Director :Mira Nair Starring :Irrfan Khan,Tabu
So being an Indian-American, I have been fully exposed to Bollywood growing up, and I admit, I enjoy the movies and will watch anything that the industry churns out. But from all of the escapism that is thrown in your face, it’s so hard to find something that actually has substance and deals with real life. Ironically, movies that depict true Indian life are very rarely produced by Bollywood, but are received pretty well by the US. Here is a prime example: Deepa Mehta’s water (a Canadian-produced film) released about a year ago dealing with a group of Indian widows, but when trying to shoot, the set was urned down in India and took seven years to make.
Mira Nair, who has directed wonderful films in the past such as mississipi masala, and salam bombay, actually has the gumption to get close to Indian reality, which is so refreshing. This time she has adapted Jhumpa Lahiri’s award-winning book, The Namesake, and transformed it beautifully into film. I had high expectations when walking into this movie, not only because of what people have been saying, but because of Mira Nair’s discussion at the DMA a few weeks ago, which focused on her take on The Namesake .
The story focuses on the Ganguli couple, Ashima and Ashoke, who had an arranged-marriage, but their ability to adjust in America and raise two kids helps their non-verbal love to grow. They have a son, Gogol, who is trying to find his an identity as first-generation Indian-American, but wants to change his name. Nair had said that she wanted to make this a love story between two parents, and between the parents and their child.
