The Namesake

The Namesake To start with, the book is fantastic. The movie is not. The book is well written, clear, and evocative and brings out the conflict between the eastern and western cultures with brilliance and simplicity. It’s basically about the identity crises that a confused American suffers. The conflict arises because of his double identity. In the book it’s clear why Gogol leaves Maxine. It’s his realization that his girlfriend is not really interested in his Indianans, and the fact that she wants him to be completely America and can only unwillingly accept the differentness of his parents. But when he realizes that at heart he is actually Gogol, not Nick that is when he decides to break up. He needs to find someone who understands Gogol. He does, but this doesn’t work out. Again, in the book, we understand why his wife falls in love with another man. Moushumi is being torn apart trying to be a good Bengali wife by sacrificing a life and career in Paris. In the book this comes through very well. Not in the movie. Infidelity seems to be the main cause. The movie was simply unable to bring out the complexity of the novel. Maybe all movies cannot do justice to the book from which they are made, and in my opinion, this movie is one of them. Though in itself the movie is worth a watch. It’s a piece of art, and has some brilliant scenes. The only problem is that it pales in comparisons to the book. Although, in the movie it’s the relationship between Gogol’s parents, Ashima and Ashoke, that makes greater impact. Ashima’s difficulty in adjusting (the movie opens with this), her loneliness and the growing love between husband and wife. It is very moving. Maybe it was because of the power of the actors that these two characters make such an impact. But I also think that Mira Nair diverted from the book. For example, the movie does not show Gogol living with his girlfriend’s parents it just shows him spending a few days with them but