The Namesake (2006)

Director:

Mira Nair

Writers (WGA):

Sooni Taraporevala (screenplay)
Jhumpa Lahiri (novel)

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Two Worlds. One Journey.

Plot:

American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family's unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways.

Plot Keywords:

India | Train | Bengali | Death | Singer

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Kal Penn	...	Gogol / Nikhil
Tabu	...	Ashima
Irrfan Khan	...	Ashoke
Jacinda Barrett	...	Maxine
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Moushumi Mazumdar
Brooke Smith	...	Sally
Sahira Nair	...	Sonia
Jagannath Guha	...	Ghosh
Ruma Guha Thakurta	...	Ashoke's Mother
Sandip Deb	...	Music Teacher
Sukanya	...	Rini
Tanushree Shankar	...	Ashima's Mother
Sabyasachi Chakraborty	...	Ashima's Father
Tamal Ray Chowdhury	...	Ashoke's Father
Dhruv Mookerji	...	Rana
Supriya Choudhury	...	Ashima's Grandmother (as Supriya Devi)
Stuart Rudin	...	Homeless Man
Heather MacRae	...	Nurse Patty
Sumitra	...	Calcutta House Staff
Kanti	...	Calcutta House Staff
Michael Countryman	...	Mr. Wilcox
Kousik Bhowal	...	Dr. Gupta
Rupak Ginn	...	Uncle
Soham Chatterjee	...	Gogol (Age 4)
Gargi Mukherjee	...	Mira Mashi
Pallavi Shah	...	Kajol Mashi
Jhumpa Lahiri	...	Jhumpa Mashi
Noor Lahiri Vourvoulias	...	Baby Sonia
Linus Roache	...	Mr. Lawson
Josh Grisetti	...	Jerry
Justin Rosini	...	Marc
Dan McCabe	...	Bart
Bobby Steggert	...	Jason
B.C. Parikh	...	Mr. Mazumdar
Sibani Biswas	...	Mrs. Mazumdar
Lakhan Das	...	Baul Singer
Kharaj Mukherjee	...	Chotu
Glenne Headly	...	Lydia
Daniel Gerroll	...	Gerald (as Daniel Gerrol)
Amy Wright	...	Pam
Christie Moreau	...	Phone Operator
Jo Yang	...	Ms. Lu
Krishna Dikshit	...	Funeral Priest
Kartik Das	...	Boat Man
Gary Cowling	...	Hotel Manager
Sudipta Bhawmik	...	Subroto Mesho
Gretchen Egolf	...	Astrid
Baylen Thomas	...	Blake
Jeb Brown	...	Oliver
Jessica Blank	...	Edith
Mia Yoo	...	Viola
Benjamin Bauman	...	Donald
Sebastian Roché	...	Pierre
Maximiliano Hernández	...	Ben
Partha Chatterjee	...	Reformed Hindoo
Mitali Bhawmik	...	Singing Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcus Collins	...	Graham (uncredited)
Sandi DeGeorge	...	Moshumi's Friend (uncredited)
Aaron Yoo	...	Student in Gogol's Class (uncredited)

Directed by
Mira Nair

Writing credits (WGA)
Sooni Taraporevala		(screenplay)
Jhumpa Lahiri		(novel)

Produced by
Lydia Dean Pilcher	....	producer
Lori Keith Douglas	....	co-producer
Anadil Hossain	....	line producer: India
Yukie Kito	....	co-producer (as Yuki'e Kitô)
Yasushi Kotani	....	executive producer
Mira Nair	....	producer
Ronnie Screwvala	....	executive producer
Zarina Screwvala	....	co-producer
Taizo Son	....	executive producer
Dinaz Stafford	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Nitin Sawhney

Cinematography by
Frederick Elmes		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Allyson C. Johnson

Casting by
Cindy Tolan

Production Design by
Stephanie Carroll

Art Direction by
Suttirat Anne Larlarb		(as Suttirat Larlarb)

Set Decoration by
Lydia Marks

Costume Design by
Arjun Bhasin

Makeup Department
Norman Bryn	....	makeup artist
Milton Buras	....	hair stylist
Rita Dey	....	hair stylist: India
Anup Kumar Ganguli	....	makeup artist assistant: India
Nazafarin Gazdar	....	hair stylist: India (as Nazafrin Gazdar)
Kelly Gleason	....	key makeup artist
Shyam Reddy	....	makeup artist assistant: India
Peggy Schierholz	....	key hair stylist (as Peg Schierholz)
Heidi Kulow	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Harish Amin	....	production supervisor: India
Preetam Chowdhury	....	unit manager: India (as Pritam Chowdhury)
Kelley Cribben	....	post-production supervisor
Lori Keith Douglas	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Avani Batra	....	third assistant director
Kristin Bernstein	....	second assistant director
Joyati Bose	....	assistant director: second unit, India
Michael DeCasper	....	first assistant director
Dylan Gray	....	first assistant director: India
Eric Richard Lasko	....	second second assistant director (as Eric Lasko)
Nitya Mehra	....	second assistant director: India
Akshay Roy	....	second second assistant director
Jay Jay Odedra	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ann Marie Auricchio	....	scenic artist
Russell Barnes	....	art department coordinator
Tuli Basu	....	art department coordinator: India
Martin Bernstein	....	construction coordinator
Brinda	....	art department trainee: India
Jeff Butcher	....	property master
Brian Buteau	....	set dresser
Daniela Capistrano	....	art department intern
Tanmoy Chakraborty	....	art director: India
Kiran Chandra	....	art department assistant
Kiran Chandra	....	prop coordinator: India
Chhotu	....	set art assistant: India (as Chotu)
Nirmal Chandra Das	....	set dresser: India
Rajendra Kumar Das	....	assistant art director: India
Rajendra Kumar Das	....	construction manager: India
Shanti Dass	....	set art assistant: India (as Santi Das)
Natalie N. Dorset	....	first assistant props (as Natalie Dorset)
Peter K. Dunbar	....	leadman: Washington DC (as Peter Dunbar)
Michelle Farrell	....	scenic artist
Stephen R. Geiger	....	scenic artist
Caroline Irons	....	scenic artist
Saurabh Jana	....	sculptor: India
Sivan Kaplan	....	art department intern
Bryan Kenneth	....	art department assistant
Robin Koenig	....	on-set dresser
Connie Kozaleck	....	scenic foreman
Bolai Kundu	....	set art assistant: India
Evan C. Newell	....	art department intern (as Evan Newell)
Pratap Pradhan	....	head setman: India
Aparna Raina	....	set dresser: India
Aarthi Rayapura	....	art department intern
Jeffrey Rollins	....	set dresser (as Jeff Rollins)
Sharmishta Roy	....	set decorator: India
Sanjay	....	set art assistant: India
Tapas Sarkar	....	prop coordinator: India
Will Scheck	....	greensman
Mark Paul Selemon	....	greensman (as Marl Selemon)
Arnab Sen	....	art department trainee: India
Stephen Shapiro	....	carpenter
Sha-Sha Shiau	....	art department assistant
Amrita Singh	....	set dresser: India
Greg Sullivan	....	charge scenic artist
Sushovan	....	art department trainee: India
Robin Thomas	....	property master: India
Tublu	....	set art assistant: India
Jessie Walker	....	camera scenic artist
Denis Zack	....	set dresser (as Dennis Zach)
Robert Currie	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Maus Drechsler	....	props (uncredited)
Ann Edgeworth	....	props (uncredited)
Gerard V. Engrassia	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Deborah Jensen	....	additional art director (uncredited)
Amrita Mahal	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Tasayu Tasnaphun	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gina Alfano	....	adr editor
David Boulton	....	adr engineer (as David Bolton)
Brian Bowles	....	dialogue editor
Rachel Chancey	....	foley editor
Ryan Collison	....	foley engineer
Keith Culbertson	....	sound re-recordist
Michael Holmstrom	....	sound mix engineer
Paul Katz	....	sound mix engineer
Thomas Kodros	....	sound engineer: Dolby (as Tom Kodros)
Linda Murphy	....	boom operator
Ed Novick	....	sound mixer
Dave Paterson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dave Paterson	....	supervising sound editor
Jay Peck	....	foley walker
Mary Ellen Porto	....	dialogue editor
Steve Schwartz	....	assistant sound editor (as Stephen Schwartz)
Dominick Tavella	....	sound re-recording mixer
Damian Volpe	....	sound effects editor
Joe White	....	utility sound (as Joseph White Jr.)
John Soukup	....	sound transfer (uncredited)
Doug Winningham	....	sound effects recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Shantanu Paul	....	special effects coordinator: India

Visual Effects by
John Dowdell	....	2K digital intermediate colorist
Chris Gelles	....	visual effects executive producer: & Company
David Geoghegan	....	digital optical compositor
David Isyomin	....	visual effects supervisor: & Company

Stunts
Allan Amin	....	stunt coordinator: India

Camera and Electrical Department
Shankar Asari	....	sparks: India
Garrett Boehling	....	dolly grip
Joydeep Bose	....	camera intern: India
Kathleen Corgan	....	second assistant camera: India
Mulchand Dedhia	....	gaffer: India
Samuel G. Friedman	....	best boy electric (as Sam Friedman)
Mara Galus	....	camera loader
Abbot Genser	....	still photographer
Ganesh Ghosh	....	spot boy: India
Kurt Lennig	....	rigging gaffer
Jonathan Lumley	....	gaffer
Sukanta Majumdar	....	cableman: India
Raghu Mandal	....	spot boy: India
Edgar Martin	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Hollis Meminger	....	second assistant camera
G. Monic Kumar	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Milan Moudgill	....	still photographer: India
Basab Mullik	....	camera intern: India
Anna Novick	....	company grip
Neil O'Malley	....	second grip
Jay Jay Odedra	....	director of photography: second unit (as Jay J. Odedra)
Douglas Pellegrino	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Doug Pellegrino)
Lance E. Phox	....	rigging best boy (as Lance Phox)
Ram Prasad	....	camera loader: India
Nitin Rao	....	Steadicam operator: India
Ganesh Kumar Reddy	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Jim Riley	....	company grip
Dave Rudolph	....	electrician
Kelly Rutkowski	....	electrician
Praveena S.	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Ravi Sanjan	....	spot boy: India
Gerard Sava	....	camera operator: "a" camera
Chris Silano	....	first assistant camera
Tim Smythe	....	key grip
James Thorne	....	electrician (as Jim Thorne)
James Turner	....	key rigging grip
Lawzari Vishwakarma	....	sparks: India
Nawroz Zaria	....	sparks: India
Gregg de Domenico	....	additional film loader (uncredited)
Justin Panzanaro	....	grip (uncredited)
Gerard Sava	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Aditi Bhattacharya	....	casting trainee: India
Emily Chakraborty	....	casting trainee: India
Karen E. Etcoff	....	extras casting (as Karen Etcoff)
Tess Joseph	....	casting: India
Ruchi Pugalia	....	casting trainee: India
Soumitra Saha	....	casting assistant: India
Matt Schreiber	....	casting associate
Sohag Sen	....	casting consultant: India
Nina Srivasatava	....	extras casting associate
Loveleen Tandan	....	casting consultant: India
Roody Dorsainvil	....	casting assistant (uncredited)
Payal Sethi	....	additional casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Megha Barnabas	....	costume intern
Zakir Hussain	....	costume dresser: India
Abdul Jabbar	....	tailor: India
Ellen Mahlke	....	key costumer
Christina Morales	....	costume intern
Urmilla Lal Motwani	....	wardrobe supervisor: India
Hilary Niederer	....	assistant costume designer
Ravi Pawar	....	costume assistant: India
M.D. Sanaullah	....	costume dresser: India (as MD Saunaulla)
Stev Taylor	....	wardrobe assistant
Shahnaz Vahanvaty	....	costume coordinator: India
Deirdre N. Williams	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Kenny Becker	....	color timer
Priya Darshini	....	post-production intern (as Priyadarshini)
Peter Heady	....	digital intermediate finishing artist
Asal Hejazi	....	post-production intern
Jean Lane	....	digital intermediate producer
Lupita Nyong'o	....	post-production intern
Noëlle Penraat	....	negative cutter (as Noelle Penraat)
Francis Power	....	post-production assistant
Nirali Shastri	....	post-production intern
David A. Smith	....	assistant editor
Tim Spitzer	....	digital intermediate supervisor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter (uncredited)
Mike Trinker	....	digital intermediate editor (uncredited)
John Vladic	....	colorist: dailies (uncredited)

Music Department
Ulhas Bapat	....	musician: santoor
Mitali Bhawmik	....	musician: singer
Thom Chadly	....	music score mixer
Reshmin Chowdhury	....	musician: singer
Linda Cohen	....	music supervisor
John M. Davis	....	music editor
Stephen Hussey	....	conductor
Maya Iwabuchi	....	orchestra leader
Dean James	....	music studio mix editor
Dilshat Khan	....	musician: sarangi
Niladri Kumar	....	musician: sitar
Sara Loewenthal	....	additional music copyist
Deepak Pandit	....	musician: violin
Blaire Reinhard	....	composer: stock music
Nitin Sawhney	....	music arranger: strings
Nitin Sawhney	....	orchestrator: strings
Rajinder Singh	....	musician: swarlin
K. Srinivasan	....	musician: flute
Paul Talkington	....	conductor: orchestra
Paul Talkington	....	orchestra coordinator
Satyajit Talwalkar	....	musician: tabla
Gary Thomas	....	orchestral recording engineer

Transportation Department
Terry Adams	....	driver
Jim Buckman	....	transportation captain (as James S. Buckman)
Robert Buckman	....	transportation co-captain
Kajol Chakraborty	....	transportation manager: India
Debit Chanda	....	picture vehicle coordinator: India
Indranil Chowbhury	....	transportation coordinator: India
George Collins	....	driver
Curtis Europe	....	driver
Billy Featherstone	....	driver
Kenneth Garrison	....	driver (as Ken Garrison)
Richie Hubka	....	driver
Jim Kelly	....	driver
Sean Leahy	....	driver
Soumya Rakshit	....	picture vehicle coordinator: India
J.R. Scarlatos	....	driver

Other crew
Patrick Andrews	....	production assistant
Michael Barnes	....	financial legal services
Puloma Basu	....	cast production assistant
Ashley Bearden	....	assistant production coordinator
Sammy Bhattacharya	....	office production assistant: India
Ami Boghani	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Sumit Bothra	....	manager: Nitin Sawhney, Embargo Management Ltd.
Pinaki Chatterjee	....	set production assistant: India
Praveen Chowdhury	....	set production assistant: India
Sara Clarke	....	production office intern
Victoria S. Cook	....	legal services: Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz (as Victoria Cook)
Chandan Das	....	location manager: India
Suraj Das	....	intern: Mirabai Films (as Surjyakiran Das)
Arun Dasgupta	....	dialect coach: Bengali
Maurice Davis	....	on-set intern
Yvonne de Cock	....	instructor: iyengar yoga (as Yvonne de Kock)
Thomas De Napoli	....	creative executive: cine mosaic production
Sonia Deepak	....	on-set intern (as Sonia Khanduri Deepak)
David Dreishpoon	....	craft service
John Druzba	....	location intern
Maureen Duffy	....	completion guarantor: Film Finances
James Feldman	....	set production assistant
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	post-production accountant (as Jennifer Freed)
Salil Gandhi	....	legal services: Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz
Pushan Ganguli	....	set production assistant: India
Priyanka Ghose	....	production assistant
Rituparno Ghosh	....	translator: Bengali
Sumana Ghosh	....	translator: Bengali
Nupur Goenka	....	intern: Mirabel Films
Sandeep Gondalekar	....	location assistant: India
Indranil Haldar	....	set production assistant: India (as Indranil Halder)
Thalia Harithas	....	on-set intern
Michael Hartel	....	assistant location manager
Gahan Haskins	....	location scout
Sean Hogan	....	production accountant
Shernaz Italia	....	agra coordinator: India (as Shernaz 'Shenny' Italia)
Eric Kench	....	location assistant
Saurabh Kikani	....	production office intern
Elliot Koss	....	on-set intern
John Larkin	....	production assistant
David Laurentin	....	parking assistant
Yana Collins Lehman	....	post-production accountant
Denzil Linhares	....	production assistant: Bombay
Peter Madamba	....	script researcher
Nitin Madan	....	office production assistant
Taylor Marshall-Green	....	payroll accountant
Bruno Michels	....	set production assistant
Naeem Mohaiemen	....	translator: Bengali
Nadia Mohammad	....	intern: Mirabel Films
Kellie Morrison	....	location manager
James Murphy	....	instructor: yoga
Frank Murray	....	assistant accountant
Sean Murray	....	set production assistant
Rakesh Nair	....	intern: Mirabel Films
George Nannas	....	chef (as George Nanas)
Sean Oliver	....	adr loop group
Ani Pandit	....	office production assistant
Ashwini Parulkar	....	instructor: yoga, India
Nancy A. Pavia	....	production assistant
Stephen Popernik	....	location coordinator
Neta Pulvermacher	....	choreographer
Justin Rosini	....	location assistant
Ranjeeta Roy	....	production secretary: India
Ashley Rudden	....	director of development: cine mosaic
Mary Ann Santos	....	production office intern
Sunaina Sen	....	set production assistant: India
Payal Sethi	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Probal Sircar	....	location assistant: India
Yasmine Stafford	....	production coordinator: India
Himkar Tak	....	production office intern
José Tejada	....	parking coordinator (as Jose Tejada)
Divya Thakur	....	titles designer: Design Temple
David Tineo	....	unit production assistant
Priti Trivedi	....	on-set intern
Shanti Wesley	....	on-set intern
Meghan K. Wicker	....	production coordinator (as Meghan Wicker)
Derek Wimble	....	set production assistant
Bill Timoney	....	adr voice group (uncredited)

Thanks
Zoya Akhtar	....	special thanks (as Zoia Akhtar)
S.M. Ferozeuddin Alameer	....	special thanks (as Feroze Alameer)
Ritwik Ghatak	....	dedicatee
Nemai Ghosh	....	special thanks
Mira Gupta	....	special thanks
Ram Maheshwari	....	special thanks
Soumitra Majumdar	....	special thanks
Satyajit Ray	....	dedicatee
Dayanita Singh	....	special thanks
Garry Winogrand	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Cine Mosaic
• Entertainment Farm (EF)
• Mirabai Films
• UTV Motion Pictures

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Canada) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (all media)
• FS Film Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Gativideo (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• & Company (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Angel Studios  orchestra recorded at
• Camera Service Center  camera: grip and lighting equipment
• Charu Travels  transportation: India
• Chowdhury's Guest House  accommodations: India
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color
• Design Temple  titles and graphics design
• Du Art Film and Video  dailies telecine
• Eastman Kodak  film provided by
• Embargo Management  management: Nitin Sawhney
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz  legal services
• Goldcrest Post Production New York  color correction
• Goldcrest Post Production New York  on-line editing
• Killer Tracks  additional source music
• Lightnin' Production Rentals  transportation equipment
• Pacific Title  end titles
• Pacific Title  subtitles
• Panchu Travels  transportation: India
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  orchestra
• Prasad Film Laboratories P. Ltd.  dailies processing (as Prasad Laboratory)
• Premiere Catering  catering
• Rounder Records  soundtrack
• Sony Music Studios  music mixed at
• Sound One Corporation  sound facility (as Sound One)
• Steiner Studios  special thanks
• Taj Group  accommodations: India
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexuality/nudity, a scene of drug use, some disturbing images and brief language

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

India | USA

Language:

English | Hindi | Bengali | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Ireland:12A | Singapore:NC-16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Germany:6 | Portugal:M/12 | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | New Zealand:M | South Korea:15 | Norway:11 | UK:12 | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | Sweden:7 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

In the ending credits of the movie Kal Penn is listed twice. He is credited as Kal Penn playing Gogol and Kalpen Modi playing Nikhil.

Goofs:

Continuity: Ashima is dressing to meet the prospective groom and tosses the end of her sari over her right shoulder; next scene it is neatly done over her left shoulder.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Man:Mm, what are you reading?
Ashoke Ganguli:Hm? "The Overcoat", by Gogol.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bong Connection (2006)

Soundtrack:

Jingle Jangle Christmas

An enduring story of love, courage and struggles faced by American immigrants

We arrived early for the movie. The city of Stamford in Connecticut boasts a big Indian population, due partly to the presence of many large firms. It's proximity to NYC makes Stamford a fitting place for immigrant settlements. Surprisingly, contrary to expectations, Americans at the Namesake showing far outnumbered their Indian counterparts. I could not help observing the sombre look on the faces of the visitors as they left, and I convinced myself that this wasn't another ABCD-flick as some reviewers had complained. I grew up in Calcutta, and such movies, although rare, is a chance to revisit a treasured past, a temptation I couldn't resist.

The movie, to some extent portrays an almost autobiographical recollection of Jhumpa Lahiri's experiences as an young adult growing up in Philly. She was born "Nilanjana" (as her good name), but due to a chain of events, her 'pet name', Jhumpa persisted, being both terse and less cryptic than her more Indian-ised first name. Nikhil (or Nick), played wonderfully by Kal Penn, faces a similar dilemma. Named Gogol, by his father in memory of the Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol, Nikhil finds himself estranged by his unusual non-American name in the midst of the American culture. He tries, in vain to convince his parents that he should change his name from Gogol to Nikhil. Gogol's father, played by Irfhan Khan, genuinely believes that there could be a name no more fitting for his son. The name carries a strong emotional value for him, which, understandably the Americanised Gogol cannot relate to.

The story outlines the stark differences between Indians raised in the States trying to embrace parental Indian values whilst also seeking inclusion in the American way of living. As such, this leads to a hybrid of Indian vs American ways of living, oftentimes leaving young adults direction-less in times when their Indian-ness is challenged. The movie is extremely realistic and offers no bollywood style twists or long drawn Hindi pop songs. Instead what you get is raw emotion, real struggles and a frightfully original storyline.

Irfhan Khan, plays a moving role as a parent trying to come to terms with his son's Western outlook. Alas, he's not able to inculcate his ideals into Gogol, and the phrase "In this country, you can do what you like" is oft repeated to pardon Nick's un-Indian disposition. Gogol's mother, Ashima, played again stirringly by Tabu, is the story of a mother adopting to an American lifestyle in Queens with her husband. Although, Tabu is a well known Bollywood star, her acting in this movie bears little semblance to Bollywood-ish pretension.

She is very real in her role of a mother trying to make ends meet, to accept her son's boycott of Indian customs, and his independent lifestyle. In India, where family values are closely guarded, the notion of separation from children is not so commonplace as it is in the Western world. It is even more challenging in America, where Indian parents have their immediate families as their only ties to homeland. In the movie, Tabu echoes the loneliness that families and immigrants feel abroad, made worse by revolting kids who don't understand their point of view, and the hardships they face that are dealt with resolution and immense strength of mind.

The original theme, although Indian, must not detract the viewer into thinking that it is reserved only for immigrants. Albeit, Jhumpa Lahiri, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for her book, Interpreter of Maladies, layers an otherwise plain story with human emotions and displays of courage and trials that are so honest, one can relate to them effortlessly and draw parallels with one's own experiences.

Last, but not the least, I must mention of Mira Nair. She has spun yet another masterpiece following Monsoon Wedding bordering on the immigrant theme. Mira Nair, who spent her early years in Calcutta was able to depict the Bengali theme effectively. The choice of cast is excellent and not for a moment did I feel that the movie was directed by an "Indian" person, in fact it was just as unbiased and forthcoming as other good Italian or French movies I have seen. There were also scenes of the Victoria Memorial Hall of Calcutta, scenes of Howrah Station, the Howrah Bridge and other locations that are readily identifiable with the city. Indeed, her class is distinct from the rest of Bollywood and Indian wannabes who sport themselves as literary and movie geniuses, the like that are commonly spotted in Westport and Greenwich, CT.

I'm very conservative with my reviews, but this is a movie that deserves an 8/10. When we left the movie theater, the audience was silent and couples walked slowly and grimly out of the theater. It was, to me a testimony to how moving this film was, and I'm sure it will dwell in your memory a long time to come. Cheers to Nair, the cast, and Lahiri for a great collaboration and a timeless movie.