SummarySpanning two generations, two clashing cultures and two very different ways of life that crash into each other only to become lovingly intertwined, The Namesake is ultimately about the imminently relevant question: what does it mean to be an American family? [Fox Searchlight Pictures]
Directed By:Mira Nair
Written By:Sooni Taraporevala, Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
82
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
82
97% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
3% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Nair takes mostly low-key material about a traditional Indian family raising kids in America and turns it into something sensual, funny and quietly devastating.
90
The Namesake, adapted from Jhumpa Lahiri’s popular novel, conveys a palpable sense of people as living, breathing creatures who are far more complex than their words might indicate.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.6
80% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
20% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Apr 12, 2020
9
If Mira Nair's The Namesake does not push you into nostalgia with its soothing Indian classical music picturised on golden dramatic moments nothing will. TN.
Jun 26, 2023
8
Director/producer Mira Nair (Vanity Fair’04) brings yet another deeply personal story to the screen - based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Jhumpa Lahiri, with a screen adaption by prize winner Sooni Taraporevala. Director Nair invests a great deal of effort into analyzing the generation gap in an Indian-American family, as they navigate their differences in moral and ethical issues, alongside their traditional family ties from the mother country. Irrfran Kahn (Life of Pi) gives us another superb performance as the father, while gifted Indian actress Tabu equals him as his dedicated wife. Together they try earnestly to connect with their adolescent son (Kal Penn) who’s drifting towards a ‘modern’ shallow existence - failing to connect with those who have dedicated their lives to supplying a loving family base. Cinematography and Music play an important part in guiding the audience’s attention through the multi-layered issues that live within this quality, mature work.
88
The Namesake has a deep, alluvial poetry to it, like a mighty river reaching the sea. It's mysterious and ordinary, insightful and banal, rambling and precise, and it is altogether unexpected.
88
A thoroughly engaging, terrifically moving family story that's rich in beautifully observed and lovingly conveyed human detail.
75
Making you feel the presence of absences - of the distant and the departed, of dreams that never quite come true - is the key thing that this uneven film gets exactly right.
70
There are times when you wish the movie was a mini-series. This is meant both as a tribute, for the Ganguli family is so engaging you'd be happy spending much more time with them, and an acknowledgment that a tale this expansive doesn't always fit comfortably within the constraints of a feature-length frame.
60
This Indian immigrant family saga is a pleasant watch, but given the emotive source novel, it’s surprisingly superficial.
Nov 28, 2011
8
I've never read the book, but the movie was very good. Well acted and moving. I would suggest not to watch it more than once or twice. 8/10 or 81/100.
Production Company:
- Fox Searchlight Pictures
- Cine Mosaic
- Entertainment Farm (EF)
- Mirabai Films
- UTV Motion Pictures
Release Date:Mar 9, 2007
Duration:2 h 2 m
Rating:PG-13
Tagline:Two Worlds. One Journey.
Awards
Stardust Awards, India
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
Love is Folly International Film Festival, Bulgaria
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
