The Namesake is a wonderful film that focuses on an Indian family and their life in America from the 70's to the present. Irfan Khan is Ashoke Ganguli, a young man who is travelling on a train reading a Nikolai Gogol collection of short stories. He talks to a fellow passenger who remarks that now he is out of school he should see the world. Ashoke responds that by reading he can travel without leaving the chair. Then, a terrible train accident occurs in which many of the passengers are killed, but Ashoke survives. He takes the passenger's words to heart and goes to America, where he eventually settles. He visits his family back in India, where his parents are making plans to marry him to a beautiful female singer named Ashima (Tabu), who is intrigued by his white shoes. The marriage is arranged, and she goes with him to New York City, where it is winter, and she sees his spare apartment and the wintery landscape. At first she is miserable, but Ashoke proves to be a kind and loving husband, and they eventually have two children, Sonia and Nikhil "Gogol" - obviously named after the author that Ashoke loved. They had to come up with the name, not according to their customs, but in order to get the baby out of the hospital -- U.S. law states that a child must be named before he or she could leave (Ashoke's parents were to come up with a name, which would have taken a while). Gogol, as he grows older, comes to hate his name. He endures the constant teasing, in school and out. The years pass by and Gogol is now called Nik, and is a young promising architect, dating a blonde named Maxine, who is from a well to do family in Manhattan, and they are very much in love. She has not been introduced to his parents, because Gogol is aware of the culture differences. The one time they are all together for dinner, Maxine inadvertently touches Gogol, showing affection, and this raises eyebrows - public displays like that are not allowed in Indian culture. Ashoke, under the pretext of going to get some dessert for the dinner, has Gogol come with him. He stops the car near a park and explains to him the importance of his name, telling him of the train accident, and how that brought him here to the States. It leaves an impression on Gogol. Some time later, Gogol and Maxine are in bed, and he mentions about his dual name, and was thinking about reverting to Gogol. She thinks that is a silly name. Ashoke lands a university job in Cleveland, and has to leave Ashima in New York, to both their reluctance. This will be the first time that she will be alone -- the children are out in the world. Ashima wants Gogol to be in constant contact, especially during the upcoming Christmas holidays, but he is off with Maxine and her family, having a great time near a lake, and he forgets to call. Ashoke unexpectedly calls Ashima from the hospital, having difficulty breathing, but tells her not to worry. But she is worried, and later gets a nasty shock -- Ashoke dies from a heart attack. She tries to call Gogol, but he is unavailable, and he has to hear the news from his sister. Gogol goes to Cleveland to identify the body, and filled with regret for not being in contact. There is a large funeral ceremony when he gets home, and Gogol immerses himself in the customs and rites -- even shaving his head to show grief. It is during this time that he embraces the Gogol name, and when Maxine arrives during the wake, the cultural differences seem glaring, and Gogol sends her away, ending the relationship. Some time passes, and Ashima mentions that Moushumi, a woman whom she and Ashoke had tried to pair off earlier, has returned from England to live in New York. Moushumi at the time was plain, studious and not interested in even talking to Gogol, and he is not looking forward to meeting her. But the duckling became a swan, and Gogol is entranced. They hit it off well enough to start dating, and they eventually marry. All seems well until she keeps her maiden name, and Gogol finds that despite the common background in family and culture, there are differences that threaten the relationship, in outlook and expectations. She declines a job that was in Europe, a bitter pill for her to take. She lets slip a man's name, in such a way that clearly to Gogol this person was more than a friend. It turns out she had been seeing an old lover, and was resuming the relationship. Gogol leaves her. For the first time he takes comfort in his own life and family, seeing his mom leave to go back to India, who is also asserting herself for the first time, to be a singer. He embraces his name and identity, remembering his father.The Namesake is beautifully shot, showing the colorful, warm homeland of India to the cool, blue and grey tones of New York City. It is well paced, and the characters are fully realized. I like how certain elements of the cultural integration are twisted - Gogol's rejection of the blonde all American gal for the Indian-American woman works against him, since Moushumi proves to be more independent, so unlike a traditional Indian woman than he expected. Perhaps he would have been better off with Maxine? The developing relationship of his parents provide a nice background as well -- theirs is a slow but long burning love that only grows as the years go on. This is a fine effort by Mira Nair, who also is notable for the films Salaam Bombay and Monsoon Wedding. Worth seeing!
