There's a scene somewhere in the middle of Mira Nair's "The Namesake" when Ashok Ganguli (Irfan Khan) turns to wife Ashima (Tabu) and asks "So, why did you choose me all those years ago?". She replies demurely " You were the best of the lot. Better than the widower with 4 children and the cartoonist with 1 arm". To those of us who enjoy being sucked into the swirling vortex of a tempestuous courtship as a prelude to taking the matrimonial plunge, Ashima's response would have all the passion of freshly thawed fish. But their relationship isn't so much based on Sense as it is on Sensibility. Peel back the layers and you'll find a deep bond forged from time, trust and commitment to a partnership shaped and strengthened through decades of accumulated experiences, both good and bad.
It's what made this movie resonate with me, the layers Nair peels away to show you the glimpses of what's lying beneath, because what's on the surface is a tale told in umpteen reincarnations elsewhere. Ashima leaves a close knit Bengali family after an arranged marriage to college professor Ashok to New York, where the newly weds adjust to the immigrant experience and to each other. There's homesickness (on her part), stumbling attempts at articulation (on his part), disagreements and reconciliations (on both their parts), children and a move from cramped apartment to suburbia.
And through it all, you see the couple grow older and into each other, Ashok's initial bumbling and bombastic speech patterns giving way to a gentler cadence polished with maturity and wisdom, Ashima grows into a figure of quite confidence and authority, without relinquishing a shred of her Bengali heritage.
Which is primarily why, the the story of of their son's conflict, both to break free of his Bengali roots and his given name didn't impact me in the same way.
The son(Kal Penn), named Gogol after the famous Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, does what all children do to hack off the shackles of tradition; he changes his name to Nikhil, has a relationship with a WASPish blonde(Jacinda Barrett) and rarely returns his mother's calls when he moves away from home.
His re-integration into his community and re-embracing of his roots, precipitated by a family tragedy, is all top side veneer. You struggle to understand his conflict but his story lacks the intricate nuance accorded to his parents. And it doesn't help that Nair rushes through his romantic liasons and culture frictions, as though coming to a belated realisation, after having spent so much time detailing the Ashok-Ashima bond, that this is, in essence, Gogol's tale and that she better get on with telling it with the little remaining running time left.
Gogol rejects the blonde Maxine because she isn't from his community, but his marriage to Moushumi(Zuleikha Robinson), who is, disintegrates, because it isn't enough that they're both Bengali. These are deep waters to be mined, but Nair merely skims the surface.
Every scene I've taken away from this movie, that's still singing a sonorous tune in my cortex, involve Ashok and Ashima;
Ashok breaking the news of her father's death to Ashima.
Their whimsical exchange in front of the Taj Mahal.
Their breakfast table talk before Ashok leaves for a posting in another town.
Ashok explaining to Gogol the traumatic incident in his life that led to his migration to the States and his subsequent choice of moniker for his first born.
I haven't read the Jhumpha Lahiri novel which inspired this movie, but were I to pick it up, it would be in the hope the novel fleshes out Gogol as wonderfully as Nair does his parents in the movie.
Light years from the usual Bombast and Excess of Bollywood, The Namesake, flaws aside, is that perfect swig of one's favourite brew after a hard day's work. To be sipped slowly as you unwind, with a sigh.
