>>REVIEW
THE NAMESAKE
STARRING: Kal Penn, Tabu and Irfan Khan
DIRECTED BY Mira Nair
Opens Friday, March 30
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The American melting pot has proven to boil a paradoxical broth over the years. On the one hand, it is a chance for immigrants to start anew in a self-proclaimed land of opportunity. On the other, is an attempt to maintain cultural traditions from the homeland and pass them on to the next generation for fear they may one day be forgotten.
What sometimes results among South Asian American youth is a cultural identity crisis, explored to perfection in The Namesake, the latest film by India-born director Mira Nair.
The film follows the story of Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima Ganguli (Tabu) as they settle in the States after their arranged marriage in India and try to acclimate while raising their children in a strict Bengali household.
Through an error at the hospital, their son’s pet name of Gogol (named after Russian author Nikolai Gogol) is registered as his official birth name, setting him on a path that would profoundly shape his life and understanding of his parents.
Gogol (Kal Penn) initially attempts to bridge the culture gap by creating another identity – calling himself Nik to blend in with the New York crowd and his girlfriend, Maxine. But the problem of cultural identity is not restricted to Gogol, as it plays out time and again in the creation and destruction of his relationships.
The performances are subdued but in no way lessen the impact of screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala‘s finely tuned script. Kal Penn effectively conveys the angst and confusion of a young man torn between two worlds, and would garner more prominent roles if Hollywood were more colour-blind in its choice of leading men.
Complementing Penn is co-star Tabu with her believable and understated portrayal of an overprotective mother simultaneously helping and hindering her son while wrestling with her own demons.
While excellent on many fronts, the film is not without flaws. If there’s any nitpicking to be done, it would have to be its ham-fisted and blatant foreshadowing that could have easily been avoided through a more subtle and tempered approach to major plot details.
The Namesake doesn’t tread across unfamiliar ground on the cinematic landscape with its tale of immigration and assimilation, but the script and performances make it a thoughtful and heart-warming ride nonetheless. If the film teaches us anything, it’s that acceptance doesn’t begin with others, but with one’s self. |
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