Make no mistake;
The Namesake is not niche in any sense
of the word. It’s as universal a movie as
can be: it’s got everything to begin with:
cross cultural confusion, Hollywood actors, Bollywood
stars, marriages, romances, affairs, divorces,
births, deaths, Bengali, Hindi, English –
it’s something for everyone. With exceptional
performances, a perfectionist director’s
stamp, and a canvas sketched by Pulitzer-winning
Jhumpa Lahiri’s book, The Namesake
is an important work to be acknowledged.
Mira Nair’s grasp of India and its inherent
immigrant Indian-ness is unrivalled among Hollywood
directors, and we’ve seen this in the past
with Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and Monsoon
Wedding – which were excellent films
delicately portraying stories of the multitude.
Her tryst with a mainstream historical, Vanity
Fair,  didn’t
quite have the same warmth and incisiveness we
see in her India-related work. And, given the
scope for The Namesake, she’s certainly
in full control. As a director, the film is almost
without blemish – Nair’s check over
the actors, the research, the minutest of details,
Nair has it down all pat. And that’s just
brilliant. The scene where Ashima has no idea
how to react to the phone call she’s just
made to the hospital is clearly the director at
her best, and not just a performance alone.
Unquestionably, it’s the performances that
are the heart and soul of the film. Heart-wrenching
at times (Tabu when she gets the news, Penn’s
seamless transitions) and heartwarming at others
(Khan on the waterfront with young Gogol, Tabu’s
early days in NYC, the assorted courtships). Alternating
between the subtle and the towering are Irrfan
Khan and Tabu, truly making their mark at the
global level. While Khan has done a lot of international
work (The Warrior, Shadows of Time and others),
Tabu shows the way for Indian stars how talent
and commitment can combine to reach new heights.
Kal Penn, Lex Luthor’s dialogue-less sidekick,
demonstrates how this wide amount of available
talent can deliver when given a chance. Even though
he has little time to reflect, he has enough to
react to show us how good he is.
Let’s keep the books vs. movies debate aside.
Realistically there was little hope to expect
this film to match the book. But Nair and Sooni
Taraporewala strive hard to incorporate all events
and moments in the 2 hours they work with. But
here is where the film hiccups: It’s
too hurried. The subject and pace don’t
match, but then again it’s really hard to
capture Ashima’s lonliness and struggle
to cope (such a big part in the book) with such
episodic economy on celluloid. Scenes whiz past
in the beginning intermittently pausing for breathers,
some potent, some irreverent.
And while the book’s languid pace allows
it to delve in and out of each character and circumstance,
2 hours is simply not enough to justify a similar
approach. Characters  seem
shortchanged at a screenplay level, especially
Sahira Nair who plays Sonia Ganguli. Given the
title, perhaps the film would be best centering
around Gogol and with lesser stress on the others.
But Tabu’s and Khan’s sublime performances
overshadow everything else. The metaphor –
the equation between Gogol’s name and identity
in a different culture comes through beautifully
– here is a man born and brought up in a
country that fails to recognize him – and
yet it really is for Ashima and Ashoke that our
hearts go out to.
The conflict in the film comes late, and when
it does, it’s not earth shattering. Gogol’s
drifting apart is expected and natural, the return
not so. The scene with Ashoke explaining the circumstances
of naming his Gogol (so pivotal in the film) is
overshadowed by Ashima’s loss and circumstance.
Structurally keeping the sceneflow linear hasn’t
helped either. For example, there was some pointlessness
to starting with Ashoke’s accident, only
to return to it later, thereby diluting the impact
for the audience while Gogol takes it head on.
It maybe a decision Nair has made at the editing
table keeping the audience in mind, but it seems
a compromise.
This film is good for the Indian film industry.
Tabu and Irrfan Khan have shown that Indian stars
are up there on par with their international counterparts
and this should help Bollywood relax a little.
Too often various spokespersons have defensively
claimed individuality and the homegrown form of
the Bollywood film, only to get cold feet and
shy away from a truly international market (not
NRI!). Even for this film, Rani Mukerjee was the
initial choice for Ashima’s role but had
no time for rehearsals and was subsequently dropped.
Hopefully films like these will change such attitudes,
not only for actors but for mainstream makers
as well.
|
