mad about movies: blog 
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the namesake (movie review)
by TidbitPublished Apr. 8, 2009
Views: 364
Yesterday, someone posted how Obama has hired Kal Penn and it got me thinking about the actor. I disliked the Harold & Kumar movies, though I’ve never watched House, I can’t attest to his acting there. I do know he’s done a lot of guest spots on various TV shows, such as Tru Calling and Law & Order: SVU.
But there was one movie that stands out for me with this actor. Every time I mention it, I am asked, “What movie? Never heard of it.”. This is very sad because it is a profound and extremely well done drama.
Kal Penn plays the central character Gogol / Nikhil. He’s named after a Russian author with whom Nikhil’s father has an affinity for.
The movie gets it’s name based on the Bengali tradition of naming their children. For most Bengali, their birth name is different than their official name, a given name and a family name.
The movie begins with the story line of Ashoke and Ashima in India. Ashoke is an engineer and Ashima is a young Bengali girl who is trained in classical Indian singing. It is an arranged marriage, however, the two actually find that they are very interested in each other. Ashoke takes a job and moves to New York. Ashima has a hard time adjusting to the new way and cultural differences of life in America. They have two children. The first, a boy. They are too far from their family to be able to get a “given” name, so Ashoke provides the birth name of Gogol. Later their family provides the given name of Nikhil. Their second child is a girl, Sonia.
The rest of the movie centers around Gogol and his conflicts with his families traditions, his name and his desires. There is a lot of strife between Gogol and his father, Ashoke, and this strife and conflict plays out in other relationships Gogol has. Through strife and loss, eventually Gogol comes to terms with his culture, circumstances and heritage.
Overall, the film stays very true to the book, which is very rare. The book itself by Jhumpa Lahiri, is a story that actually spans about three decades. Mira Nair, director, does surprisingly well, compacting the story into the short two hour time frame without loosing any of the story. Nair does a good job in helping bring true integrity to the characters, allowing you to become attached easily. Nair also does a very good job of bringing across the nuances of Bengali culture from the book to help make it understandable to a population/ viewership that might not have a clue about this culture.
This movie is definitely a drama worthy of seeing. The role of Gogol is something completely different than anything I’ve seen Kal Penn do and he does it stupendously. I’m surprised he didn’t get more notoriety for it.
Out of 10 stars, I’d give this movie 8.5.
Filed under: Movies & Movie Reviews
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GOLO member since August 2, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:09 a.m.
GOLO member since July 13, 2008
April 8, 2009 9:11 a.m.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:13 a.m.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal_Penn
GOLO member since May 19, 2008
April 8, 2009 9:16 a.m.
GOLO member since October 12, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:19 a.m.
GOLO member since August 7, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:24 a.m.
GOLO member since December 18, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:28 a.m.
I think he will do well in his role at the White House.
GOLO member since August 2, 2007
April 8, 2009 9:42 a.m.
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