Introduction Namesake is based on the debut novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, inspired by the author’s own quandary of being a “London born American Bengali”, away from Kolkata, & the fact that she adapted her nick name over her good name- Nilanjana. All Bengali’s have two names. A nickname is a neat outcome of the relative’s endless love & affection to the newborn. It's a mono or duo syllable word, mostly meaningless, just a sweet timbre of lilt. Like pele, buban, gogol, hojo for boys & mimi, jhumpa, tapur for girls. Bengali’s normally takes too long to decide a "good" name.
Namesake is a representation of present day issues involving an émigré Bengali family & a young man’s identity, his relationships, marriage, love, life, & death in the Americas.The Story & Cast As I have not read the book, I will briefly touch the subject as understood from the film.Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) a Bengali young man from Kolkata loved reading Nikolai Gogol, a Russian Author who’s life was bit similar to Van Gogh, what I gathered. Ashoke survives a train accident while he was reading Gogol’s “The Overcoat”. Just before the accident a co-passenger, Mr. Ghosh tells him to get out of the rut & see the world.
Ghosh dies in the accident, his last dialogue being ”to each his own”…while sipping his liquor from his hip-pouch.Survived & inspired by Ghosh, Ashoke goes to America to pursue his PhD. His parents get him married to a Bengali girl from Kolkata, Ashima (Tabu). Gogol (Kal Penn) is born shortly & named after his father’s favorite author. Gogol is neither an American nor a Bengali name. Moreover, the associated fact that the Russian author was insane, never been successful in his living life & was unable to father a child- makes our Gogol an easy bully!
The story spans around 25-30 years of time till Gogol grows to a charming confused adult. The beginning evolves around life of Ashoke & Ashima showing their married life, birth of Gogol & Sonia & how they gradually settle in America. The story then gradually moves on to shift focus towards Gogol’s growing up in life, his relationships, happiness & pain. The story narrates the ups & downs of the family, their visit to Kolkata- root, the bonding & split, how Gogol gets inspired to opt for Architecture seeing Taj Mahal. Finally, the story leads to freedom of Gogol & his self-realization within his world.
The film ends in 2 hrs, but the story does not. Can story of a journey ever end? *Sesh jekhane; shuru sekhane *(End is beginning of something else)….Performances Depicting a story of two generations spanning 30 years within 2 hrs may be difficult. But further difficult task is to take the audience along in the journey, let them feel the passion, emotion & agony of the characters within the limited hrs of viewing. Though, the film is set little apace at places, Mira Niar, has probably done a great justice to the novel in her crisp direction. While reading a book, we can always pause, think & re-read. A movie, being a director’s medium we need to believe what we are directed to see.
The cast & the direction made it a brilliant piece of cinema, leaving me in a somber state of mind.
Irfan, portrays a scholarly Bengali man from youth to middle age with much conviction, which is complemented brilliantly by Tabu as his wife. A typical Bengali man wears specs, smokes a lot, loves his family & fosters sublime values to his children. A typical Bengali man also loves to travel. Irfan’s character has a lot of detail to observe & understand.
Irfan after playing lead roles in “Shadows of time” & “Namesake” is as Bengali as I am.Tabu, grows in the movie from a classical music student from Kolkata to a wife of an American professor to mother of American children. While there are some detailing drawbacks (e.g.- the way of wearing a sari is not Bengali) to portray a Bengali housewife, the way she enacts mothering her children, is awesome. She travels 30 years of Ashima’s life, based on simple values like love, affection & sacrifice; her performances while dealing with the pain of losing near ones & still strong enough a character to find her own destiny is absolutely mind-blowing. Destiny, Tabu got the role as Rani Mukherjee & Konkona could not find time to do Ashima.
Kal Penn (real name is Kalpen Modi) as Gogol is the most complicated character in the movie. A bullied student, a confused young, a rebel son, a romantic boy-friend to an American girl, an aspiring Architect, a good son, a betrayed husband- he had to do it all. And he does it perfectly, unlike American Desi. His screen presence was probably equal or just shorter than Irfan or Tabu, but his performance as Gogol is way beyond the limit of cinematic duration. I wish, his journey as a confused rootless American to a determined Bengali son in Namesake, takes him to greater heights.
Jagannath Guha as Ghosh is impactful in the shortest role. To each his own. Sabyasachi Chakravarthy as Ashima's father, Jacinda Barrett as Gogol’s girls friend helps strengthening Tabu & Kal. Special mention must go to Zuleikha Robinson as Moushumi Mazumdar as Gogol’s wife for her short , sexy & sweet performance as a French speaking liberated woman.
Jhumpa Lahiri plays a typical Bengali “masi”, but it is difficult to recognize her also as author of the book!
Cinematography, ScreenplayOverall brilliant- having shot in locations like Kolkata, US & Taj. The chill of winter & color of autumn surmounts beyond celluloid.
However, the portraying of 70’s Kolkata was a bit clichéd & fast, especially outdoors. There’s more to Kolkata than procession, Howrah Bridge, wrought iron railings of balcony. Yuva captured the city in a better way. The shots at Agra & Victoria memorial in Kolkata were superbly taken. The movie retains its gravity & splashes of humour albeit makes it lighter at places. The earlier part of the language is Bengali, later it shifts to English in Bangla & American Accent.
MusicBackground score by Nitin Sawhney varies greatly according to the themes of the scene. I liked the heavy undertones for the gloomy scenes. There’s a Bhatiali song & a Bollywood number as well!
BottomlineYou can take a Bengali out of Kolkata, but you can’t take Kolkata out of a Bengali. Being a woman, the way Jhumpa wrote the story from a man’s perspective & the way Mira Nair handles the complexity of relationships to gift us a superb heart touching film, my ovation to both of them.
The title comes from a Wordsworth poem featured in the movie.
We all came from Gogol’s overcoat. *I carried this movie out from the theatre, thinking of my childhood at Kolkata. A must watch for all serious cinema lovers.Warning: This is not a feel good movie. There are few shocks, part nudity & graphic scenes not suitable for minors. Also don’t judge this book by its movie.
