The Namesake
The Namesake ★★★ 2006 (PG-13)
Nair's thoughtful and emotional adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel about two generations of a Bengali family living in the U.S. Ashoke (Khan) enters into an arranged marriage with Ashima (Tabu) and they move to New York, settling uneasily into their new lives. The couple's first child, Nikhil, is nicknamed Gogol after Ashoke's favorite writer. The name confusion will continue as the boy accepts and then rejects his various monikers, growing into a young man (Penn) torn between tradition and pursuing his own life. Naturally, he's also torn (at least at first) between WASP princess Maxine (Barrett) and fellow Bengali Moushumi (Robinson). Penn has true dramatic presence to go along with his more familiar comic gifts. 122m/C DVD . US Kal Penn, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Jacinda Barrett, Zuleikha Robinson; D: Mira Nair; W: Sooni Taraporevala; C: Frederick Elmes; M: Nitin Sawhney.