Product description
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American-born Gogol the son of Indian immigrants wants to fit in
among his fellow New Yorkers despite his family's unwillingness
to let go of their traditional ways. System Requirements:Running
Time: 114 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/AMERICANS ABROAD
Rating: PG-13 UPC: 024543456087 Manufacturer No: 2245608
.com
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Adapted by screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala from the novel by
Jhumpa Lahiri, director Mira Nair's The Nameksake is populated by
well-drawn characters and filled with memorable s and
engaging scenes. But in the larger sense, the film is a
provocative look at the two sides of immigration: the adjustments
faced by a couple who move here from a distant land, and the
struggles of their offspring to reconcile their parents'
traditional culture with their own distinctly American outlook.
The tale begins in the late '70s, when aspiring engineer Ashoke
Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and his new wife Ashima (the radiant Tabu)
move to New York from Calcutta. Life in America is strange, in
ways both good (the in their apartment stays on 24 hours a
day! You can drink water straight from the tap!) and not-so-hot
(New York's winters). But for their children, first son Gogol (a
standout performance by Kal Penn, heretofore best known for the
stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle), nicknamed for
his her's favorite author, the Russian novelist Nikolai Gogol,
and then daughter Sonia (Sahira Nair), "the American way" is at
odds with their folks' more conservative mores. Gogol (who later
adopts his more formal first name, Nikhil) smokes dope, calls his
parents "you guys," goes to Yale, and hooks up with a preppie
white girl (Jacinda Barrett); for her part, Sonia complains that
she wants to "go home" when the family returns to India for a
visit. Only when tragedy strikes suddenly does the young man
realize how totally alienated from his family he has become,
prompting some major changes. There's nothing especially original
about any of this, and even those who haven't read the book may
sense that some of Lahiri's material has been lost on the way to
the screen (the of Gogol's marriage to a beautiful
Bengali-American girl, played by Zuleikha Robinson, seems oddly
truncated). But even while dealing with life's Big Issues (birth
and death, marriage and separation, joy and misery), Nair has
created a winning, film that reminds us of the strength
of family ties and effortlessly persuades us to care. --Sam
Graham
Kal Penn Blogs About The Namesake
Welcome to The Namesake DVD. After touring the festival circuit
last year, our film opened globally (including North America) in
March of this year, and Im proud to bring you the DVD!
This is a project that has been close to me from the beginning.
I was a big fan of the book ever since John Cho recommended it to
me during the first Harold & Kumar shoot. John and I tried to get
rights to turn the book into the film, but Mira [Nair, director
of Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay] had already acquired them.
That began a really aggressive campaign on my part to try to get
seen for the role. Id call Miras office, have my manager call
but we had no luck in getting in the door. Luckily, unbeknownst
to me, Miras son Zohran and her agents son Sam were lobbying on
my behalf (turns out they are huge Harold and Kumar fans, so they
were trying to get their parents to bring me in to read for the
part of Gogol). Mira finally agreed, and I got a call saying that
Id be able to audition. I flew out to New York, and luckily
things worked out.
There are some similarities between my life and Gogols. We are
both Americans of Indian descent, both born and raised on the
East Coast, both bilingual, and both passionate about our
careers. But Gogol is much more subdued than I am; he carries a
certain silence (which he gets from his her). His place in the
world is one of constant shift -- a byproduct of being single in
New York, being passionate about his job, close with his family,
and so on.
This film is my favorite to -date. Mira has been a role model of
mine since I was very young, Jhumpa [Lahiri, author of The
Namesake] is one of my favorite authors, Sooni [Taraporevala,
screenwriter for Salaam Bombay] one of my most admired
screenwriters, so its an honor to have the chance to be part of
the screen adaptation of this story.
To me, its a very American film. Its about family, about hope
about how we all got here, through the lens of this particular
family. With so much negativity every time I turn on the
television, Im proud to be part of something that hopefully
leaves the audience with a tremendous a of hope, and a
connection to the people we love. -- Kal Penn