Went ahead to watch it just for the sake of the book - and out of my
own curiousity of what Mira Nair had made of it, and especially after
the
encouraging response from the film fraternity and international
festivals. So here I am, sitting in front of the computer, hours after
moving out of the theatre. And this time I would want to present my
review in a sequential, orderly, systematic format (its good
to be done that way once in a while ;) ).
Story: The film traces the life of an NRI family living abroad
for a major part of their life. The opening sequence shows Ashok
Ganguli, a student at that time travelling by train - going through the
pages of the collected works of fiction of Nikolai Gogol, a Russian
writer. A near fatal accident causes him to move to America with wife
Ashima and settle there permanently. That sounds strange, right? How
that happens - for that you'll have to watch the movie. Moving ahead,
Ashima give birth to a baby boy and they decide to give him the pet
name of Gogol, which eventually becomes his good name. He grows up and
continues to detest it and feel ashamed of it among his fellow class
students till that time when he learns from his father how he earned
this name. Later, he falls in love with a firang girl and
starts living with her, thereby slowly drifting away from his own
family. Meanwhile, Ashima also begins to stay alone as her husband is
forced to stay away in a separate apartment coz of his job. Few
days later, she hears a terrible news which turns the lives of all
people involved upside down. And thus follows a journey of self
realization and going back to one's roots.
A critical analysis: I couldn't help feeling at the end that I
was
a bit dissapointed, coz I still consider the book to be better; just
cant get the characters, that Jhumpa Lahiri brought alive in her
marvellous narration, out of my mind. It was tough for me to aloof
myself from the lives of Ashima and Ashok. Throughout the book I was
feeling a part of their own lives as I kept on proceeding with it.
Maybe it were these high expectations which
somewhat ruined the impact as I was expecting things to unfold the same
way I had wanted in the film. Instead Mira Nair's film is rather based on the book
rather than a sequential take on Jhumpa Lahiri's marvellous work.
The initial portions, including Ashima meeting Ashok and his parents
for the first time, and the ones involving Ashima's struggle to come to
terms with the American lifestyle, hint towards a great film; some
quality cinema. But as the scenes unfold, the film turns out to be too
artistic, too subtle, and too slow for even some of the audience
who prefer watching meaningful cinema, mainly coz its is devoid of any
dramatic or overtly sentimental moments. Though this subtelty can be called its strong
point by one section of the multiplex audience, its can be a major flaw for some. Furthermore, those who
have read the book may also find
the initial happenings in the story too fast paced. Not entirely Mira's
fault, coz its tough making a 2 hour film out of a 300 page novel.
However, the film appears stretched in its latter half even though its just 2 hours long.
People may ask the question what was the need of Moushumi's character at a time when
the film should have been heading towards its climax. and what does it
contribute to the story? Yes, it was an important character in the
book, but only if they had given it its due importance in the movie, it
wouldn't have appeared forced according to the hardcore critics.
Well, whatever the case may be, its only those light hearted situations
and moments created between the couple in beginning which stay with you
till the very end
Performances: Two brilliant actors. Two actors who carry the
film on their shoulders and deliver arguably their best performances
ever. Need I say more? Tabu's awesome performance wasn't much of a
surprise as the role seemed to be tailor-made for her; but its Irfaan
who stood out with his restrained and wonderfully nuanced portrayal of
Ashok Ganguli. He actually lived the character. Karl Penn as Gogol was
impressive as well.
Scenes I loved watching: I must admit that Namesake had its fair share of sequences worth remembering. I would list some of them here:
1) When Ashima tries wearing Ashok's shoes and then meets him and
his parents for the first time. It leaves you with a smile on your face.
2) Ashok's explaining to his wife about using the American gas.
3) Ashok apologizing to Ashima after their bitter sweet quarrel. It was really sweet :)
4) Gogol and Sonia's visit to Calcutta, when Sonia can't wait to get back home.
5) Gogol introducing his girlfriend to his mom and the look on the
latter's face, especially when she calls Ashima by her first name; and
later kissing his dad. It was funny!
6) When Ashima learns of the terrible news on phone. Superbly acted by Tabu!
7) The last 15 minutes.
Overall: Namesake would be remembered more for its
performances of the lead actors rather than being a Mira Nair film. It
was these performances which lift the film to a high level. Not that
the film itself was bad, but could have been better.
I may be wrong, do let me know if I am.
Thanks for reading,
Pranay
