The Namesake

Alright, my mind was piqued after a hiatus of 5 months. Too much latency huh? Saw this movie that all blogs and reviewers were raving about. I mean ‘The Namesake’.
For someone, who hasn’t read Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, this movie will be a revelation. Quite a splendid rendition of a long book in 2 concise hours. But that is where my gripe with Mira Nair is.
The editing is choppy. We flit from scene to scene almost as if there is no context in the scene change. Also, if you’ve read the book, the film does NOT do justice to the character of the protagonist - Gogol. The book portrays Gogol as a disenchanted guy - who treats India as just that - India - a foreign country. The movie makes no emphasis of this. Instead there is this romantic evocation of Gogol staring at the Taj Mahal and being inspired to be an architect.
The movie has its pluses - Irfan Khan is good and so is Kal Penn (Kalpen Patel for purists). But the movie belongs to Tabu. Tabu’s role is brilliantly etched out giving the actress ample room to flout her talent. This anguish of a young daughter and then a middle aged mother is so touchingly portrayed by Mira Nair through Tabu’s Ashima that you can’t help feel if Mira is telling some of her own tale. I would suggest the reverse of what I did - I read the book a year ago and watched the movie last week. See the movie first and then read the book at leisure.