“The Namesake” had its world debut on Saturday, at the Telluride film festival [Thanks Gautham]. We first blogged about the movie almost two years ago [We also blogged the casting call, but got no couch privileges]. The trailers [Quicktime, Real, WMP] for the movie look excellent, so I’ve been wriggling with anticipation just waiting for its release. 
For those of you just tuning in, this is a film based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s first book novel, directed by Mira Nair, and starring Kal Penn, thus making it a desi-American trifecta. The tagline is for the movie is “Two worlds. One journey,” a phrase so wonderful that it is destined to replace “blend of East and West” in matrimonial ads. Since Kal Penn even gets a blond girlfriend, I’m sure that at least one of the mutineers will go watch the movie for that reason alone. 
I have no doubt that this movie will do well with the artsy-fartsy non-brown American crowd. Mira Nair is skillful at pushing the line of prurient exoticism just far enough to maximize general interest in the movie, while never selling out.
However, this is a movie that will do well in the states but flop “back home” in India. India loves movies like Krrish, and despite annual announcements of a new Bollywood realism, I doubt that Indian audiences will take to The Namesake. “Why is the boy [Kal Penn] not dancing?”
We can get a glimpse of what the popular response to the film is likely to be from the reactions to it while a scene was being shot at the Taj Mahal. Even though the movie stars Tabu and Irfan Khan, one person stopped a journalist (confusing him with Mira Nair) to inquire:
“Are you the director Mira Nair? Why don’t you cast (Bollywood star) Shah Rukh Khan in your film?” [Link]
Another onlooker asked:
“Why is the boy [Kal Penn] not dancing?” [Link]
That’s right – a realistic portrayal of life in two countries, and people wonder why nobody is dancing. I think that pretty much sums up how Indian audiences will feel about the film. No song, no dance, no interest.
You should really check out Dr. Salman Akhtar’s Bollywood and the Indian Subconscious. It was originally a paper but I saw him give a talk on it at the Indian embassy and was blown away. Haven’t listened to this podcast of him on it yet but I’m sure it’s good. It’s in 5 parts:
http://kamlabhattshow.com/content/3090/secondary.html
One of the earliest films that I have seen about the trials and tribulations of being Indian in America was “Lonely In America”(1991). Not a masterpiece by any stretch, but it did have a few amusing moments.
Well Ennis, to say that Indian audiences are not interested in The Namesake implies they only want song and dance is simplistic. I, for example, was in India till not so long ago, loathe Karan Johar movies, and was bored to death by The Namesake(the book).
Well, let us just say that Indian audiences have different concerns, and identity crises do not interest them. A movie like Rang de Basanti is a good example of what might excite a desi who has never been out of des, or still identifies more with India than the US. RDB had its flaws, but I still loved it beyond all measure because it seemed to understand the rage that many Indians feel about how far the systems have been subverted in India.
I think that may be the case why you are so positive about the Namesake(and you are very positive, considering you haven’t even seen it yet!). Not because it is amazingly intelligent in some way Indians cannot perceive, but simply because you identify with it because of your background.
Might not be a good idea to stereotype the thinking of the whole country from the comments of a couple of desi brown trash( abundant around the tourist spots). Its a country of well over a billion people and you can always get audience for all sorts of niches. Having said that, I still agree that the movie will not do very well there, for a simple reason that it will be tough for folks to identify with the life of the protagonists and the challenges they face growing up in a land so diffrent in culture from their parents.I think this movie is made for a niche audience of “two worlds one journey types” and therefore will be popular among them only. You Can’t blame “pappu pager” in Agra for not liking Namesake just as you can not blame the O’Connors in connecticut for not liking “White Chicks”.
I like JL’s short stories much better than her book. I also heard her speak in Cambridge, MA and found the first 20 pages of the book very engaging. Soon after, I feel like JL just didn’t develop the characters much. Especially Gogol, who seemed to lack a personality and seemed like a whiny wimp. He was so one dimensional that I couldn’t relate to any part of his character. Also, I am truly sick of Kal Penn. Come on desi brothers! Rise up! There are many other desi males that could have played that part and it would have brought a fresh face to Indian American cinema. I loved all the fresh faces Mira Nair brought to Monsoon Wedding (Alice, PK Dubey, and the ambigiously gay younger brother “Coconut Curry Ma!!”. Hahaha!
Interesting trivia: Remember Shashi Aunty from that movie? The jolly type aunty who doesn’t like it when Mr. Verma calls her son a “stupid, idiot, duffer?” I sat next to her during the premiere of the new Taj Mahal (EPIC/Maha-Flop). She is hilarious!
I also thought it was interesting that someone pointed out that JL inaccurately wrote from a male perspective, yet still, even her FEMALE characters left a lot to be desired.
Lavanya, you mentioned that Shantaram was not really considered a “brown” book because he is Australian, I thought I would mention that he speaks Marathi and Hindi. He has definitely lived in India longer than Suketu Mehta and Jhumpa Lahari and has the most unique view of a native Mumbaikar I have ever read. So its still not a brown book? Just because he’s Australian by birth? Just out of curiosity, I wonder what a “brown” book means to folks.
Interesting post, Ennis. Just one little correction: The Namesake is Jhumpa Lahiri’s second book (and first novel). It was preceded by the short story collection, Interpreter of Maladies.
I agree with those who have argued that Jhumpa Lahiri’s work is in another, and better, league than those “mehndi-mango-sari” (to borrow the phrase from another commenter) books. I have not yet read the novel, but some of the stories in IOM have stayed with me. I find Lahiri’s writing graceful, thoughtful, and economical, even if it does feel a little workshoppy sometimes. She treats her characters and her readers with compassion and respect; this is not a requirement of good literature, certainly, but it pleased this reader, anyway.
i myself would have preferred Sinbad as Gogol; i mean, christ, the guy’s a shoe-in, but what do I know…
Come on desi brothers! Rise up! There are many other desi males that could have played that part and it would have brought a fresh face to Indian American cinema
Have patience ( till the end of this year ), will deliver.
Mr Kobayashi @ 114 & Whose God is it anyways? @ 125: Thanks. I think the whole of Chandra’s essay makes for excellent reading on the topic of literary authenticity & cred.
Getting back to Ms. Lahiri’s work, my estimation of her writing abilities would definately change if she can flog any other horse than the “Indian Academic Immigrant/ Generational Conflict” (for the sake of quick categorization) one she has been flogging for some years now. Small private dramas, nearly always set in 1960-1970s academic/graduate student families, and the lives of theirs kids (even in this recent story by Ms. Lahiri, from the New Yorker’s May 8th, 2006 issue), can get repetitious enough to make me want to say “Enough already!”.
But I agree with what jananilikejeremy @ 126 said, an author is not (and should not be) beholden to any group.
In my opinion, Jhumpa Lahiri may not be the best at capturing the Indian-American angst, but she fares much better in visualising the first generation’s experiences. This is especially true for the older immigrants who came to the west in the 60’s or 70’s. More recent arrivals face much fewer problems assimilating today, but the various scenarios portrayed in her work – be it the communal dinners or learning how to drive still ring true today. JL is also very good at describing how people of different class/gender backgrounds relate to things here.
Some readers here seem not to find the quality of her writing Rushdiesque, Seth like or wahtever their definition of quality writing is. But perhaps the intended audience is not necessarily english lit majors who read a couple of tomes every week. After all a person who reads 2 books a year or a first generation immigrant whose 3rd language is english would find the book extremely touching and meaningful. Does that somehow reduce the importance of her work?
Ready, people? Here’s the first review from a legitimate publication.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931481?categoryid=31&cs=1
The Namesake
A 20th Century Fox release of a Fox Searchlight Pictures/Entertainment Farm/UTV Motion Pictures presentation of a Mirabi Films and Cine Mosaic production. Produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher, Mira Nair. Executive producers, Yasushi Kotani, Taizo Son, Ronnie Screwvala. Co-producers, Lori Keith Douglas, Yukie Kito, Zarina Screwvala. Directed by Mira Nair. Screenplay, Sooni Taraporevala, based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Gogol – Kal Penn
Ashima – Tabu
Ashoke – Irrfan Khan
Maxine – Jacinda Barrett
Moushumi Mazumdar – Zuleikha Robinson
By SCOTT FOUNDAS Variety
In the capable hands of director Mira Nair (bouncing back from the critically and commercially disappointing “Vanity Fair”), Jhumpa Lahiri’s wildly popular novel about two generations of a Bengali family receives a loving, deeply felt screen translation that should appease fans of the book while making many new converts. Bolstered by Nair’s lush visual style and superb performances from ace Bollywood thesps Iffran Khan, Tabu and “Harold & Kumar” star Kal Penn (in his first dramatic lead), Fox Searchlight can expect above-average arthouse business for this audience-pleasing March release.
Though the condensing of Lahiri’s episodic, decades-spanning narrative into two compact hours of screen-time makes for a pic occasionally overstuffed with incident, “The Namesake” remains a richly compelling story of family and self-discovery….
[Boring paragraphs-long plot synopsis not posted. Click on the link above if you want to be spoiled.]
….Culture-clash moments like those border on cliche, especially since Barrett’s character isn’t developed much beyond her surface of moneyed privilege. Better drawn is Gogol’s subsequent girlfriend, a fellow Bengali named Moushumi (sultry Zuleikha Robinson), who, like Gogol himself, finds herself torn between obeisance to tradition and pursuing her own desires.
If that conflict isn’t exactly new in cinema, it’s nevertheless rendered by “The Namesake” with a sensitivity and emotional resonance that elude most films on the subject of cultural assimilation. That’s largely thanks to the delicate balance Nair and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala strike between the story’s two generational threads, so that Ashima and Ashoke remain significant presences in the second half, even after the primary focus shifts to Nick/Gogol.
Penn — who has long seemed one of the brightest and most likable young comic talents around — shows serious dramatic chops as he takes us on Nick/Gogol’s expansive odyssey from the proverbial American-Born Confused Desi to a confident young man with a sure sense of his past, his present and his future.
Shot on location in New York and India, pic boasts excellent tech contributions on all fronts, particularly the warm, rich colors of Frederick Elmes’ cinematography and Stephanie Carroll’s production design, and the varied Western and Eastern influences of composer/DJ Nitin Sawhney’s original score.
I don’t think Lahiri is a bad writer. I however think she is a tad opportunist. She is almost 40 now. All her writing so far has been about the Indian American experience. I am not sure if that reflects her very assimilated adult personal life. I think it’s time she wrote more mainstream stuff. But I wouldn’t be surprised if her agent advises her otherwise.
What’s here more than “I’m from India, I hate myself, then I go to India and make peace with myself” ?
No way. Jhumpa Lahiri is…opportunist? Good lord, dude. She waited around for YEARS before anyone even noticed “Interpreter of Maladies.” You claim irrelevance, but the only thing that made her relevant was that all the NON-DESIS decided being Indian was cool!
So now she’s successful, almost painfully humble and shy, and has some modicum of success…and various people hate her for NOT BEING BETTER.
Amazing. Get a clue. Or better yet, do something better yourself! Sheeze.
Amazing. Get a clue. Or better yet, do something better yourself! Sheeze.
I think you are clueless about what I really said. I don’t hate Lahiri. I think she is a good writer. As an Indian I am also proud of her. But Kal Penn is another story. That guy is mediocre at best.
And yes I am on my way to doing something comparable if not better. I won’t disappoint you.
ISince Kal Penn even gets a blond girlfriend, IÂ’m sure that at least one of the mutineers will go watch the movie for that reason alone.
who r u talking about??? 🙂
Gautam:
People on this thread convinced me to do this even before I got to your comment. I will write the great desi-American book, and you will all love it because I’m basing all my characters on you guys. Yes.
Me! Me!
Da sex scene be hot! Respeck to da desi bro Kal! He be da s**t!
(sorry, in ‘Londonstani’ mode currently)
Why does everything have to be earth-shatteringly brilliant? Can’t something simply be entertaining? The Namesake was a good read, especially to the ABCD, second generation crowd. Bollywood movies make money, but they are far too melodramatic for us ignorant Americans to enjoy, so the only way for this movie to succeed is to have it be a straight forward coming of age drama. Writing and acting are both talents that on the surface appear quite easy to master, but when one actually attempts acting or writing he or she quickly discovers how diffiicult it is to be a great actor or a talented writer. Kal Penn has very little range, but he was probably chosen for American audiences since we’ll recognize him as “That dude who was in that Harold and Kumar movie with Doogie Houser.” Kal Penn or should I say Kalpenn Modi has come a long way since “Dude Where’s The Party Yaar?” so give the guy a break. He didn’t even get to talk in Superman Returns.
Shruti (#169):
haha! Who’s going to play the characters when your book is made into a movie?
Kal Penn has very little range
How do you know this? You need to remember that as a desi actor Hollywood hasn’t given him a plethora of different roles to choose from, he is only now getting opportunities to do something more than comic relief.
Bollywood movies
KP
What is you point?
Of course this movie isnt going to do well, not because it is about Indians, but because it is a boring premise for a movie. There is nothing about this story that makes me want to see it.
I dunno. Who do you want to play your character? It’s gonna be an eclectic mix.
Arshad Warsi – Jai Amitab Bachan – Amardeep Parminder – Anna Bipasha – Taz Saif Ali Khan – Siddhartha John Abraham – Yeti or Gautam Dimple Kapadia – JaneOfAllTrades Helen – Nina Naveen Andrews – Razib Preety – DesiDancer Soha Ali Khan – Neha Boman Irani – Amitab Shahrukh – Mr. Kobayashi? …I dunno man, casting is hard.
Oh yeah, one more thing: Madonna – Pardesi Gori
y Naveen Andrews? i look like him actually color and feature wise i think (though he has curly hair, right?), so it isn’t necessarily a bad choice.
Because Naveen Andrews can play evil in a I’m-charming-so-I-can-get-away-with-anything kind of way 🙂
And Gautam, the sexier characters will play the people who think more like me, so that’s why you get John Abraham. And anyway, after Parineeta, Saif climbed way up on my sexy chart too.
HOT. Isn’t she also dating John Abraham? If she plays me, can I get a taste of him? Or just the blogger that he plays? 😉
I love the pardesi gori casting. Madonna, a la bindi stage in her life, is totally appropriate.
Hmm… I loved the book. Read it in 3 days between classes. It was perfectly boring. Exactly like life. Some parts seemed over the top, but to me, that’s what life is. Long periods of subtle nothings peppered with life changing experiences that can last seconds to years. I don’t think I’ve ever really been captured by a book written that way before.
I’m looking forward to the movie, but I don’t know how well it will translate. Boring in a book is different from boring on film, the latter (for me) is more tedious.
I agree with Neale:
Bollywood movies “far too melodramatic” KP very little range
Around 1000 films are made in India every year and you are telling me that ALL of them are they way you described them to be. I take it that you have seen every single one of the 1000 films…
When will it come to the Desh?
hi do any desis who live in australia post/read this blog. i believe i saw one comment a couple of weeks about aboriginals and little johnny 🙂 would love to exchange notes.
desis in oz are probably at the same stage that the desis in usa were in the 70’s. or am i off the mark? very few OBDs (oz born desis) around – most of the FOB have just started breeding – (including myself)
regards joey
So that’s why I get Boman Irani, huh? OK, if I start agreeing with you on everything can we get Sunny Deol instead (I would have said Arjun Rampal but Sunny Deol gets mad respect for having Dimple Kapadia as his woman – or is that outdated info?). Actually I was pleasantly surprised to even see my name on that list…hey, I’m sure even Boman gets the girls these days.
hey.. why the hating on melodrama.
next you tell me, you go to a restaurant and order curd-rice and wash it down with tap water.
melodrama is good. juicy. like a ripe peach.
When’s the Playstation/Xbox game for this movie coming out?
Shruti,
Ha, interesting choice ! Why did you choose him as a good match for me ?
Accurate in some aspects, although apparently I’m more like a brown-eyed version of a certain double-thumbed actor. You’d have to get Abhishek to dub the voice though, assuming Junior B can do a British accent 😉
Thank you very much for including me anyway, nice to see. I’m quite touched.
I live in NZ… but here everyone’s so backward that we’re evenly distributed in our hick-ness and freshness 🙂 I don’t really think the stages are as dramatic as we think they are, America’s just a bigger country and rules the world. Bah! We’ve got better ice-cream, L n P and fish and chips, I’m staying put.
Amitabh,
Boman Irani ! You have no idea how much I’m laughing right now !
Sunny paaji, eh ? Are you as good a dancer as he is ? 😉
I heart the south island.
Oh, RedSnapper, you’re back with your intricately well-thought out analogies so I’m assuming you’re as good at avoiding work as I am! Too true, though. Although I think there’s a bit of a Jhumpa conspiracy going on, it’s not just overly self-conscious authenticity seekers like Fei who seem out to get her, I remember once reading an article written by a white woman (is that still these people, Fei, or those people?) who had been in the same writing course as Lahiri and was really angry that she was young, brown, pretty and more exotic than her.
I mean even I felt my eyes start to turn a bit green at the sight of her looking ethno-hot with lighter eyes and blonded hair like a Lit Beyonce in a Time Magazine article on searching for the next ‘voice of a generation’…but she is a very talented writer, especially with shorter prose pieces. And I heart Mira Nair so think the film will be great. Can’t wait to see it! 🙂
Jai: Good dancer? Depends how many glassies I’ve had. And as for Boman, well, I’m just glad that Shruti didn’t pick Jonny Lever for me.
Kal Penn needs to do something about his eyebrows. Birds could lay eggs in there.
Shruti –
You’d get Madonna to play me? I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted. She is way older than me, and looks it. Although I have to say, she is still somewhat attractive and I do consider her somewhat talented, although nowhere near a match for someone like PRINCE.
Some people have told me I resemble Karisma Kapoor. I guess that’s to be taken as a compliment, if the people saying that find her attractive, which I do not. I’d rather be told I resemble Rekha or some other super gorgeous classic beauty with style and elegance.
Anyway, thanks for thinking of me.
His character is always a solid wingman- He’s goofy and he takes issue with anyone that messes with his peeps. He’s a sensitive guy when you need him to be, giving long-winded explanations for why the universe is the way it is. He sometimes doesn’t make sense (to me, anyway), but you know he’s just trying to help a brother/sister out 🙂
Amitab:
Yes… but why? Is Dimple really that hot? Or maybe it’s because you know it would just be weird to have Arjun play you. He’s sexy, yes, but he’s also way prettier than I am on even on a really good day, and maybe that’s not your thing.
Anyway, including or not including people in my list just means their characters fit in the story I have in mind. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I can’t write, so this project is going nowhere, my friends. Let us squash it here and just leave it Jhumpa.
Hmm… sorry if my last comment was hard to follow. It’s late and I’m le tired.
Beige Sage (#195):
Ohhh! The conversions thread makes all kinds of sense now…
— Shruti, I’m impressed – you really thought this thing through!
It’s better than studying.
Shruti,
Re: post #196
Thanks for the explanation — interesting to read your reasoning ! I don’t actually come across like Arshad in person — apparently I’m similar in various aspects to the other two guys I mentioned — but it’s nice to see that your opinion of me is generally positive 🙂
Now we need to find some heroines to act as my leading ladies…..
Jai- But of course it’s positive 🙂 Which
mutineeractress would you want to be your leading lady?Out of the current crop ? Probably Priyanka Chopra. Or Celina Jaitley. Or Shilpa Shetty.
Or all three. Daddy’s got a big appetite 😉
You can add Katrina Kaif to the list too.
Okay, I’m just kidding, let’s not be greedy. Probably Monica Bellucci if we’re allowed non-desis. We’ll have to teach her some basic Hindi but she should be okay for the role.