Gogol remains a one-and-a-half-note role, and yet the film uses him with ruthless precision to leave its most intense impression, one that will be recognisable to many adults who have ever contemplated the loss of a parent: the wrath of regret. Khan and Tabu’s soulful performances and heart-stopping chemistry are the film’s bright core. When Mira Nair was in the midst of completing her adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair (2004), her mother-in-law died of negligence at a New York hospital. But the film is bolder and more vivid than its source, aided by cinematographer Frederick Elmes’ limpid palette and by the eros and sensuality that pulsates between Ashoke and Ashima, poster children for arranged marriage. These assorted jitters lend a crucial dose of nervous energy to a sometimes sluggish, overdetermined adaptation of what’s after all a sluggish, overdetermined book. (We won’t give away the details, though the trailer will.) And the namesake of ‘The Namesake’ is wound pretty tight himself: Gogol is forever irritated by his old-world parents and hell-bent on assimilating into an America that, after all, he was born in. The film is an anxious object, trembling with ethno-cultural tensions and clenched desire, and reverberating from the impact of the accident that sets it in motion. The screen translation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s first novel therefore seems custom-fitted to her sensibilities: it reaches between two countries over three decades to chronicle the bittersweet journey of Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and his wife, Ashima (Tabu), Bengali immigrants to the US, and their American-born son with the odd but significant name, Gogol (Kal Penn). An accomplished filmmaker with several Emmys and an. Mira Nair’s trademark is to dramatise conflicts between generations and customs, with special interest in newcomers to America. Manzoor lists directors Mira Nair ( The Namesake) and Deepa Mehta ( Elements trilogy) as two people who inspire her, since they feature South Asian women in their projects. The Namesake Interviewed by Jaspreet Pandohar At its heart its a film about parents, children and family, and knowing where you come from.

The namesake nair