of the 2004 American film Collateral, the film revolves around an Indian taxi driver in Dubai, who seats a hitman in his taxi unknowingly. He must face the consequences by doing everything The Killer tells him to do, may it be a ride or a murder. The film was released on 21 July 2006, and was a flop at the Box Office.
Mumbai Meri Jaan is a 2008 Indian drama film directed by Nishikant Kamat and produced by Ronnie Screwvala. It stars R. Madhavan, Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon. It deals with the aftermath of the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings, where 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured. It won multiple Filmfare Awards.
Silsiilay is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language romance film written and directed by Khalid Mohammed. The film stars Tabu, Bhumika Chawla, Riya Sen, Celina Jaitly, Anita Hassanandani, Divya Dutta, Rahul Bose, Jimmy Sheirgill, Ashmit Patel and Kay Kay Menon, while an extended appearance is played by Shah Rukh Khan. It was released on 17 June 2005.
Katha Sagar is an Indian television series that aired on DD National in 1986. The series featured a collection of stories by writers from around the world, including Katherine Mansfield, Guy de Maupassant, Leo Tolstoy, O. Henry, and Anton Chekhov. Each episode was directed by one of eight well known Indian directors, including Shyam Benegal, Kundan Shah, Ved Rahi and Satyen Bose. Most of the stories in the series were one-episode long.
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