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The
Namesake,
2006, 122 minutes, Rated PG-13
By Ramona Prioleau
As a filmmaker, Mira Nair is skilled at
crafting tales that make the specific universal. In The Namesake,
Nair does no less as the film captivates with its generational tale
of tradition, love and the precious gift of today. MORE >>> |
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Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli (magnificently
portrayed by Irrfan Khan and Tabu) root the film and their nuclear
family in two worlds – one where Indian culture is instilled and
another where American ideals are fostered. With diligence and love,
the couple raises independent and sometimes surly children that
eagerly pursue their desires – even at the expense of their parents’
wishes.
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After a life-altering twist of fate, Ashoke leaves
India for a spell only to return to find a wife. Ashima, who devotes
much time to her music, warms to the reserved Ashoke when he and his
parents meet with her parents to discuss an arranged union. After
their marriage, Ashoke and Ashima immigrate to New York and grow to
love each other.
Upon the birth of their son, Ashoke and Ashima
break with the old and accept the new. In compliance with American
custom, they name their firstborn “Gogol” until Ashima’s grandmother
selects a good name for their child in keeping with tradition. But
the pet name sticks and the good name, Nikhil, is shelved at their
son’s request.
Overtime, Gogol (Kal Penn) develops an aversion to
his daknam which also happens to be the surname of his father’s
favorite author – Nikolai Gogol – a writer regarded as a friendless,
crazy genius. Ridiculed one time too many, Gogol assumes the moniker
Nikhil when he heads off to college. Predilections aside, Nikolai
Gogol had a profound impact on Ashoke’s life. But it takes years for
Nikhil to appreciate the blessing his parents bestowed upon him by
naming him after the Russian poet.
Eloquently photographed, The Namesake features
wonderfully textured performances captured amid the urban beauty of
New York and Calcutta. But while Gogol’s coming-of-age tale has
appeal, the intimate, albeit subtle, portrait of Ashoke and Ashimi's
inspiring relationship truly distinguishes Nair's poignant film.
M
November 2007
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MoQuotable(s) |
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Impetus to Direct?
The book just sort of hit me like a bolt of lighting in February, 2005. I had buried my mother-in-law in a terrible accident. She died by malpractice in a New York hospital. We buried her and we were absolutely not prepared to lose her. I read this book completely in a state of mourning about six weeks after that. [I] felt such a shock of recognition in that Jhumpa had understood exactly what I was going through. It was like a fever. I just dropped everything. I had two films I was supposed to make and I just dropped everything. Nine months after reading the book I was shooting the movie. I haven’t moved that fast in anything. It was very fast. I’m like a bulldozer – my friends call me that.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Calcutta and Manhattan Comparisons and Contrasts?
It was a key in how to create the transitions in a 30-year saga without subtitles and without voiceovers. And it came only because I lived in Calcutta 12 years and I grew up in the same years that Ashoke and Ashima live and I have lived in New York City for so long. For me, there’s enormous synergy in the two cities, and it is uncanny, the bridges and all. It’s uncanny in terms of how you can literally look at one and imagine you’re in another. Besides just the lyricism, it was a way of making the audience feel what it’s like to live in that seesaw of in-between worlds. Fred Elmes, my cinematographer, was very excited by this idea when I told him this is how I wanted to shoot [the film].
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Adaptation Contraction?
Any adaptation is about sifting. Right from the word go, I wanted the film to rest on two pillars. I wanted to make an exquisite adult love story of the parents coming from a generation where it’s about actually having a cup of tea in the stillness of a morning and the way you look at each other; rather than what we are so used to in the jangle of the younger culture, of roses and diamonds and all of these proclamations of love. But this is not Ashoke and Ashima. This is not that generation. So for me, it was very clear to make that love story and then to counterpoint it with Gogol’s coming of age. And knowing that, it was clear from moment one that we wouldn’t deal with Gogol’s high school or Yale years. Once I sorted this idea of the two cities as one, that was the glue through which I kind of meshed the passage of time. So that’s how, really, it began.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Casting Irrfan Khan and Tabu?
Irrfan Khan, who played Ashoke, is someone I discovered when he was 18 years old and he worked in my first film, Salaam Bombay. I had given him a big part as one of the main street kids, but he was too tall and too well-nourished to be a street kid. So, I had to uncast him and give him a tiny role. I have, since then, been looking for something that deserves his talent. And he is an extraordinary talent, as you see. So he was always Ashoke. But Ashima, Gogol and everyone else were supposed to be other people. So I feel very much, in this movie, that an angel of casting was over me. I feel so blessed. Tabu is a very big star in India and she’s somebody I’ve known for many years. This is her first Hollywood film and she’s extraordinary. Do remember her at this time next year.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Content of Gogol Pitch Letter to Nair?
When you’re in the zone and writing something like that, you retain very little knowledge of it. But I believe Mira still has the letter. I should ask her exactly what was in it. I remember telling her that this film adaptation was the reason I’m an actor. The reason being a role like this comes once in a lifetime. She was an inspiration to me personally in deciding to pursue acting. When I read [The Namesake], I responded to the book in the same way I responded to The Catcher in the Rye when I was in 8th or 9th grade. There is just something about Salinger’s writing that really draws you in. I felt the same with The Namesake and that’s the reason we tell stories. That’s the reason that when you feel an emotion so strongly that you need to play that part. I think I told her all about that.
But it was Mira’s son Oren who really allowed me to get the audition because he would bug her every night before bed when she would tuck him in and say “Mom can you audition Kal Penn from Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle?”
Same thing with Mira’s agent’s son, this kid named Sam. So, they would berate their parents regularly. I have a feeling that complemented the letter, just a little bit.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Comic Relief while Portraying Gogol?
I think it was really nice to be able to play a character like this, especially in contrast to all the other stuff. When you start to pursue acting, the goal, at least for me, was not to do a particular genre. If you’re a young actor or a pretty boy from Iowa, you get on TV. And if not, you do comedies. I guess those are the youth opportunities that I think are out there. Though I think it’s nice to be able to expand beyond that.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Reaction to Film’s Final Cut?
I think the non-verbal is just as important as the verbal and I think Mira does that beautifully. There are emotions that are played out not through dialogue, but through something visual or even just unspoken. There is a scene where Gogol claims his father’s body and originally there was dialogue in that scene that we shot, but now it’s a completely mute scene. I think it’s just as effective, if not more effective, as the scene that we shot with dialogue. The cities of New York and Calcutta are characters in the film, as much as the family, so it was interesting to see that because it’s never talked about or explained. You just see and experience these cities through Mira’s direction.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Gogol’s “The Overcoat” Prior Reading?
Because Gogol doesn’t read any of Nikolai Gogol’s stuff until the end of the film, I made an effort to resist the temptation to read it.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Namesake Say?
I suggested strongly using Pearl Jam because I’m a huge Pearl Jam fan. I think kids of every race, gender and ethnicity at that age listen to Pearl Jam. I also figured, if the movie is taking place in this time period, he would probably be passionate about Pearl Jam. Pearl Jam won’t let you use a song unless they’ve seen the film. They own all of their licensing rights, which is rare for a band. We shot that scene twice [where Gogol rocks out to a Pearl Jam tune in his bedroom]. Thanks to Eddie Vedder and the guys, they let us use the music.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Post-Gogol Personal Insights?
Not from playing the character. The first time I read the book, which was a couple of years ago, it’s the kind of book that makes you want to call your parents when you’re done reading it. So that probably brought me closer to my parents.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Adaptation Preference?
It’s just coincidental because I’m very at home with original screenplays and I love that. If you look at Salaam Bombay or Monsoon Wedding, all of these are [original works]. I finished a short film last month which is an original screenplay. With Shantaram, it’s like a cult, monumental story for us. It’s an amazing story about the continuum between East and West. It’s about an Australian heroin addict who disappears from prison in Australia in the
1980’s and comes to Bombay to disappear. In Bombay, he meets up with the underworld, and becomes a doctor in a slum. Basically, he meets people who are so different from him, but who teach him who he is, essentially. It’s an amazing tale, and I think it’s about time we get this continuum between East and West right, because it’s so rarely done right. Johnny [Depp] is such an extraordinary actor and he has such curiosity and humility about the world. He’s perfect for it. So things happen like that. It’s not like I’m on a path to look only at the major books.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Ensemble Preference?
I like the circus of life. I like ensembles. I don’t like two people in a room eating sushi in Paris. I can’t do that…I just don’t think that way. My life is a bit like Monsoon Wedding. There are lots of people in it and lots of worlds I easily inhabit. So I guess my films echo that.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
Kalpen Modi Name Forsaken?
I haven’t changed it legally. [Kal Penn] is just a stage name similar to Winona Ryder and Whoopi Goldberg and a whole number of other actors. The reason behind the change was when I moved to L.A. a couple of producer friends suggested coming up with a catchier name. Half of them suggested that if you come up with a more Western sounding name it would help you get more work. I really don’t believe that’s a barrier to getting jobs. To prove them wrong, I split my first name on my resume/headshot into two and my auditions actually went up.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Producer Aspirations?
I’d like to find any project that I can have legitimate creative input. I find that stories that dwell on ethnicity are rather boring for me acting-wise. It’s pretty one dimensional.
Kal Penn (February 26,
2007)
Beatles Documentary?
The Beatles, in 1968, came to India to live with the Maharishi and what I didn’t know was that in the eight weeks they were there they wrote 48 [songs]
- some of their best songs - on the banks of the Ganges, in a time when the whole world was in flames...Vietnam...MLK was assassinated. Everything was happening at that particular moment.
So, I thought I would make a film on inspiration – how it hits and
whether one can ever prepare for it. That has been slightly back-burner-ed by Shantaram, but I have already cut 20 minutes of it and I’ll probably end up [completing it] in the next two years.
Mira Nair (February 26,
2007)
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Writer(s) |
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Sooni Taraporevala (screenplay); Jhumpa Lahiri (novel)
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Lydia Dean Pilcher |
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Producer |
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Yasushi Kotani |
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Executive Producer |
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Mira Nair |
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Producer |
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Ronnie Screwvala |
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Executive Producer |
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Taizo Son |
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Executive Producer |
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Irfan Khan |
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Ashoke Ganguli |
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Kal Penn |
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Gogol Ganguli |
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Tabu |
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Ashima Ganguli |
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Sahira Nair |
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Sonia Ganguli |
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Soham Chatterjee |
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Gogol (Age 4) |
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Zuleikha Robinson |
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Moushumi Mazumdar |
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Jacinda Barrett |
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Maxine 'Max' Ratliff |
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Frederick Elmes |
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Cinematographer |
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Allyson Johnson |
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Editor(s) |
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Nitin Sawhney |
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Music |
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Cindy Tolan |
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Casting |
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Arjun Bhasin |
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Costume
Design |
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Distributor |
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Fox Searchlight Pictures (USA)
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Filming
Location(s) |
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- Calcutta, West Bengal, India
- Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India
- New York City, New York, USA
- Nyack, New York, USA
- Scarsdale, New York, USA
- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Yonkers, New York, USA
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