How often do we get fooled by awesome reviews and get into a cinema hall and later on realise that we were better off at home !Well, most of our Hindi Movies could fall in that category.When I went to watch ’The Namesake’, I had great memories of Mira Nair’s’Monsoon Wedding and decided to give this one a try as well.Well, after the movie , I came out with a very mixed feeling about Mira Nair.The story revolves around a conservative Bengali couple having an arranged marriage in Calcutta(now Kolkatta) , settling down in the United States and how their son happens to accept and understand the true meaning and origin of his name’Gogol’ given to him by his parents.Strengths:1) Speaking of performances, Irrfan Khan is outstanding as Ashoke Ganguly.
Be it his accent or his mannerisms, he is a revelation.It’s really a shame that our so called Bollywood biggies continue to ignore such a talented actor.Tabu expectedly brilliant throughout , reinforcing the fact that she’s one of the greatest we’ve ever had in a long time to come.Kal Penn is a real surprise package. Just when you feel he’s at ease with his comic timing in the first half, he surprises you with a very matured performance in the second.The cinematography is good . The dialogues are excellent.The soundtrack could’ve been better.Even though critics continue to rave about Mira Nair, I personally feel ’The Namesake’ is not her best.I preferred ’Monsoon Wedding’ more because it was a subject done to death by so many other directors("the traditional Indian wedding"), yet it stood out because Mira could lend a more human touch to it.Also, I thought the emotional sequences lacked punch unlike ’Monsoon Wedding’.
( Even today, the Naseerudin Shah scene-pleading to his daughter Shefali Shah to come back home brings a tear to one’s eyes) But, this, in no way is to degrade the movie. It’s good, refreshing and much better than the rubbish we have to endure in the name of ’different ’cinema.Kudos to Mira for making people think about the phrase’What’s in a name?’!!!