Namesake

A perfect treat for those who like watching soft, real life stories. And why not? When Jhumpa Lahiri's narration and Mira Nair's adroit direction comes hand in hand, no wonders we meet some great creation. The title of movie itself is quite meaningful. If a person, place, or thing is named after a different person, place, or thing, then one is said to be the namesake of the other.

The story begins with a first generation of immigrant Bengali family to the United States of America. Right from acclimating with a cold weather to getting accustomed with totally different culture, we see lot of small situations making an impact on the couple's lifestyle. Ashoke Ganguly (Irrfan Khan ) and Ashmita (Tabbu) manage themselves to a new country, but the problem comes with their next generation. Nikhil "Gogol" Ganguli, and Sonia Ganguli, both are americanized are unaware of Indian culture. Then comes the tragedy of the family. Of course, this seems to be a tragedy to an Indian, not to an American because of the cultural differences.

The reason why Ashoke names his son after Nikolai Gogol, is very touchable. The bond of emotions between Ashoke and his son Gogol is presented in fantastic way. The pros and cons of an American culture make us think.

Irrfan Khan as always puts a solid performance. He easily manages to speak Bengali and English in an Indian's accent. But I have to say who acted best in the movie, I will select Tabbu. She presents an orthodox middle class woman Ashmita, who comes to an unknown country with her husband. Shouldering her responsibility of growing up her children and finally when everyone settles in their lives, she quietly returns to those things which she always wanted to do. Kal Penn, Gogol looks like a perfect ABCD (American Born Confused Desi). He lives his life his own way, an American's way and looses his love twice, struggles through emotional decline but settles.
One last thing to mention, the music. Truly melodious. The background scores give a typical Bengali look to the film.

A must see movie...