The Namesake

The Namesake directed by Mira Nair. I watched it today, because this was the only DVD i could lay my hands from the list i dutifully carried to the library.(Sigh, in this age of online streaming, i still rent DVD's from the lib).

If you are expecting pace in the lines of Monsoon Wedding, this is a let-down. The pace is real slow, almost qualifies for a documentary. When i read the book there were several parts that impressed me and some i did not care for. Somehow in the movie, the parts that are emphasized are the parts you do not remember from the book.

Kal Penn has given a good performance but we have seen so many ABCD's that we can't really appreciate his conflicts anymore. They are streo-typed and cliched. Tabu looks old and masculine. She does emote well but too lanky for the role. I would have preferred ... let me think..... cant think of any actresses in bollywood.. Can you?

Most of us who have travelled far and wide from our homelands have an inexplicable longing to get back and an intense desire to defend our country, traditions, cuisine and kinship. When children are born in the US to Indians, there seem to be a sea of change and the family is always raging a war. I was hoping The Namesake would bring out these aspects... but i guess it was lost in traslation!!!