As a daughter of two immigrant Indian parents, I could perfectly identify myself with the main character: the inner struggles during high school to fit in the Western world while realizing you cannot change your roots and culture. This movie was a huge eye opener to me, and many others who grow up in two different cultures and the most beautiful part is the realization that there is no superior culture. One must accept and find out what matters most and only then one can be truly free and happy.

Ashoke Ganguli (Irrfan Khan) is on a train reading Gogol in India when it crashes. After recovering from the life-altering incident, he moves to America following his train companion's advise. In 1977, he returns to Calcutta to marry singer Ashima. Ashima is homesick when they move to his poor neighborhood in Queens, New York. They have a son Gogol and a girl Sonia. Gogol (Kal Penn) hates his name and is embarrassed by his culture. After a trip to India, he becomes comfortable with his culture, decides to study architecture and switch back to his 'good' name. He falls for Maxine Ratliff (Jacinda Barrett) from a rich white family.The movie is expansive and beautiful. I love Ashima's journey. It's so touching and the quintessential immigrant story. The movie needs to be tighter with the drama. It doesn't have much drama to begin with. Also it needs to stay with her for the whole movie. I would rather this not be a movie about Gogol. The switch in the point of view works to some extend although Gogol's journey is very different. I guess the movie does need to follow him to get the name's origin. The time jumps don't always allow the story to flow but Ashima is always the emotional heart.

The NamesakeI saw this movie today. Didn't read the novel though but was able to connect I guess .It was a nice journey with Ashima,Ashoke,Gogol,Maxy,Ms Muzumdar,Mr Ghosh. Mira Nair again did a awesome job with the direction. The cinematography was commendable. The Howrah Railway station really reminds me of my commuting between Kharagpur and Kolkata. And the Howrah Bridge was revived from time to time, thus establishing the Indian connection. But the character that impressed me most is surely Ashima. She is perfect portrayal of Bengali woman, who is shy yet confident, childish yet mature. Tabu really did justice to Ashima. And Ashoke, his character was crafted very intricately. And then comes Gogol. His part, a teenage boy looking for way out and thus getting carried away and then his way back, Its Awesome.

This film begins in India in 1977. A young woman meets an eligible man in her parent's home and then, after approving the match, they are soon married. However, he lives in New York and so the bride is soon pulled into a strange new culture. The rest of the film revolves around this marriage and the two children from this union (in particular, the focus is on the son).I love Mira Nair's films, so I was favorably disposed towards this movie at the outset. However, while I am glad I watched it, I have two strong misgivings. First, because there is so much ground to cover (about 30 years of a family's history), the film comes off as very, very episodic. At times, the film jumps many years at a time and I found this disconcerting and I wanted to see more--because what we saw, I liked. Second, and this is related to my last complaint, is that because the film bounces around so much, the overall effect comes off as very cold and disconnected. Too often, I felt like I really didn't know the people at all. In other words, while the viewer learns about things these people do, who they are down deep is often an enigma. Plus, since you don't really get to know people, too often I had a hard time connected to them or caring about them when bad things occurred to them. Now perhaps this WAS the purpose of the film--the sense of emotional isolation and disconnect these people had, but still I wanted so much more.I guess my complaints are probably more severe than some viewers might have because I have already seen several films about Indians, Pakistanis and Chinese families living in Western countries (such as the US, Canada and UK), so the idea wasn't so novel. As for me, I know what I would have liked. Instead of a two hour movie, it would have been great to break this into two or even three films or perhaps a miniseries. Really--there's just so much stuff and so many wonderful moments that are missed otherwise. For a somewhat similar experience, try watching "Bollywood/Hollywood", "Bend It Like Beckham" or "Double Happiness"--all are excellent.On the positive side, however, it does give some insights into Indian culture and how tough it might be to live in a foreign culture--both for the first and second generation. Nice insights and some very touching moments.Overall, not a bad film at all and well worth seeing--just don't be surprised if it leaves you wanting a lot more.