The Namesake

April 3, 2007

This is another movie that I watched last weekend a day after Little Miss Sunshine.This is also a good one just like Little Miss Sunshine and has been handled really well though I personally liked the latter better than this.

It is about the experiences of an Indian brought up in America who wants to fit into the American way of living while his parents want him to espouse Indian values. Kal Penn plays the role of Gogol who is named so by his father (Irfan Khan) after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. He doesn’t like the name one bit as it lands him into embarrassment but is not able to change it, after it becomes his official name. I don’t want to go into how the movie proceeds after this as it is best left for you to watch it.

Irfan Khan is amazing as the dad trying to cope up with his son’s Americanism and his wife played Tabu is equally moving. Kal Penn is the surprise package in the movie. I didn’t know he could handle serious roles this effectively.

The film does have its shortcomings. It progresses a bit too slowly towards the end and you start wondering if it’ll end at all. Moreover, it kinda ends abruptly leaving you speculating. In spite of all this, this should be a movie that is not to be missed.

An interesting trivia is that the Kal Penn, just like his character in this movie, changed his name from Kalpen Modi to Kal Penn as he wasn’t getting many offers initially due to his name.

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Posted in Movies

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