“I don’t want to raise him in this lonely country,†says Ashima (Tabu), soon after the birth of Gogol Ganguli in Mira Nair’s new movie The Namesake, opening in a limited release today. Based on the critically acclaimed and commercially successful novel of the same name by Jhumpa Lahiri, the movie proves to be a remarkably faithful adaptation. Raise him here, of course, she does, but those words remain a rare break in her composure, a heartfelt expression of homesickness and fear.
For the record, I loved the book, and was rather nervous about how such a tender mood piece – thin on plot and crowded with sensitively drawn characters – could possibly translate onto film. The story of a young Bengali couple, strangers to each other, starting a life together in a foreign country, raising children who might grow up to be strangers to them in turn, vanishing, absorbed into the alien world… the frisson of recognition for almost any South Asian immigrant would be electric, right?
It certainly was to me, as I sat there trembling in my seat, watching the title credits scroll across the screen in a Bangla script that slowly faded to English lettering.
A hasty (not very spoiler-ish) summary:
Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) brings his new bride Ashima (Tabu) to New York (location change from book!) from Calcutta. She shrinks his sweaters in the wash, eats her breakfast cereal with peanuts and chili powder, and generally does the best she can to adapt to this cold new country. Their first son is nicknamed Gogol after Ashoke’s favorite author, a placeholder name as they wait for a “good name” to come from Ashima’s mother in India. This pet name, however, takes hold, at least until Gogol Ganguli (Kal Pen) decides in high school to change his name back to his good name – Nikhil. He grows up, becomes an architect, rebels against his parents by dating a wealthy white girl (Jacinda Barret), then falls for a Bengali girl (Zuleikha Robinson) and attempts to reconcile his two names, two identities.
Irfan Khan and Tabu deliver quiet, controlled, delicately nuanced performances that are simply breathtaking. Really, I’m going to embarrass myself by hemorraging inane adjectives. I could’ve sat for hours more, just watching them watch each other, paragraphs being telegraphed across a table. Tabu ages from a young girl secretly, gleefully, trying on her soon-to-be-fiancee’s wingtip shoes in Bengal, to a suburban librarian with an empty nest. Irfan Khan is almost unrecognizable as a bespectacled, scholarly man whose silences should not be mistaken for timidity.
Kal Pen finally gets a chance to stretch, and he seizes it eagerly, fiercely. Perhaps a little too much so. As a scowling teenager, boy does he scowl. As a conflicted young man trying to escape the claustrophobic embrace of his parents and their values…boy does he emote. When grief strikes and his values change…boy does he…well, let’s just say he’s intense. Eh, maybe I’m being too critical. He’s got bucketloads of charisma, and if he suffers by comparison to the actors playing his parents, it is, perhaps, not a fair comparison. His acting is very physical (the teenage years mean shoulders hunched about his ears, for example) but he still conveys a visceral feeling of unease in one’s skin, shame, and then a slowly dawning sense of pride and responsibility. It’s not his fault that I can’t get the indelible Kumar Patel out of my head.
Visually the movie is gorgeous, somehow combining both Mira Nair aesthetic extremes – the scrappy, jagged, raw feel of Monsoon Wedding and the lush set-piece look of The Kama Sutra and Vanity Fair. The cool blue tones of the Northeastern winters capture the loneliness and isolation vividly, as Ashima drags a handcart full of laundry down a grey sidewalk, vinyl-sided homes to the right of her, asphalt to the left, and she a lone spot of jewel-toned sari, valiantly fluttering beneath a thick cardigan. The India scenes are vivid but never feel forced as Gogol lectures his mother about riding in a rickshaw and his sister complains about the heat, capturing in a nutshell (more forthrightly than the book did, perhaps) the dual dislocation felt by the hyphenated children.
If the movie has a flaw, it stems from cramming as much of the book as possible into two hours. The result can seem rushed (Gogol decides to become an architect on a visit to see the Taj Mahal. Then, presto chango! He’s an architect in Manhattan) and choppy, while other moments are repeated (Ashoke’s train accident – i.e. why Gogol got that name, Ashima stepping into Ashoke’s footwear) for bang-you-over-the-head emphasis. The score can be a bit intrusive (I could feel a tender moment coming up every time the volume was raised on a particular plink…plink…plink…fluuuuuuuute musical motif), but it did give a great energy to necessary location shots and quick montages.
Packed with tiny details (the smile falters on Ashima’s face when Maxine greets her by her first name) and nods to first-gen lives (ducking mom’s phone calls, fake/ironic Bollywood dance steps), The Namesake gets so much right, the missteps seem minor. A small word of advice – carry your cell phone with you to the screening, because you will want to call your parents afterwards.
Is it so unusual in Russia, Amardeep? Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev and Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich come immediately to mind–and that’s without even having to trawl around for rare examples.
Wouldn’t the frequency be about the same as that anywhere fathers name sons after themselves?
Shruti, it’ll probably be up here in Santa Barbara in the next two weeks or so, is my guess.
In my husband’s northie family, a bunch of people use their nicknames as adults, but most do not. Actually, it’s pretty amusing at the occasional family wedding, where I’m sometimes meeting extended family for the first time. Inevitably, at least once or twice when I introduce myself to someone and they introduce themselves back. another family member pipes up, “Hey, I didn’t know that was your REAL name!”
Well, if it was a Slavic language, maybe then the ‘j’ sound would go to a ‘y’, and in Spanish it would go to an ‘h’ and sound ‘Hoompa’. But this is an interesting point. Different languages using the same script have different transliteration and phoneticizing conventions, and I’ve noticed that the ‘h’ preceded by a hard consonant always creates trouble for the Anglo-condioned ‘Westerner’.
Complete threadjack – but SDM and SD – you’re different people. Thought you were the same till just now. The odds of choosing such similar blog-handles! If it can be politely asked, what are your respective non-Desi parts?
cicatrix,
Excellently written review, perhaps the best I’ve read! I enjoyed it immensely, thank you. Please don’t mind as I’m about to nitpick, it’s a compulsion. You might want to look up the difference between fiancé and fiancée. Women don’t have fiancées unless you’re talking about Cheney’s daughter – I’ve neither seen the movie nor read the book, so maybe you do mean it that way. Also, the review flowed really beautifully and consistently, until the last two paragraphs. I felt as if I was reading one of those assignments where two different people take turns writing paragraphs. Your writing was beautiful and then I got to your last two paragraphs. Perhaps you were tired, or perhaps you were trying to find a way to tie up loose ends. Overall, I still think you did a wonderful job.
Am I the only one who didn’t think the book was all that? It didn’t resonate with me at all, and I found it depressing.
I am really looking forward to seeing the movie though–sounds like it is beautifully shot and has some good acting, and I have a different (not worse, just different) yardstick by which I measure movies. And since I didn’t like the book, I can’t be disappointed!
What I find interesting about the ‘Ghandi’ typo is that usually ‘h’ doesn’t follow letters like ‘g’, ‘j’, ‘k’ etc in Anglo proper names, and most people bounce on names like, say, ‘Rekha’, which rather routinely gets misspelt as ‘Rehka’! So how people put the Gh together, I can’t fathom. The other side of this is that some people with the name actually do spell it ‘Ghandi’, though it is rather uncommon, so it is not as if the misspellers pick up on the variant spelling!
Mr Kobayashi:
You’ve certainly saved me effort on that front! I bet you’re right about the frequency being the same anywhere else.
An aside: If the namesake is about a protagonist who frets over his identity (name), they could not have cast anyone more appropriate than “Kal Penn”. Its interesting how Gujuratis are quick to become Naomi, Jessica or Ryan (all 100% desi relatives). Forestalling any “make-it-easy-for-hollywood” reasons, you have Leonardo di Caprio, who upon being asked by his talent agent to anglicize his name staunchly refused!
Both LAT and NYT liked it. Doesn’t happen too often. Did not like the book. But, the previews made me feel self conscious in a way i’ve never felt at the movies. As if the rest of the American audience around me was being being let in on to something private. Perhaps it is the fact that, for the most part, immigrant desis as a living breathing entity, have never been a major consideration in mainstream entertainment.
Whine – Have you noticed how JL’s name is conviently missing from the posters. “Based on a best selling novel”. Yes. But by whom? I can almsot see some Hollywood types finessing around this. Aaaargh.
Maybe I’ll run into SMers at Santa Monica Laemmle.
Jhumpa Bush. No – that’s not a typo. Jhumpa Bush.
Never mind all the talk about nicknames. Her full name is Jhumpa Lahiri Vourvoulias. That in itself is puzzling, since her husband’s name is Alberto Vourvoulias Bush. Why did she take on her husband’s middle name as her last name? Most intriguing and highly unusual. Unless she did not want to be known as Jhumpa Bush! “Are you a relative of George Eye-Raq Bush?” “Ummm not really...”
M. Nam
Chachaji,
We are actually sisters. 🙂 I started reading this blog about two years ago and when I decided to start commenting, I came up with the handle SemiDesiMasala. I introduced this blog to my sister recently and she chose the handle semidesi. We both ended up using the “semidesi” portion for the fairly obvious reason that it reflects our heritage. Our dad it a southy from andhra and our mom has a mixed european heritage (on her maternal side, the family is traced all the way back to the mayflower, on her paternal side, the heritage is mostly Slovak with a little hungarian).
To clear up any confusion…I always use my entire handle of SemiDesiMasala which can be shortenend to SDM and she always used semidesi. Cheers!
Sorry mate, I’m from England, and I hate the movies we make, or are made about us, in the UK these days. In the face of all that maybe America will produce some good and original and subtle stuff. Either way this looks good, doubt that a film like the Namesake would even get made here.
Wow! Thanks, SDM. BTW, I just visited both your blog and SD’s – found them interesting and fun -will plan to spend some more time there when I can. Cheers!
Maybe the movie, to draw in bigger crowds, should have a prologue stressing the difference between Cincinatti Bengals and Bengal, the Indian state. Its a small thing we desis take for granted….but a lot of people could be confused.
What do you say? Cincinatti Bengawls or West Bengulls? 😉
Thanks chachaji :0)
semidesi’s a wicked cool poet, glad you enjoyed it!
I saw this last night and was blown away. I recommend this film. I agree that Tabu and Irfan Khan did some great acting. Kal Pen is surpringly honest in his portrayal. There was one problem in the editing that most of you will probably catch; Ashima is seen putting on her sari but the shot is backwards; her pallu goes up her right side instead of her left. In the next shot it is on the left side. Cica, doesn’t Gogol want to change his name after high school (one of his first signs of leaving the household)?
Ravi: In the novel, his name change definitely occurs while he’s still in high school.
@36,
there is another angle to the name, though almost certainly wrong. jhampa is the name of a tala (beat), and given the penchant for raga based names (sahana, manjiri, kiranavali, etc.), it is vaguely possible this is the source.
Hey, thanks to everyone who liked the review! Watch out, all this adulation might make me post more often, and it’s a quick fall to the gutter from there my friends. A frisky little tumble, I assure you.
risible, I think those groups especially might want to call their parents.
shlok, I scored a press pass, thanks to a certain SM Alumnus who couldn’t use it 😉
mam, Moushumi seems quite real to me, actually. Know quite a few desi girls like her. She’s the female version of Gogol in many ways, isn’t she?
Many thanks to Amardeep for removing the typos I missed. Even though both of us, clearly, aren’t as eagle eyed as sic semper tyrannis. My apologies for the gaffe re fiancé. I do know the difference, but apparently Microsoft Word doesn’t. The last two paras suffered from an overuse of parenthetical statements and a mad dash to wrap up so I could get some sleep. But bonus points if you spot the egregious grammatical mistake here:
I wrote intentionally, but more due to laziness than poetic license.
I just mentioned the movie’s release to a colleague of mine whose last name is Ganguli. Here is a snippet of his email reply.
………..my cousin’s son was named after Gogol after they read this book
This, as in Namesake. 🙂
For those asking, the namesake opens in DC next friday 3/16 at AMC Georgetown and Bethesda Row Cinema. And chicago also opens on 3/16 at Century Centre Cinema and Century Cine Arts Evanston. Santa Barbara opens on 3/23 at the Riviera theater.
“Whine – Have you noticed how JL’s name is conviently missing from the posters. “Based on a best selling novel”. Yes. But by whom? I can almsot see some Hollywood types finessing around this. Aaaargh.”
well, i’ll repeat my whine from yesterday 🙂
so this actress jacinda barrett was just on craig ferguson. they introduced her with a brief clip (where she goes to gogol’s house) from the namesake and she came into the studio. after that, no mention whatsoever of the movie. the conversation was about her dogs basically. the host made no effort to ask her about the namesake and she made no effort to talk about it. so the question is: what was the point of this as a publicity exercise? i notice her name is being used as top billing alongside Kal Penn’s on promo material (not sure how much time she has on screen), so shouldn’t she have said something about the movie?
the way it was treated the audience was probably left thinking it was some nothing movie with some foreign-looking people not even worth talking about by one of its actors on a talk show or its host. i doubt if this was a more “mainstream” hollywood movie the interview would have neglected to mention it at all. i found it a bit disrespectful and dismissive, even if unitentional.
….and i am almost certain Night Shyamalan’s name did not appear on any of the TV promos for Sixth Sense.
Yo, you live here?!
Thanks for the opening dates Gogol, but 3/23 is too long for me to wait. I’d have gone to home LA before that anyway. I’ll just go to the Santa Monica Laemmle. If I have time I’ll ask every desi guy I see there, “Yo, are you Neale? Are you Neale?” 🙂
I guess it will be some weeks before this movie hits flyover country… so I checked out another notable premiere. I’m actually surprised there’s not an outraged “300” thread in here yet. I’m not(for obvious reasons) part of “those people just want to keep us browns down” crowd… but that movie still gave me the serious creeps…
This is actually one of my pet peeves that has occured with other films. The first example that I can think of is “Bend it Like Beckham” where Parminder Nagra was the star and the main character and the movie revolved around her, but Kiera Knightly got all of the attention. Kiera’s career took a stratospheric leap and Parminder got less attention and kudos. Personally, I thought Parminder’s character was more interesting and she turned in a more charming performance, but Kiera ended up overshadowing her. I will be highly annoyed if The Namesake ends up garnering Jacinda Barrett more attention than the stars of the film. From reading the novel, I know that her character must be a supporting character. Well, that’s my two cents.
…or the film version of “The English Patient” which reduces kip’s and hana’s relationship to the background, which dominates more of the book, and brings to the fore almasy’s more peripheral romance. kip’s story was pushed to the periphery of the movie and more central to the novel. i guess back then, and probably even now, a film centering on a romance between ralph fiennes and kristin scott-thomas would sell better than a film centering on a romance between naveen andrews and juliette binoche.
I forgot to add,its really a very good review.( i have read other reviwes who said this movie is great..but still).
Cicatrix, excellent review. I have only read the book, and i recall this particular sentence – when after Ashok’s death, Gogol remembers his father’s words… ‘remember that you and I made this journey and we went together to a place where there was nowhere else to go.’
Btw, Gogol is not an uncommon name among bengalis. Here is a short story from Samaresh Basu’s Gogol series.
Now because in the other thread we have heard of asylum-seekers, and Gogol had a fling with Maxine, and Ennis wrote about smells, I thought it will not be completely out of place to cut and paste this excerpt from Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera, saved many moons ago in my hard disc. Dr. Juvenal Urbino returns to his home in the Carribean:
No way. If anyone is overshadowing, it’s Tabu’s spectacular performance. She had me crying within the first 10 minutes of the movie. (it usually takes me getting stuck in the story for at least 45 minutes before I start being emotionally invested). I am actually surprised that the rest of the cast is not making the publicity rounds and Jacinda is. Or maybe I’ve just missed them.
desishiksa (#56) no you are not the only one. I despised the book. Horribly boring, long and contrived.
I was most totally engaged when Irrfan Khan was on the screen. I won’t be surprised if he and Tabu turn up in American film or TV roles – if they want to – in the next year or two, they are so powerful and impressive here. Tip: only see this with your parents if you are at ease watching relatively frank sex scenes with them – more nudity and “activity” than I have ever seen in a Hindi movie. Or such was the case at the film festival preview I saw in NY in the fall.
Finally, dear Tabu(ssam) gets the praise. Go Andhra ammai, go Hyderabadi :))
Even when she acted in those silly (and not so silly) telugu movies, she rocked. I wonder whats with these actresses blooming late(r) in their career. Shobana is also showing so much promise.
On a Tabu tangent, Here is one of her beautiful songs. Enjoy this!!
Kannulo nee rupame
Irfan and Tabu worked together for Maqbool, Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Macbeth. An underrated but terrific movie. [youtube link]
I enjoyed the book so very much. The one thing that bugged me in the film was Tabu’s inconsistent accent. She obv couldnt do Bangla all the way and often slipped into what was closer to Apu from The Simpsons. Irfan Khan’s awesome. I helped w his interviews at the Dubai Intl. Film Fest in Dec, he showed up for press conferences in purple pants and a silky shirt. stud.
I cannot wait to see the movie but will likely have to wait since I live in Dallas and even the artsy fartsy Angelika and Magnolia theaters are not showing it yet. They still have to roll out the post Oscar films Lives of Others and Pan’s Labyrinth.
The book was very helpful to me when my wife and I were dating. It gave me a little insight into the American-born Desi perspective. It also helped solidify our relationship.
Thanks cicatrix, just such a lovely review. I got myself a ticket to hear Jhumpa and Mira Nair talk about it at the NY Public Library tomorrow, so will try to see the movie forst.
SemiDesiMasala, it’s a hard J, the aspirate comes after, and then a long oo, and Lahiri is pronounced with the emphasis on the first syllable. My younger daughter, who is stuck with her dak nam, Bear (but I don’t think there’s any embarrassment in it for her) reports trhat her friends cheerfully and knowledgeably say Jump-ah Le Hiri. You could say her pen name is her new dak nam. Bush would certainly sound disappointing.
Great review! I can’t wait to see this movie with my parents next weekend when I’m in Chicago. The book didn’t appeal to me especially in light of the phenomenal Interpreter of Maladies but then again I’m a plot-driven reader. Yet, my father and I have been excited to see this movie since we first heard about it. On the whole house names thing, I’ve heard rumor of my father’s side having them. To my knowledge my mother’s family does not keep a house name. My parents are both Gujarati and acording to my family’s customs, the paternal aunt (the bua) names the first born. After that, it’s up to the parents. Any other desis heard of a similar custom?
On the question of good-names and pet-names, see “G” in the “Bengali ABC” joke I received on email recently. Those who have lived in Calcutta and/or understand some Bengali may be amused. I guess the “Chappell” bit is now out of date now that he and Shourav have made nice. I vote for replacing it with “Cholbe na!”
THE ABCs of BENGALIS
A is for Awpheesh (as in Office). This is where the average Kolkakattan goes and spends a day hard(ly) at work. And if he works for the West Bengal Gawrment, he will arrive at 10, wipe his forehead till 11, have a tea break at 12, throw around a few files at 12.30, break for lunch at 1, smoke an unfiltered cigarette at 2, break for tea at 3, sleep sitting down at 4 and go home at 4:30. It’s a hard life!
B is for Bhision. For some reason many Bengalis don’t have good bhision. In fact in Kolkata most people are wearing spectacles all the time.
C is for Chappell. Currently, this is the Bengali word for the Devil, for the worst form of evil. In the night mothers put their kids to sleep saying, “Na ghumaley Chappell eshey dhorey niye jabe”.
D is for Debashish or any other name starting with Deb-. By an ancient law every fourth Bengali Child has to be named Debashish. So you have a Debashish everywhere and trying to get creative they are also called Deb, Debu, Deba with variations like Debanik, Deboprotim, Debojyoti, etc. thrown in at times.
E is for Eeesh. This is a very common Bengali exclamation made famous by Aishwarya Rai in the movie Devdas. It is estimated that on an average a Bengali, especially Bengali women, use eeesh 10,089 times every year. “Ei Morechhey” is a close second to Eeesh.
F is for Feeesh. These are creatures that swim in rivers and seas and are a favourite food of the Bengalis. Despite the fact that a fish market has such strong smells, with one sniff a Bengali knows if a fish is all right. If not he will say ‘eeesh what feeesh is theesh!’
G is for Good name. Every Bengali boy will have a good name like Debashish or Deboprotim and a pet name like Motka, Bhombol, Thobla, etc. While every Bengali girls will have pet names like Tia, Tuktuki, Mishti, Khuku, etc.
H is for Harmonium. This the Bengali equivalent of a rock guitar. Take four Bengalis and a Harmonium and you have the successors to The Bheatles!
I is for lleesh. This is a feeesh with 10,000 bones which would kill any ordinary person, but which the Bengalis eat with releeesh!
J is for Jhola. No self respecting Bengali is complete without his Jhola. It is a shapeless cloth bag where he keeps all his belongings and he fits an amazing number of things in. Even as you read this there are 2 million jholas bobbling around Kolkata- and they all look exactly the same! Note that ‘Jhol’ as in Maachher Jhol is a close second
K is for Kee Kaando !. It used to be the favourite Bengali exclamation till eeesh took over because of Aishwarya Rai (now Kee Kando’s agent is trying to hire Bipasha Basu).
L is for Lungi – the dress for all occasions. People in Kolkata manage to play football and cricket wearing it not to mention the daily trip in the morning to the local bajaar. Now there is talk of a lungi expedition to Mt. Everest.
M is for Minibus. These are dangerous half buses whose antics would effortlessly frighten the living daylights out of all James Bond stuntmen as well as Formula 1 race car drivers.
N is for Nangto. This is the Bengali word for Naked. It is the most interesting naked word in any language!
O is for Oil. The Bengalis believe that a touch of mustard oil will cure anything from cold (oil in the nose), to earache (oil in the ear), to cough (oil on the throat) to piles (oil you know where!)
P is for Phootball. This is always a phavourite phassion of the Kolkattan. Every Bengali is born an expert in this game. The two biggest clubs there are Mohunbagan and East Bengal and when they play the city comes to a stop.
Q is for Queen. This really has nothing to do with the Bengalis or Kolkata, but it’s the only Q word I could think of at this moment. There’s also Quilt but they never use them in Kolkata.
R is for Robi Thakur. Many many years ago Rabindranath got the Nobel Prize. This has given the right to all Bengalis no matter where they are to frame their acceptance speeches as if they were directly related to the great poet and walk with their head held high. This also gives Bengalis the birthright to look down at Delhi and Mumbai and of course ‘all non-Bengawlees’! Note that ‘Rawshogolla’ comes a close second !
S is for Shourav. Now that they finally produced a genuine cricketer and a captain, Bengalis think that he should be allowed to play until he is 70 years old. Of course they will see to it that he stays in good form by doing a little bit of “joggo” and “maanot”.
T is for Trams. Hundred years later there are still trams in Kolkata. Of course if you are in a hurry it’s faster to walk.
U is for Aambrela. When a Bengali baby is born it is handed one.
V is for Bhaayolence. Bengalis are the most non-violent violent people around. When an accident happens they will fold up their sleeves, shout and scream and curse and abuse, “Chherey De Bolchhi” but the last time someone actually hit someone was in 1979.
W is for Water. For three months of the year the city is underwater and every year for the last 200 years the authorities are taken by surprise by this!
X is for X’mas. It’s very big in Kolkata, with Park Street fully lit up and all Bengalis agreeing that they must eat cake that day.
Y is for Yesshtaarday. Which is always better than today for a Bengali (see R for Robi Thakur).
Z is for Jebra, Joo, Jipper and Jylophone.
Regarding Jhumpa’s name: Just as Gogol Ganguli in kindergarten was supposed to be called Nikhil, so too was Jhumpa supposed to be called by her good name. However, her teacher decided to call her Jhumpa (unlike in the novel, where Gogol expresses a preference for that name), and it stuck ever after.
Now because in the other thread we have heard of asylum-seekers, and Gogol had a fling with Maxine, and Ennis wrote about smells,
Gogol was one of the most inasane great writers that ever lived. His best short story is “The Nose” where a man literally wakes up one day to discover that his nose has gone missing. He eventually finds it baked in a loaf of bread. His life, always on the edge of ruin,seems far removed from the staid Jhumpa (It may pronounce Oompa, as in the Oompa Loompas from “Willie Wonka and the Chocoalate Factory” ?) – a writer who signifies “petite-bourgeoise” and “model minority” to me, anyway.
The best literary tribute to Gogol comes from Thomas De Lampedusa, who wrote a lunatic short story called “Gogol’s Wife,” where he “discovers” that the great writer was actually married to a blow-up doll. The demise of the blow-up doll, at the hands of Gogol no less, is one of the most moving sequences in all literature.
Love the review. To add to the thread about music in the film, I was delighted that it featured a track from Susheela Raman’s “That Same Song” (from her album Music for Crocodiles) which I cannot stop listening to. On another note, I had to write a teen-centered review for work yesterday -and after I was done, it got me thinking about how audiences of different ages will come away with something totally different from the film. That multifacetedness, I think, is part of what makes it so wonderful.
wth – is “namesake” transliterated into bengali in the poster? why??
Semidesimasala,
Regarding your Bend It comment, I really never realized that, but it’s so true! I’m hoping Kalpen will get some more recognition because he’s already done a few movies where he was a major character.
Chachaji, (This is kind of OT)
Just saw your comment about “us” (sorry was busy :P) and I thought you would find it amusing how this whole name came about : I hijacked my brother in law’s DESI shirt he got from his sister in law because i felt like I needed a label, being so light, then I thought of what a more accurate t-shirt would say: SemiDesi. Then, well, lil’ Masala told you the rest. Thanks for the kudos on the blogs too!
Literary Safari,
I agree with you (well, as much as i can not having seen it yet :P.) I like movies/books that can be so different for different people, and open up discussions, etc.
I just watched the movie last night in SF and the movie left me feeling incomplete. While I LOVED the first half of the movie with Tabu and Irrfan Khan, the second half, beginning when Gogol meets Mousumi, is where the movie fell apart and was choppy. Kinda sad for me considering Mousumi was one of my favorite characters from the book. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact while the kids’ identities weren’t as developed as the parents. I guess I was hoping that the approach for the film would be more from the Gogol’s POV.
Irfan Khan is in Michael Wintterbottom’s A Mighty Heart, which is due out in the Fall. (He plays the Pakistani police captain involved in the search for Daniel Pearl.)
SemiDesi And this is really OT…
Totally. Be original, way to go! Now, for example, if you weren’t a poet but, say, someone who drove semis in the Desh, you could call yourself DesiSemi. But – since nobody makes real semis in India (yet, afaik), it would only be a SemiDesiSemi, especially if it was also made in a Desi-non-Desi company collaboration, like this. Or, if it was a SemiDesiSemi with a really Desi flavor, you could call it a DesiSemiDesiSemi :0)
Oh, lil’ Masala, is she? I thought she was the older one who ‘introduced’ you to this blog!
Sure thing. Really liked your Methuselah invocation. My (desi) Dad made me read the GBS original as an eight-year old, and I’ve never been the same since. (This is for all the desi kids prepping for spelling bees who think they have it bad!)
The trailer was simply awesome. Last year Joe Morgenstern of WSJ had great things to say about it after the Telluride Film festival. That was the first review (only a para, actually) that I had read about it & confirmed my impression after the trailer. Also last year Jacinda Barrett, who plays Maxine, said in Entertainment Weekly that ”Everyone in the cast spoke Bengali. I felt like an outsider.” EW had a good review also.
I went, watched, heard, listened, blogged. There were two nifty surprises yesterday. Cicatrix, you’re the best!