The Namesake

  The Namesake

Movie Screening  The Namesake

The Namesake is written by  Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri and movie based on the same novel The Namesake directed by Mira Nair.

The Namesake is all about journey. Though it has a story of groups of immigrant it leads towards journey from outside to inside.

The Namesake is the story of identity crisis. The quest of identity leads to journey. Gogol is in search of his own unique identity. Even Gogol's name represents the family's journey into the unknown.

"The greatest journeys are the ones that bring you home"
              ધરતીનો છેડો ઘર......

Stars caste:-  Ashima (Tabu)
Ashoke (Irfan khan)
Gogol    ( Kal Penn )
Sahir Nair

Movie is much faithful to novel. Tabu and Irfan khan have done excellent performance. Penn also has done good job playing Gogol's role.

Cultural gap is demonstrated in The Namesake. Though the great English writer,Shakespeare said "What's in a name?"Name is everything in The Namesake. Novel/film tells the story of struggle. Struggle of immigrants - the first genration who transformed from Esat to United State.

Ashoke & Ashima come with many  dreams in US as most of immigrants are coming. Ashoke and Ashima both are struggling to adjust in new culture whereas their children Gogol and Sonia both are suffering within two cultural values.

Ashoke & Ashima refuse to detach fully from their past, their tradition, their cultural values and customs though they live in US. Gogol & Sonia are not belong to India and can't able to be fully American as their roots are Indian. They all feel loneliness among themselves.
"Who knows what we are , what we feel?, What we think?"
So, for Gogol  the word ABCD is always there, 'AMERICAN BORN CONFUSED DESI'

Though movie is much faithful to the novel, reading novel gives much excitement. Reader feels more loneliness and agitation than watching movie.

Gogol and Sonia are brought up in
much different culture which makes them almost stranger to themselves because even Gogol doesn't read or write his parents language which they used to speak at their home. Old cultural values are merging with new values then even there is lack of something which can't be understood.

Ashoke firmly believes that his life was saved only because of Gogol's book. He said that books are for to  travel without moving inch.

"That's the thing about books.They have travel without moving your feet."

"The Namesake captures the interior struggle between centuries of history and the appeal of living only in the now, and overwhelming moving."
~ Roxana Hadadi

Great Russian literature came out from Gogol's "Overcoat" and reader can give justification of the title with this quote that,  "We all comeout from Gogol's Overcoat one day you will Understand."