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| The Namesake | 
 enlarge | Director: Mira Nair
Actors: Irfan Khan, Kal Penn, Jagannath Guha, Ruma Guha Thakurta, Tabu
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.84
You Save: $18.14 (91%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  82 reviews
Sales Rank: 2502
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Hindi (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 122
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2245608D
UPC: 024543456087
EAN: 0024543456087
ASIN: B000U2U0E4
Theatrical Release Date: March 9, 2007
Release Date: November 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A modern immigrant story well done. May 7, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
In 2003 I read this very interesting novel. I really loved it. It seemed to totally encompass the immigrant experience. It was simple and I liked that. And it was forthright and to the point. That's why I was anxious to see the film. I was a little disappointed. This is not a bad film. I just thought the filmmaker could have done better. Perhaps that was because I knew the story and there were no surprises. Or maybe it was because now, in 2007, I've read and heard and viewed so many stories about immigrants that "The Namesake - The Movie " has somehow lost its uniqueness for me. That said, this was a good film and contains a story that it is important to tell.
In The Namesake, we first meet a young man who is in a train wreck. His life has been saved because of the book he was reading by the author Gogol. He recovers from his injuries but his life has changed forever. He wants to go out into the world and explore. That's why he chooses to go to college in America. He does well and comes back to India to take a bride. Even though it is an arranged marriage there is defiantly a connection between the couple. They marry and go to America where at first it is difficult for the wife. But they soon have a son, who they name "Gogol", and later they have a daughter. They prosper. Their children grow up. Their son falls in love with an American girl. The parents are upset. And then, after a tragedy, the son returns to his roots and marries a very modern Indian girl. But this marriage does not end "happily ever after". Eventually, there is a turning point and everyone makes mature decisions. Life goes on.
The film is well done, the pacing is good, the acting fine. Most people will like it. I just can't help it if it didn't grab me emotionally.
 One of the Better Movies of 2007 April 22, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This movie is based off the book by Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake) which chronicles the journey of a young indian married couple to America. The movie focuses on the parents, especially the mother who is played by none other than the beautiful Tabu, and their son who is played by Kal Penn. The family's adjustment to life in America takes different shapes and forms seen in broken relationships, friendships, and lovers.
As the movie progressed I found myself empathizing with each character in a way I haven't done since Crash. I miss movies that draw you into the narrative and then at the end bring you to a sense of closure. One of the strongest roles played in the movie was by Tabu (the mom). She starts out as a naive house wife who is struggling to adapt to life in America. As her life moves on she learns to become strong partly because she has no other choice. It is very hard to capture the silent moments in life. This movie did just that. For that reason and so much more I am convinced this film is one of the best of 2007. If you want to watch something that shows you the delicate nature of what it takes to see the beauty in families this is it.
An Indian Family In America April 1, 2007
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Ashoke Ganguli and his new bride Ashima arrive in New York City in 1977. They miss their families in Calcutta, India and struggle to adapt to the cultural and climate differences of America. But, ultimately, they do manage to build a successful life and family here. Their son, named Gogol, grows into a smart but slightly rebellious teen-ager who often feels stiflied by his parent's focus on tradition and family unity. He gets engaged to an American girl, Maxine, but they break up after she responds selfishly to the degree of mourning Gogol experiences following the death of his father. Gogol later ends up marrying a very modern and French influenced Indian girl named Moushumi. But once again the relationship doesn't work out. The movie ends with Gogol's mother deciding to sell the family home in America and return to India.
My favorite parts of the movie are the scenes set in India. I spent 4 months travelling there as a college student and the film does a great job of capturing the country in all it's intense, colorful and bustling glory. As in several of her previous movies, director Mira Nair is interested in exploring how Indians are affected by modernization and Western influence while still trying to maintain their own traditions and sense of cultural authenticity. The movie is rather slow paced and with a serious tone. Personally I preferred Nair's more celebratory and humor filled past movies such as "Monsoon Wedding" and "Mississippi Masala". But "The Namesake" is still an interesting and worthwhile film, especially for those interested in life in India or the experience of Indians in America.
 3.5 stars - well worth seeing March 31, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Based on the 2003 novel by US author Jhumpa Lahiri, her fifth book, Namesake is the sixteenth film from director Mira Nair and it is one of her best.
There is considerable tension in the film, which is first about a young Indian couple (Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli, played by Indian actors Irfan Khan and Tabu) who have an arranged marriage and then move to the New York to begin a new life. Secondly, it's mainly about their first child, their son Gogol and his struggles to live his life both to please his parents and to please himself.
Symbolic of the cultural confusions the son faces is the fact that his name, Gogol, was hastily chosen for his birth certificate, rather than wait for this grandparent's arrival from India to help select it, months later.
While away at school, he begins a relationship with a beautiful white woman and is practically accepted as a member of her family. Meanwhile, his mother laments the fact that her son prefers to spend holiday time with a family other than his own.
The film has it's sweet, cute moments, but the overall tone is one of struggle without idealistic endings. We see birth, loneliness, death and it's all wrapped up in the competition to adhere to one's traditions while seeking acceptance in society at large. This is most poignantly shown when the girlfriend seeks to comfort Gogol by sticking with him but he rejects her ovations that would seem perfectly normal to most western-raised people.
Before our hero Gogol, played by Kal Penn, best known for the stoner film Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, heads off to college, we see him meet a family who have recently arrived from England, including their daughter (played by Zuleikha Robinson, perhaps best known for guest starring in the X-Files spin off, The Lone Gunmen),who is same age as him but who looks very much like "Ugly Betty" and has a snooty personality to match her looks. Of course, she shows up later as an incredible hottie who gets intwinned into Gogol's life in a big way.
The theme of cultural confusion, struggle and the triumph over adversity could have been better demonstrated. I haven't read the book so I don't know how true the film is to it. Without a doubt, there are tens of thousands of people whose lives have paralleled that of the Ganguli family, by arriving in the "west" and doing the best that they can to give their children a better life than they had in the "old country." The price to pay for such prosperity, however, is having your children slip away from the traditional roots that you have laid down for them. It's not so bad for them that they find their own way when they head off for college and university, but growing up different from the other kids can have devastating consequences, in some cases.
I can't fault the acting of the anyone in the Ganguli family. It's first rate and believable. The film's potential wasn't fully realized due to the story not being stretched out, to further show the struggles and triumphs.
It's interesting to note that the film's star, Kal Penn, changed his name from Kalpen Modi, to make himself more marketable, much like the character he plays in the film. From watching the previews, however, I was under the impression that the name he wanted to change was the family's last name and not his first name.
My rating for this film is 3.5/5.
Sometimes Universal Themes Work Wonders March 28, 2007
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Films with universal themes run great risks. Mostly this risk entails descending into that pit known as cliche. Many films have done it and fallen victim, but THE NAMESAKE uses its universal theme to great advantage, never disguising what it is and how important it can be.
The theme is family and how vital they are to our core existence. They shape every part of us, from childhood on, for better or worse. They create a sense of belonging, even when we're apart, even when separated by oceans. They give us our early identity, and even our names.
Most of us don't think about how tough it is to name a human being and how we lug that title around with us for the rest of our lives. But in The Namesake, director Mira Nair ( of MONSOON WEDDING fame) gives us Gogol Ganguli, a name of substance and importance, but not necessarily important to its owner.
The Namesake is a tri-generational story of a Bangladeshi family. The film starts with the beautiful Indian singing of Ashima (Tabu). Her initial goal in life is to become a great artist/singer. But family concerns override her plans as she returns home to find a marriage arrangement being put forth for her. Her parents introduce her to her future husband, Ashoke (Irfan Khan), an architect who's been studying and living in America. The marriage takes place and Ashima accompanies her new husband to New York ("Half a world away"). She immediately begins missing her family but her forlorn attitude is whisked aside as Ashoke teaches her the ways of the City. She becomes pregnant with her first child, Gogol. The naming is tricky because normally it is done by an elder from within the family (all of whom are still in India). So Ashoke names him after one of his favorite authors (Nicholas "Gogol", a famous Russian writer). Gogol bares the name with disdain, never fully realizing its importance (one of Nicholas Gogol's books actually saved Gogol's father's life after a fatal train accident in India many years before). Gogol eventually changes his name to Nick, thus ending his family's tradition of keeping an appropriate Indian name.
It is this Americanization that is most troubling throughout the film. It invades the very fabric of what Gogol's family represents. Although not entirely without merit (America does give him a good education and a nice job), the culture of his parents seems stilted and uncool. As Gogol (and eventually his sister) grow into adulthood, they search for love in America, and find it via Americans. This is also another blow to Ashima and Ashoke (Gogol's mother and father). Americans live in the fast lane and often have to choose between one spouse's family over the other. This comes into sharp contrast as Gogol begins dating a beautiful blonde American named Maxine (Jacinda Barrett, POSEIDON). Maxine's pull is strong and forces Gogol to drift farther away from his roots. His parents call and call but never hear back. It takes a devastating family event to get Gogol back on track and it is this that gives the film its emotional heft. Tear-jerking and non-forced, this event was played perfectly and surprised everyone in the audience (all the movie patrons gasped around me when it occurred, a true tribute to this film's masterful weaving of the family theme).
The movie's arc is also well done. It ends just as it begins, with the focus on understanding family and what it means to move on when the time comes, but to never forget where you've come from.
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