Sunday, April 15, 2007

Meet The Robinsons: A Thumbs Up Disney Triumph








Meet the Robinsons (2007)Genre: Animation Duration: 1 hr. 42 min. Starring: Angela Bassett, Tom Selleck, Adam West, Ethan Sandler, Laurie Metcalf, Director: Steve Anderson Producer: Dorothy McKim Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures Release Date: March 30, 2007 Writer: Michelle Bochner based on the book by William Joyce

Meet the Robinsons is a computer-animated film and the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

In the United Kingdom, the 3D version was released on March 23. It was released in standard and Disney Digital 3-D versions in the United States and in its standard version in the UK on March 30, 2007.

It is based on the characters and events in the illustrated book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce. The film originally had the same title as the book. The voice cast includes Jordan Fry, Harland Williams, Tom Kenny, Steve Anderson, Adam West, and Angela Bassett. The film is rated G by the MPAA.


THE REVIEW: PART: 1

The movie contains some important educational messages, such as not being afraid of failures since you can learn a lot from them, "always keep moving forward", and solving problems in an enlightened way instead of through revenge.

At times, all of us feel like strangers in the world. In Disney's bright, colorful, CGI animated film (available in 3D in some locations), Lewis (voice of Daniel Hansen) is left on the steps of an orphanage as a baby and rejected by over 100 prospective parents. He constantly invents machines that will help solve problems. But his love for inventing just seems to make him feel more separate from the world, more isolated, more weird.

It seems he will ever find a family or a place where he feels at home.

Mildred (voice of Angela Bassett), who runs the orphanage, is sympathetic and fond of Lewis, but that is not the same. He has a roommate, Michael "Goob" Yagoobian (voice of Matthew Josten), who is just as lonely as he is.

Lewis is better at understanding the problems of machines than he is at understanding what makes people work -- or not work. His head is so full of plans that he does not always see what is going on in front of him.

When he takes his latest invention to the school science fair, he does not notice that two very unusual people have taken an interest in it. One is "Bowler Hat guy," an even apter name than first apparent.

The other is a boy named Wilbur Robinson who says he is from the future and he needs Lewis to accompany him there right away.

Set in 2037 and 2007, Meet the Robinsons tells the story of Lewis (Jordan Fry) - a brilliant and creative twelve-year-old orphan with a surprising number of clever inventions to his credit. However, most of Lewis' inventions don't work yet, and they get in the way of his adoption efforts because of narrow minded would-be adopters who prefer someone less creative.

His latest and most ambitious project is the Memory Scanner, which lets people see their memories. The machine is supposed to help him find his birth mother so they can become a family. However, during the Science Fair where he tries to demonstrate it, the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy (Steve Anderson), a villain from the future, and his atrocious hat, DOR-15 (pronounced "Doris"), sabotage his invention.

The machine causes mayhem and Lewis runs to the orphanage roof top in frustration. While he is gone, the Bowler Hat Guy steals the invention. Lewis has all but given up hope when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson (Wesley Singerman) whisks our bewildered hero away in a time machine and together they fly into the future. Unfortunately, Lewis gets the idea to fly through time to meet his mother, and tries to drive the time machine. Wilbur objects and they fight.

The machine crashes and breaks on the grass of the Robinsons mansion, and Wilbur convinces Lewis that he must now repair it at the Robinsons Mansion, where Lewis also meets Wilbur's eccentric family and their music band of genetically enhanced singing frogs. Lewis gets attached to the family, and they even offer to adopt them. But when it is revealed that Lewis is from the past, the family says it's impossible for them to adopt him. Lewis runs away in frustration and joins the Bowler Hat Guy.

The Bowler Hat Guy reveals that Lewis is really Wilbur's dad, a famous inventor. The Bowler Hat Guy also reveals that he is actually Goob, Lewis's roommate from the orphanage. He tells Lewis of his terrible childhood after losing a crucial baseball game by falling asleep and blames it on Lewis, who worked every night on the Memory Scanner and made it hard for Goob to get sleep.

He also reveals to Lewis that Lewis himself at some time invented Doris (the hat) and then disabled it and locked it up in storage, but didn't know that the hat was still operational and escaped. The Bowler Hat Guy then locks Lewis up and then takes the Memory Scanner back to the past, where he tries to patent it and trick InventCo Inc. to mass produce hats like Doris. But the hats run out of control and the entire future (where Lewis is still locked up) changes to a dark world where the hats rule the world by mind-controlling everyone who wears them, making everyone behave like zombies.

Lewis succeeds to escape and repair the time machine just at the last moment before the hats destroy it, and goes back in time to stop the Bowler Hat Guy at Invent Co. He also decides there to never invent Doris, and the hat immediately dissipates into non-existence.

Lewis then takes the Bowler Hat Guy with him back to the future and shows him what Doris had caused, just as the ripple effect from the past is in the process of restoring everything back to normal. The Bowler Hat Guy realizes that Doris was not really his friend, and seeks forgiveness.

The Robinsons offer to take the Bowler Hat Guy in, but he can't bring himself to be taken in and runs off. Lewis then meets his future self, and sees his amazing inventions. Lewis understands that he has to go back to the past because none of this will exist if he does not go back in time and create it, but before he goes, his wife tells him to remember that she is always right.

Before taking Lewis back to where he belongs, Wilbur goes further back in time and lets Lewis see his real mother, keeping his earlier promise.

After Lewis goes back to his time, he wakes Goob up at the baseball field and Goob wins the baseball game, thus granting his roommate a far happier future.

He then goes back to the Science Fair and tries out his invention again. This time the memory scanner works, and he is adopted by the Science Fair judge and her husband, who he realizes are the grandparents in the future Robinsons family.

Just as he finishes the demonstration, the cute girl who has a display involving frogs tells him that she is always right, and he realizes that this is his future wife, Mrs. Robinson. In the end, Lewis knows that he will have a happy future, and gains confidence to keep moving forward in life.

The film is a joy in all regards and has qualities that will keep it on the minds of Academy Award nominators. It is best animated work so far this season in my opinion, and I enjoy animated. They are art form of their own.

Official Site

Trailer (Window Media High)
Trailer (Quicktime High)
Policy Trailer (Windows Media High)
3D Futurette (Windows Media)
3D TV Spot (QuickTime)
'Kids of the Future' Jonas Brother Music Video (Windows Media)
'FUTURE' Futurette (Windows Media)
Rob Thomas 'Little Wonders' Music Video (Windows Media
meet the robinsons in disney digital 3d
meet the robinsons a quick family whos who
a fantastic futuristic family robinsons about the origins
disney digital 3d fun facts
about the production
animating the robinsons
a future like no other
long synopsis
about the voice talent
the cast meets the robinsons
the robinsons music
the experiment
about the filmmakers
fun facts and figures
about the film


1 Plot summary
2 Reception
3 Disney Digital 3-D
4 Credits
4.1 Voice cast
4.2 Crew
5 Other media
6 Trivia
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

Credits

Voice cast

Adam West - Uncle Art
Angela Bassett - Mildred
Aurian Redson - Frankie the Frog
Don Hall - Uncle Gaston
Ethan Sandler - DOR-15, Uncle Fritz, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Dimitri, Uncle Spike, Cousin Laszlo
Harland Williams - Carl
Jessie Flower - Young Franny
Jordan Fry & Daniel Hansen - Lewis
Joseph Mateo - Tiny
Kelly Hoover - Aunt Billie
Laurie Metcalf - Lucille Krunklehorn
Matthew Joston - Michael "Goob" Yagoobian
Nicole Sullivan - Franny Robinson
Steve Anderson - Bowler Hat Guy, Grandpa Bud, Cousin Tallulah
Tom Kenny - Mr. Willerstein
Tom Selleck - Cornelius Robinson
Wesley Singerman - Wilbur Robinson

CREW

Music by Danny Elfman
Executive producers John Lasseter and Clark Spencer
Based on the book A Day with Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce
Adaptation by Jon Bernstein
Written by Michelle Bochner and Jon Bernstein
Produced by Dorothy Mckim
Directed by Steve Anderson
CG Stereoscopic Supervision by Phil McNally

OTHER MEDIA

The soundtrack album was released by Walt Disney Records on March 27, 2007. Contributors to the album beyond the Danny Elfman score include Rufus Wainwright, Rob Thomas, Jamie Cullum, The All-American Rejects, They Might Be Giants, and The Jonas Brothers.

Disney's Meet the Robinsons is available from Buena Vista Games for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS and PC.

Trivia

Wilbur tells Lewis that his father looks like Tom Selleck, who happens to be the voice-actor.

In the German version, Wilbur says his father looks like Thomas Gottschalk, who happens to be the voice-actor in this version.

In the Latin American version Wilbur says his father looks like José Luis Rodríguez "El Puma".

The 3-D version is preceded by the 1953 Donald Duck/Chip 'n Dale short Working for Peanuts, which was originally made in 3-D.

The normal version of the film is preceded by the 1938 Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck/Goofy cartoon Boat Builders.

At several times the camera focuses on DOR-15's red "eye". This is a reference to the camera eye of HAL 9000 from the Space Odyssey series.

The Robinson home is located on a landscape similar to the Windows XP default wallpaper, Bliss

The Little League team Goob plays on, the Dinos, is a reference to another of Joyce's books, Dinosaur Bob.

Lewis's school is called Joyce Williams Elementary, an obvious reference to the original book's author, William Joyce

At the end of the film, Lewis and his adoptive parents move into Anderson Observatory, a reference to the film's director, Steve Anderson.

THE REVIEW PART:2: Direction

I remarked earlier that enjoy animated films. There was a point in my life when I seriously considered becoming a cartoonist and worked at it diligently. My interest here and in the editorial cartoonists is in evidence within the various blog rooms. Walt Disney Animation did this one right.

Ever since they first distributed Pixar’s movies, Disney flicks they’ve made themselves have paled in comparison. But now with Pixar’s John Lasseter running the Mouse House operations, things have finally clicked with those the Disney folk. Meet the Robinsons mixes a heartfelt story, á la Pixar’s efforts, with extremely innovative 3-D animation. I am old enough to remember the days when they used to hand you those flimsy cardboard blue/red glasses and the screen would flash, “Put Your Glasses On!” just as something poked out at you.

Looking back on those days; most of the times, the effect wouldn’t even work very well. Not anymore. Robinsons first-time director Steve Anderson, along with Head of Story, Don Hall (who also provides some voices), were given free reign on this rather unprecedented process and make Meet the Robinsons’ whole newfangled digital 3-D technology truly an interactive experience.

If your are an aficionado of these sorts of things, hit the web and research this further as more is being written and posted daily.

Of course, once they get going with this stuff, it’s hard to stop, so some of Robinsons is almost TOO busy for some critics, but I like it all and the more the better unless it becomes merely a technical show off flick. To be sure there is some very good showing off, but it is not over done; it is not a distraction or detractor. It is fun and those critics who have to take pots shots just because they have the title…”critic” should be ignored on this one. Fun should be had by all.

Parents should know that the movie's themes include parental abandonment and rejection by potential adoptive parents, which may be disturbing for some children. There is some cartoon violence and peril, including a scary dinosaur. No one is badly hurt, though a child has a black eye and refers to having been beat up. There is some schoolyard language and a reference to being over-caffeinated.

Families who see this movie should talk about what it means to keep moving forward and to let go of the hurts of the past. Why did Lewis change his mind about what he thought he wanted? They may also want to talk about the many different ways people create families -- and about some of the more unusual hobbies of their family members.

Families who enjoy this film will also enjoy the book, A Day with Wilbur Robinson , by William Joyce. They will also enjoy the dazzlingly inventive graphics in another animated film about an inventor based on Joyce's work, Robots . The bowler hat guy is a little reminiscient of villain played by Terry-Thomas in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or Jack Lemmon in the delightful Great Race .

Critics Reviews—

Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPhil Kloer "Come for the 3-D, stay for the story." more...

Boston GlobeTy Burr "...luscious to look at and as fizzy as a can of soda popped open in your face." more...

Chicago Sun-TimesBill Zwecker "...old-fashioned fun." more...

Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington "...left me impressed." more...

E! OnlineAlex Markerson "...just a few pixels shy of Pixar quality." more...
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum "...this thing is one bumpy ride." more...

filmcritic.comChristopher Null "...a great film that I unilaterally recommend." more...

New York PostLou Lumenick "...I wish it lasted far longer..." more...

ReelViewsJames Berardinelli "...a fast paced, high energy offering..." more...

Seattle Post-IntelligencerGianni Truzzi "...takes William Joyce's delightful tale into a new dimension." more...

USA TodayClaudia Puig "...a visual treat with an engaging story that has an uplifting, but not maudlin, message." more...
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Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The Movie Shelf: The Namesake_Review by Anna Marie Stewart




























































































































Several years ago I began a project (still in progress) to read all the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. I'm always looking for "quality" novels, and this seemed an excellent way to narrow the field. In 2000, the winner was The Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. This was an unusual choice for two reasons: the author is a young woman, and the book is a collection of short stories. As with all collections, I liked some stories much better than others, but the final offering -- about a young Indian man moving to the U.S. to complete his education -- is worth a prize all by itself.


When Lahiri's first novel, The Namesake, was published in 2003, I read it immediately. I liked it less than Interpreter because I found the namesake himself -- Gogol Ganguli -- less than sympathetic. He seemed egocentric and narcissistic. I didn't really care whether he solved the "mystery" of who he was and what he wanted to be. Having seen the film version of The Namesake, I have much more appreciation of Gogol, and I think I could re-read the novel with more empathy the second time. The film condenses the book (304 pages), omitting or slighting certain characters and including only the high points of the novel, without changing its tone.


The film is lyrical and quiet, with none of the histrionics usually found in American movies. Even the moments of greatest emotion are restrained and dignified. Kal Penn (such a jerk in his earlier film roles) does a great job conveying the anguish of a young man who really doesn't know his family or have any appreciation for their culture and background. Tabu, playing his mother Ashima, is simply perfect -- beautifully expressive without raising her voice. Irrfan Khan, as the father who names his son after his favorite author, has quiet power and integrity. Following the family from the parents' arranged marriage through the adulthood of their two children; we see a story that is both typically American and universal. It is beautifully photographed, well-written, and well-acted. It was a pleasure to watch, and I recommend it highly. Absolutely first rate.


THE LINE UP (ALL CAST AND CREDITS)


DIRECTED BY

MIRA NAIR:


DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT

I wanted to return to making a small-scale, intimate and mobile film, one which is extraordinarily close to my own reality as a South Asian person living in America today.

Jhumpa Lahiri, the great Pulitzer-prize winning writer of Interpreter Of Maladies, has written precisely such a tale in her debut novel, The Namesake, which is this film.

It encompasses, in a deep humane way, the tale of millions of us who have left one home for another, who have known what it is to combine the old ways with the new world, who have left the shadow of our parents to find ourselves for the first time.

I long to see my own people through my camera, one that will move fluidly between New York and Calcutta.

The stellar cast includes Kal Penn (HAROLD & KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, SUPERMAN RETURNS) as Gogol, Tabu (MAQBOOL) as Ashima, Irrfan Khan (THE WARRIOR, MAQBOOL) as Ashoke, Zuleikha Robinson (HIDALGO, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE) as Moushumi and Jacinda Barrett (THE LAST KISS, SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS) as Gogol’s American lover, Maxine.


The look of this film is more photographic than fluid, more PARIS, TEXAS than MONSOON WEDDING.

The still photography training and orientation of the film makers/cinematographers/photographers shows through with a singular beauty and is a credit to both their skills and vision.

If you are a photographer you will immediately take notice of the care given to the “framing” of scenes, and if not you will still be struck by some intangible unlike any other film you have seen. The look and feel are distinctive and of award winning quality. (EGD)

I wanted to film a dusky Bengali beauty against a Mark Rothko painting in a stark Manhattan space. I wanted to see her languorously climb the stairs to her lover's tenement, preparing herself for her first betrayal. I wanted to see an Indian baby's shock of black hair in a sea of bald white ones. I hoped to capture on film the moment we unexpectedly become adult, the strangeness of burying a parent in a foreign land that has now become home.

Using Nitin Sawhney’s score and an eclectic mix of music ranging from Tagore's classic Rabindra Sangeet to 60's protest songs to contemporary hip-hop mixed with Indian pop, THE NAMESAKE reflects the current new wave of Asian Cool making its impact in America.
I made this classic, poignant story with hot, meditative strokes - capturing the gothic bustle of old Bengal against the pulsating new look of young, cool desi* power in New York City.


Mira Nair

Born in India, filmmaker Mira Nair studied at the University of New Delhi before earning a degree in Sociology from Harvard in 1976. Based in New York City, she worked on her own independent short films, eventually winning the Best Documentary prize at the American Film Festival for India Cabaret, an investigation of Bombay's stripper subculture.

In 1988, she made her feature-length narrative film debut with Salaam Bombay!, co-written by Sooni Taraporevala. An exploration of actual kids struggling to survive on the streets of Bombay, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Film by the Academy and won several festival awards, including the Camera d'Or at Cannes.

In 1991, she teamed up with writing partner Taraporevala again for the romantic drama Mississippi Masala, about an Indian family moving from Uganda to the Southern U.S. to run a motel. Following the theme of immigration with her next film, The Perez Family featured a Cuban family moving to the States.

In 1997, she took a brief turn toward historical epics with Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, set in 16th century India. Following the Showtime special My Own Country and the documentary short The Laughing Club of India, she made the international hit Monsoon Wedding. Focusing on an arranged marriage in New Delhi, the comedy drama won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and established Nair as an accomplished filmmaker.

In 2002, she made a surprising turn to a New Jersey setting for the gritty HBO drama Hysterical Blindness, starring Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis, Gena Rowlands. The same year she directed a segment of the French-produced anthology film 11'09"01, featuring short films from 11 international filmmakers in response to September 11. Along with teaching at Columbia University, Nair would next direct the film Vanity Fair, based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray and starring Reese Witherspoon.

Shantaram (2008) (pre-production)

The Namesake (2006)

Vanity Fair (2004)

11'09''01 - September 11 (2002) (segment "India")

Hysterical Blindness (2002) (TV)

Monsoon Wedding (2001)

The Laughing Club of India (1999) (TV)

My Own Country (1998) (TV)

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996)

The Perez Family (1995)

The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat (1993)

Mississippi Masala (1991)

Salaam Bombay! (1988)

Children of a Desired Sex (1987) (TV)

India Cabaret (1985) (TV)

So Far from India (1983)

Jama Masjid Street Journal (1979)

PRODUCER:

Gangsta M.D. (2007) (announced) (producer)

The Namesake (2006) (producer)

Still, the Children Are Here (2004) (producer)

Monsoon Wedding (2001) (producer)

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) (producer)

Mississippi Masala (1991) (producer)

Salaam Bombay! (1988) (producer)

ACTRESS:

Monsoon Wedding (2001) (uncredited) Voice of Mrs. Mehta
Bollywood Calling (2001) Mira
My Own Country (1998) (TV) Saryu Joshi
The Perez Family (1995) Woman buying flowers
Mississippi Masala (1991) Gossip 1

WRITER:

Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) (written by)
Salaam Bombay! (1988) (story)

JHUMPA LAHIRI _ (NOVEL) HTTP://WWW.SAJA.ORG/LAHIRI.HTML

BACKGROUND

THE ORIGINAL NY TIMES BOOK REVIEW

THE NAMESAKE By Jhumpa Lahiri 291 pages. Houghton Mifflin. $24.


Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London, England in July 1967, and brought up in South Kingstown, Rhode Island. Brought up in America by a mother who wanted to raise her children to be Indian, she learned about her Bengali heritage from an early age. Lahiri received her B.A. in English literature from Barnard College in 1989. She then received multiple degrees from Boston University: an M.A. in English, an M.A. in Creative Writing, an M.A. in Comparative Literature and a Ph.D. in Renaissance Studies. She took up a fellowship at Provincetown's Fine Arts Work Center, which lasted for the next two years (1997-1998).

In 2001, she married Alberto Vourvoulias-Bush, a journalist who was then Deputy Editor of Time Latin America. Lahiri currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children. She has been a Vice President of the PEN American Center since 2005.

CAREER

Lahiri taught creative writing at Boston University and Rhode Island School of Design. Much of her short fiction concerns the lives of Indian-Americans, particularly Bengalis.

INTERPRETER OF MALADIES

As a collection of nine distinct short stories, Interpreter of Maladies, Lahiri's debut, addresses sensitive dilemmas in the lives of Indians or Indian immigrants. The stories' themes include marital difficulties, miscarriages, and the disconnection between first and second generation immigrants in the United States. The stories are set in the northeastern United States, and in India, particularly Calcutta.

THE NAMESAKE

The Namesake, her fifth book and first novel, was published in 2003. An anecdote published in USA Today mentions a schoolteacher who found her given name too long and used her nickname Jhumpa instead.[1] Lahiri adapted this incident in her book, which spans more than thirty years in the life of a fictional family, the Gangulis. The parents, each born in Calcutta, emigrated to the United States as young adults. Their children, Gogol and Sonia, grow up in the United States and much of the tension of the novel is dependent upon the generation and cultural gap between the parents and the children. One of the major themes of the book is the confusion caused by the a misunderstanding which occurred when Gogol is very young: his pet name (Gogol) becomes mistaken for his real name. Thus, Gogol's unusual name serves as a symbol of his own unclear cultural identity (further complicated by the fact that Gogol is the last name of a noted Russian author).

FILM

The film, The Namesake was released in March 2007 in the United States and the United Kingdom. It is directed by Mira Nair and a screenplay adapted from Lahiri's novel by Sooni Taraporevala. The film stars Kal Penn as the young protagonist Gogol, and features Bollywood stars Tabu and Irfan Khan. Lahiri, herself is an extra in the film.

AWARDS

1993 – Trans Atlantic Award from the Henfield Foundation

1999 - O. Henry Award for short story "Interpreter of Maladies"

1999 - PEN/Hemingway Award (Best Fiction Debut of the Year) for "Interpreter of Maladies"

2000 - Addison Metcalf Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters

2000 - The New Yorker's Best Debut of the Year for "Interpreter of Maladies"
short story "Interpreter of Maladies" selected as one of Best American Short Stories

2000 - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her debut Interpreter of Maladies

2000 - M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award from the James Beard Foundation

2002 - Guggenheim Fellowship

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1999 Interpreter of Maladies

2001 "Nobody's Business" (11 March 2001, The New Yorker) ("The Best American Short Stories 2002")

2003 The Namesake

2004 "Hell-Heaven" (24 May 2004, The New Yorker) - full text

2006 "Once In A Lifetime" (1 May 2006, The New Yorker) - full text

2007 Samanami, translated Bengali version of her The Namesake, published from Kolkata, India by Ananda Publishers - [1].

2008 Unaccustomed Earth - [2]

CONTINUATION OF ALL OTHER CAST AND CREW MEMBERS:

Irfan Khan (Ashoke Ganguli)
Jagannath Guha (Ghosh)
Ruma Guha Thakurta (Ashoke's Mother)
TABU(ASHIMA GANGULI)
Chandralekha (2007) (in production) .... Chandra
Dilruba (2007) (in production)
Untitled Zoya Akhtar Project (2007) (pre-production)
Cheeni Kum (2007) (completed)
Sarhad Paar (2006) Pammi
The Namesake (2006) Ashima Ganguli
Phir Hera Pheri (2006) Anuradha S. Panikar
Fanaa (2006) Dr. Malini Tyagi
Shock (2006) Geeta
Bhagmati (2005) Bhagmati
Silsiilay (2005) Rehana
Andarivaadu (2005) Santhi
Main Hoon Na (2004) (uncredited) Spectator at ram's dance rehearsal
Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities (2004) Meenaxi/Maria Gulcova
Maqbool (2003) Nimmi
Jaal: The Trap (2003) Neha Pandit
Hawa (2003). Sanjana
Khanjar: The Knife (2003) Shilpa
Abar Aranye (2003) Amrita
Saathiya (2002) Savitri Rao (Special Appearance)
Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai (2002) Shalu
Filhaal... (2002) Rewa Singh
Maa Tujhhe Salaam (2002) Captain Sonia Khanna
Aamdani Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya (2001) Meena
Chandni Bar (2001) Mumtaz Ali Ansari/Mumtaz Sawant
Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya (2001). Roshni Batra
Ghaath (2000) Kavita Chaudhary
Astitva (2000) Aditi Pandit
Shikari (2000) Suman
Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! (2000) Kamya Lal
Tarkieb (2000) Roshni Choubey
Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000) Sowmya
Hera Pheri (2000) Anuradha Shivshankar Panikar
Biwi No. 2 (2000) Archana
Cover Story (2000) Jasmine Salim Khan
Snegithiye (2000) ACP Gayatri
Thakshak (1999) Suman Dev
Kohram (1999) Insp. Kiran Patekar
Biwi No. 1 (1999) Lovely
Hu Tu Tu (1999) Panna
Hum Saath-Saath Hain: We Stand United (1999) Sadhana
Hanuman (1998) Anja
2001: Do Hazaar Ek (1998) Billu
Aavida Maa Aavide (1998) Archana
Chachi 420 (1998) Janki Paswan
Iruvar (1997) Selvam's lover
Border (1997) Kuldeep's wife
Darmiyan (1997) Chitra
Virasat (1997) Gehna
Maachis (1996) Veerandra 'Veeran'
Ninne Pelladatha (1996) Mahalaxmi – Pandu
Jeet (1996) (as Tabbu) Tulsibai
Tu Chor Main Sipahi (1996) Kajal
Himmat (1996) Anju B. Mohan
Kadhal Desam (1996). Divya
Kala Pani (1996) Parvathi
Saajan Chale Sasural (1996) Divya Khurana
Haqeeqat (1995) (as Tabbu) Sudha
Sisindri (1995)
Saajan Ki Baahon Mein (1995) (as Tabbu) Kavita
Prem (1995) (as Tabbu) Lachi/Sonia Jetley
Vijaypath (1994) Kajal
Pehla Pehla Pyaar (1994) Sapna
Mashooq (1992) (as Tabbu)
Coolie No. 1 (1991)
Hum Naujawan (1985) (as Tabbu) Priya
Sandip Deb (Music Teacher)
Sukanya (Rini)
Tanusree Shankar (Ashima's Mother)
Sabyasachi Chakravarthy (Ashima's Father)
Tamal Sengupta (Ashoke's Father) (as Tamal Roy Choudhury)
Dhruv Mookerji (Rana)
Supriya Choudhury (Ashima's Grandmother) (as Supriya Devi)
Stuart Rudin (Crazy Wino)
Heather MacRae (Nurse Patty)
Sumitra Kanti (Calcutta House Staff)
Michael Countryman (Mr. Wilcox)
Kousik Bhowal (Dr. Gupta)
Rupak Ginn (Uncle)
Soham Chatterjee-... -Gogol (Age 4)
Gargi Mukherjee-... -Mira Mashi
Pallavi Shah-... -Kajol Mashi
Jhumpa Lahiri_Jhumpa Mashi
Noor Lahiri Vourvoulias-... -Baby Sonia
Linus Roache-... -Mr. Lawson
Josh Grisetti-... –Jerry

Kal Penn (Gogol Ganguli)

1. Under New Management (2008) (pre-production. Wheeler
2. "The Call" (pre-production) (1 episode) - Pilot (????) TV Episode
3. Harold & Kumar 2 (2008) (post-production) Kumar Patel
4. Epic Movie (2007) Edward
5. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" .... Henry Chanoor (1 episode, 2007) - Outsider (2007) TV Episode Henry Chanoor
6. "24" .... Ahmed Amar (4 episodes, 2007) - Day 6: 8:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m. (2007) TV Episode Ahmed Amar - Day 6: 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. (2007) TV Episode Ahmed Amar - Day 6: 6:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. (2007) TV Episode Ahmed Amar - Day 6: 7:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m. (2007) TV Episode Ahmed Amar
7. Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj (2006) Taj Mahal Badalandabad
8. The Namesake (2006) Gogol Ganguli
9. Superman Returns (2006) .... Stanford
10. The Danny Comden Project (2006) (TV) .... Max
11. Bachelor Party Vegas (2006) (V) .... Z-Bob
12. Man About Town (2006) .... Alan Fineberg
13. Sueño (2005) .... Raj
14. A Lot Like Love (2005) .... Jeeter
15. Son of the Mask (2005) .... Jorge
16. Dancing in Twilight (2005) .... Sam
17. Awesometown (2005) (TV) .... Guy Reading Newspaper
18. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) .... Kumar Patel... aka Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies (Europe: English title) (UK) ... aka Harold et Kumar chassent le burger (Canada: French title)
19. Ball & Chain (2004) .... Bobby... aka Arrangement (International: English title)
20. Homeland Security (2004) (TV) .... Harrison
21. Love Don't Cost a Thing (2003) .... Kenneth Warman... aka Love Don't Co$t a Thing (USA: promotional title)
22. "Tru Calling" .... Steven (1 episode, 2003) - Haunted (2003) TV Episode .... Steven
23. "All About the Andersons" (2003) TV Series .... George (unknown episodes)
24. "Independent Lens" .... Jagdesh (1 episode, 2003) - American Made (2003) TV Episode (as Kalpen Modi) .... Jagdesh
25. Malibu's Most Wanted (2003) .... Hadji
26. Where's the Party Yaar? (2003) .... Mo (Mohan Bakshi)... aka Dude, Where's the Party? (USA: video title)
27. Cosmopolitan (2003) (TV) .... Vandana's Fiancee
28. Badger (2002) .... Sanjay
29. Van Wilder (2002) .... Taj Mahal Badalandabad
30. Hector (2002) .... Kendal Cunningham
31. "The Agency" .... Malek (1 episode, 2001) - Rules of the Game (2001) TV Episode .... Malek
32. "NYPD Blue" .... Solomon Al-Ramai (1 episode, 2001) - Baby Love (2001) TV Episode .... Solomon Al-Ramai
33. "ER" .... Narajan (1 episode, 2001) - The Longer You Stay (2001) TV Episode .... Narajan
34. "Angel" .... Young Man in Fez (1 episode, 2001) - That Vision Thing (2001) TV Episode .... Young Man in Fez
35. "That's Life" (1 episode, 2001) - Larva (2001) TV Episode
36. American Desi (2001) .... Ajay Pandya
37. "Spin City" .... Buddy (1 episode, 2000) - The Spanish Prisoner (2000) TV Episode .... Buddy
38. "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" .... Prajeeb (1 episode, 2000) - You Can't Twin (2000) TV Episode .... Prajeeb
39. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" .... Hunt (1 episode, 1999) - Beer Bad (1999) 40. Freshmen (1999) .... Ajay
41. Brookfield (1999) (TV) .... Kumar Zimmerman (Series Regular)
42. Express: Aisle to Glory (1998) .... Jackie Newton

(Resume)

Justin Rosini-... -Marc
Dan McCabe-... -Bart
Bobby Steggert-... -Jason
Sahira Nair-... -Sonia Ganguli
B.C. Parekh-... -Mr. Mazumdar
Sibani Biswas-... -Mrs. Mazumdar
Zuleikha Robinson-... -Moushumi Mazumdar
Lakhan Das-... -Baul Singer
Kharaj Mukherjee-... -Chotu
Glenne Headly-... -Lydia Ratliff
Daniel Gerroll-... -Gerald Ratliff
Jacinda Barrett-... -Maxine Ratliff
Amy Wright-... -Pamela
Brooke Smith-... -Sally
Christie Moreau-... -Phone Operator
Jo Yang-... -Ms. Lu
Krishna Dikshit-... -Funeral Priest
Kartik Das-... -Boat Man
Gary Cowling-... -Hotel Manager
Sudipta Bhawmik-... -Subroto Mesho
Gretchen Egolf-... -Astrid
Baylen Thomas-... -Blake
Jeb Brown-... -Oliver
Jessica Blank-... -Edith
Mia Yoo-... -Viola
Benjamin Bauman-... -Donald
Sebastian Roché-... -Pierre
Maximiliano Hernández-... -Ben
Partha Chatterjee-... -Reformed Hindoo
Mitali Bhawmik-... -Singing Voice:
Marcus Collins-... -Graham

Produced by

Lydia Dean Pilcher-.... -producer
Lori Keith Douglas-.... -co-producer
Anadil Hossain-.... -line producer: India
Yukie Kito-.... -co-producer
Yasushi Kotani-.... -executive producer
Mira Nair-.... -producer
Ronnie Screwvala-.... -executive producer
Zarina Screwvala-.... -co-producer
Taizo Son-.... -executive producer


Original Music by
Nitin Sawhney- -


Cinematography by
Frederick Elmes
1. A Dog Year (2007) (post-production)
2. The Namesake (2006)
3. Broken Flowers (2005)
4. Kinsey (2004)
5. Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) (director of photography) (segment "Somewhere in California")
6. Hulk (2003)
7. Trapped (2002) (director of photography)
8. Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet (2002) (segment "Int. Trailer Night")
9. Storytelling (2001)
10. Chosen (2001)
11. Chain of Fools (2000)
12. Ride with the Devil (1999/I)
13. The Wedding (1998) (TV)
14. The Ice Storm (1997)
15. In the Gloaming (1997) (TV)
16. The Empty Mirror (1996)
17. Reckless (1995) (director of photography)
18. Trial by Jury (1994)
19. The Saint of Fort Washington (1993)
20. Coffee and Cigarettes III (1993)
21. Night on Earth (1991) Wild at Heart (1990) (director of photography) Hollywood Mavericks (1990)
22. Cold Dog Soup (1990)
23. Moonwalker (1988)
24. Permanent Record (1988)
25. "Français vus par, Les" (1988) (mini) TV Series (segment "The Cowboy and the Frenchman") Aria (1987) (segment "Liebestod")
26. Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987)
27. Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 (1987) (TV)
28. Heaven (1987)
29. River's Edge (1986)
30. Blue Velvet (1986) (director of photography)
31. Broken Rainbow (1985)
32. Valley Girl (1983)
33. Citizen: The Political Life of Allard K. Lowenstein (1983)
34. Breakfast in Bed (1978)
35. Eraserhead (1977)
36. Number One (1976) (lighting cameraman)
37. The Amputee (1974)
38. Street Scenes (1970) (as Fred Elmes) Camera and Electrical Department:

1. The Object of My Affection (1998) (additional cinematographer) (uncredited)
2. Real Genius (1985) (photographer: second unit)
3. Dune (1984) (cinematographer: additional unit)
4. Red Dawn (1984) (director of photography: second unit)
5. Modern Romance (1981) (camera operator)
6. Real Life (1979) (additional photographer)
7. The Flight of the Gossamer Condor (1978) (director of photography: additional photography)
8. Opening Night (1977) (camera operator)
9. A Secret Space (1977) (assistant camera)
10. A Woman Under the Influence (1974) (assistant camera) (as Fred Elmes)
11. Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972) (assistant camera)
Miscellaneous Crew:
1. Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of 'Wild at Heart' (2004)
2. Specific Spontaneity: Focus on Lynch (2004)
3. The Crying Game (1992)
4. Visions of Light (1992)
5. Dune (1984) (supervisor: additional unit)

Special Effects:
1. Eraserhead (1977) (special photographic effects)
Editor:

1. Number One (1976) (as Fredrick Elmes)
Self:
1. Edge of Outside (2006) .... Himself
2. The Kinsey Report: Sex on Film (2005) (V) .... Himself
3. Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of 'Wild at Heart' (2004) (V) .... Himself
4. Specific Spontaneity: Focus on Lynch (2004) (V) .... Himself
5. Mysteries of Love (2002) (V) .... Himself
6. Visions of Light (1992) (Himself)

Russell Barnes-.... -art department coordinator
Martin Bernstein-.... -construction coordinator
Jeff Butcher-.... -property master
Daniela Capistrano-.... -art department intern
Robert J. Currie-.... -assistant property master
Maus Drechsler-.... -props
Gerard V. Engrassia-.... -set dresser
Deborah Jensen-.... -additional art director
Aarthi Rayapura-.... -intern
Jeffrey Rollins-.... -set dresser
Sha-Sha Shiau-.... -set decoration intern
Greg Sullivan-.... -charge scenic artist
Tasayu Tasnaphun-.... -digital artist
Jessie Walker-.... -camera scenic artist


Sound Department

Brian Bowles-.... -dialogue editor
Rachel Chancey-.... -foley supervisor
John M. Davis-.... -music editor
Linda Murphy-.... -boom operator
Ed Novick-.... -production sound mixer
Dave Paterson-.... -sound re-recording mixer
Dave Paterson-.... -sound
Jay Peck-.... -foley artist
Dominick Tavella-.... -sound re-recording mixer
Damian Volpe-.... -sound effects editor
Joe White-.... -sound
Joe White-.... -utility sound
Doug Winningham-.... -sound effects recordist


Visual Effects by

John Dowdell-.... -2K digital intermediate colorist
Chris Gelles-.... -visual effects executive producer: & Company
David Isyomin-.... -visual effects supervisor: & Company


STUNTS
Allan Amin-.... -stunt coordinator


CAMERA AND ELECTRICAL DEPARTMENT

Patrick Andrews-.... -production assistant
Michael Barnes-.... -financial legal services
Ashley Bearden-.... -assistant production coordinator
Kenny Becker-.... -color timer
Ami Boghani-.... -assistant to director
Sara Clarke-.... -production intern
Linda Cohen-.... -music supervisor
Maurice Davis-.... -production intern
Thomas De Napoli-.... -creative executive
John Druzba-.... -location assistant
Karen E. Etcoff-.... -extras casting
James Feldman-.... -set production assistant
Thalia Harithas-.... -intern production assistant
Michael Hartel-.... -assistant location manager
Mo Henry-.... -negative cutter
Sean Hogan-.... -production accountant
Eric Kench-.... -location assistant
Saurabh Kikani-.... -production intern
John Larkin-.... -production assistant
Yana Collins Lehman-.... -post-production accountant
Peter Madamba-.... -script researcher
Bruno Michels-.... -production assistant
Kellie Morrison-.... -location manager
Urmilla Lal Motwani-.... -wardrobe supervisor
Frank Murray-.... -first assistant accountant
Sean Murray-.... -set production assistant
Hilary Niederer-.... -assistant costume designer
Lupita Nyong'o-.... -post-production intern
Sean Oliver-.... -adr loop group
Stephen Popernik-.... -location coordinator
Neta Pulvermacher-.... -choreographer
Justin Rosini-.... -location assistant
Ashley Rudden-.... -director of development
Mary Ann Santos-.... -production intern
Matt Schreiber-.... -casting associate
Payal Sethi-.... -additional casting
David A. Smith-.... -assistant editor
Himkar Tak-.... -production office intern
Priti Trivedi-.... -production intern
Meghan K. Wicker-.... -production office coordinator
Mike Trinker-.... -digital intermediate editor (uncredited)


THE NAMESAKE TRAILER AND CLIPS MENU

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THE NAMESAKE [CLIP: I'VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT MY NAME]

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THE NAMESAKE [CLIP: MOM, WE'RE HERE]

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THE NAMESAKE [INTERVIEW: KAL PENN ON WHY THIS IS AN AMERICAN STORY]

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THE NAMESAKE [INTERVIEW: TABU ON IDENTIFYING WITH HER CHARACTER]

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THE NAMESAKE [INTERVIEW: IRFAN KHAN ON THE FILM'S STORY BEING UNIVERSAL]

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OFFICIAL SITES FOR The Namesake (2006)

Fox Searchlight Pictures [us]

Twentieth Century Fox [fr]

ADDITIONAL NOTES OR NOTES OF INTEREST:

Kate Hudson and Natalie Portman were considered for the part of Maxine.

Mira Nair initially wanted Rani Mukherjee to play the role of Ashima after she had seen her in Mani Ratnam's Yuva. Rani Mukherjee couldn't sign the film due to date problems. After that, Mira Nair wanted Konkona Sen Sharma to play the role. She couldn't commit due to her mother Aparna Sen's film 15 Park Avenue. After which the director signed Tabu for the role.

KAL PENN TO LEAD UNIVERSITY STUDIES

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle star Kal Penn is set to add professor to his resume after taking on the chance to be a guest instructor at the University Of Pennsylvania next year. The Asian-American actor - real name Kalpen Modi - will teach two undergraduate courses, according to university director Grace Kao. The Namesake actor Penn received a bachelor's degree in sociology with a specialization in theatre, film and television from the University Of California in Los Angeles, and he is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in international security at Stanford University

Company Credits

ADDITIONAL REVIEWS:
1. Guardian/Observer
2. James Berardinelli's ReelViews
3. BBCi - Films
4. eye WEEKLY [Jason Anderson]
5. New York Times (registration req'd)
6. Reel.com [Tim Knight]
7. Rolling Stone [Peter Travers]
8. Salon.com [Stephanie Zacharek]
9. San Francisco Chronicle [Ruthe Stein]
10. The Village Voice [Ella Taylor]
11. Tiscali UK
12. The Onion A.V. Club [Keith Phipps]
13. critic.de (German)
14. The Cutting Room Blog [Yaseen-Ali Yusufali]
15. OhmyNews [Brian Orndorf]
16. Film-Forward.com
17. filmcritic.com
18. Rediff [T.P. Sreenivasan]
19. Chicago Tribune [Michael Wilmington]
20. Movieeveryday.com [Scooter Thompson]
21. Monsters and Critics [Brittany Sims]
22. Between Productions [Robert Cashill]
23. Cinefacts (German)
24. Cinema Blend [Josh Tyler]
25. Cinemattraction.com [Sarah Manvel]
26. DVDTalk.com
27. Eric D. Snider
28. EyeForFilm.co.uk
29. eye WEEKLY [Jason Anderson]
30. FilmFilm.it [Teresa Lavanga] (Italian)
31. FilmJerk.com [Brian Orndorf]
32. FlickFilosopher.com [MaryAnn Johanson]
33. Hollywood Jesus
34. The Lumière Reader
35. metacritic.com - Reviews and Scores from Leading Film Critics
36. Misstropolis
37. Montreal Mirror [Matthew Hays]
38. Moviefreak [Sara Michelle Fetters]
39. PopcornReel.com [Omar P.L. Moore]
40. Rediff [Merril Diniz]
41. Reel Film Reviews [David Nusair]
42. Reeling Reviews [Laura Clifford, Robin Clifford]
43. Reel Movie Critic [Pam and George Singleton]
44. ReelTalk [Jeffrey Chen]
45. Rottentomatoes.com
46. Scott's Movie Comments
47. Spirtuality & Practice (Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat]
48. St. Petersburg Times [Steve Persall]
49. TheCinemaSource.com [Michael M. Dance]
50. Steve Rhodes

In the capable hands of director Mira Nair (bouncing back from the critically and commercially disappointing "Vanity Fair"), Jhumpa Lahiri's wildly popular novel about two generations of a Bengali family receives a loving, deeply felt screen translation that should appease fans of the book while making many new converts. Bolstered by Nair's lush visual style and superb performances from ace Bollywood thesps Irrfan Khan, Tabu and "Harold & Kumar" star Kal Penn (in his first dramatic lead), Fox Searchlight can expect above-average arthouse business for this audience-pleasing March release.


Though the condensing of Lahiri's episodic, decades-spanning narrative into two compact hours of screen-time makes for a pic occasionally overstuffed with incident, "The Namesake" remains a richly compelling story of family and self-discovery.

Tale begins in Calcutta in the late 1970s, where a young man, Ashoke (Khan), who has recently survived a horrific train accident, enters into an arranged marriage with the beautiful Ashima (Tabu), whom he has never met before. Together, they travel to New York City, where they settle in a ramshackle cold-water flat and begin their new American lives.

Despite all the modern conveniences of a big U.S. city -- in one scene, Ashima excitedly writes home that, in America, one can use the gas 24 hours a day -- the adjustment is a difficult one, and these early scenes are particularly impressive for the subtlety with which Nair and her actors map out the lives of two people who are strangers to each other acclimating to life in a strange land.

When Ashima gives birth to a baby boy, she and Ashoke are informed that, counter to Indian custom -- where years sometimes pass before a child is given a proper name -- the baby must be named before it can leave the hospital. So, they settle on the "good name" of Nikhil and the "pet name" of Gogol, after Ashoke's favorite writer.

But several years later, on Nikhil/Gogol's first day of elementary school, the boy decides to continue going by Gogol, in effect making that his "good name." It is a choice that reverberates throughout the rest of the film, as the sense of a name -- and the history it carries with it -- becomes a lyrical metaphor for the character's own struggle to assert his identity.

Cut to a modern-day high school classroom, where Gogol (now played by Penn) is a moody, shaggy-haired, pot-smoking senior, predictably furious at his parents for giving him such a dumb name. This Gogol is as American as they come, as evidenced by his bratty behavior during a family vacation to India, where he consistently disparages the country for its evident backwardness; and later, by his romance with a WASP-y Manhattan princess (Jacinda Barrett), who invites Gogol (now known as "Nick") for weekends at Oyster Bay and says things like "Everyone loves truffles."

Culture-clash moments like those border on cliche, especially since Barrett's character isn't developed much beyond her surface of moneyed privilege. Better drawn is Gogol's subsequent girlfriend, a fellow Bengali named Moushumi (sultry Zuleikha Robinson), who, like Gogol himself, finds herself torn between obeisance to tradition and pursuing her own desires.

If that conflict isn't exactly new in cinema, it's nevertheless rendered by "The Namesake" with a sensitivity and emotional resonance that elude most films on the subject of cultural assimilation. That's largely thanks to the delicate balance Nair and screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala strike between the story's two generational threads, so that Ashima and Ashoke remain significant presences in the second half, even after the primary focus shifts to Nick/Gogol.

Penn -- who has long seemed one of the brightest and most likable young comic talents around -- shows serious dramatic chops as he takes us on Nick/Gogol's expansive odyssey from the proverbial American-Born Confused Desi to a confident young man with a sure sense of his past, his present and his future.

Shot on location in New York and India, pic boasts excellent tech contributions on all fronts, particularly the warm, rich colors of Frederick Elmes' cinematography and Stephanie Carroll's production design, and the varied Western and Eastern influences of composer/DJ Nitin Sawhney's original score.

Camera (Deluxe color), Frederick Elmes; editor, Allyson C. Johnson; music, Nitin Sawhney; music supervisor, Linda Cohen; production designer, Stephanie Carroll; art directors, Suttirat Larlarb, Tanmoy Chakroborty (India); set decorators, Lydia Marks, Sharmishta Roy (India); costume designer, Arjun Bhasin; sound (Dolby/DTS/SDDS), Ed Novick; supervising sound editor, Dave Paterson; associate producer, Dinaz Stafford; assistant directors, Michael DeCasper, Dylan Gray (India); second unit camera, Jay J. Odedra; casting, Cindy Tolan; India casting, Tess Joseph. Reviewed at Telluride Film Festival, Sept. 2, 2006. (Also in Toronto Film Festival -- Special Presentations.) Running time: 122 MIN.
(English, Bengali, Hindi dialogue)

plot summary

Fun Stuff

PHOTOGRAPHS

Ultimate Images - Image Gallery
Trailerdownload.net - Image Gallery
Buzz Cinema - image gallery
mysan.de media center - Gallery
About.com Photo Gallery
OutNow! Image Gallery
Rediff - NY welcomes The Namesake (Mar 2007)
Cinema Blend Stills Gallery
CinEmpire - Photo Gallery
IndiaGlitz - Premiere in Mumbai
Nexbase.net - Photo Gallery

MIRA NAIR'S AWARDS


Reviews A Portrait of the Film Based on the Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri Introduction by Jhumpa Lahiri and Mira NairPhotography by Frederick Elmes, Nemai Ghosh, Milan Moudgill, Mira Nair, Dayanita Singh, Sooni Taraporevala

http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2021/stories/20031024000908400.htm

Hardcover $30.00, published March 2007, ISBN: 1-55704-741-3144 Pages10 1/2" x 7"92 Color PhotographsFilm and Television/Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks

Synopsis

The book: In her essay "Writing and Film," the Pulitzer Prize- winning novelist Jhumpa Lahiri writes about the experience of seeing her novel "transposed" from paper to film. "Its essence remains, but it inhabits a different realm and must, like a transposed piece of music, conform to a different set of rules...To have someone as devoted and as gifted as Mira reinvent my novel...has been a humbling and thrilling passage."

Mira Nair's essay, "Photographs as Inspiration," begins with a provocative comment: "If it weren't for photography, I wouldn't be a filmmaker." She explains how photographs help her crystallize the visual style of her films and which particular photos influenced her vision for The Namesake.
These two essays, written exclusively for this Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook, introduce an amazing panoply of images of people and places shot mainly in New York and Calcutta during the making of the movie, accented by excerpts from Lahiri's bestselling novel. SIX INDIAN AND AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHERS' WORKS ARE REPRESENTED.

The film: Brilliantly illuminating the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations, The Namesake tells the story of the Ganguli family, whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to adapt to a new world while remembering the old. The couple's firstborn, Gogol, and sister Sonia grow up amid these divided loyalties, struggling to find their own identity without losing their heritage. Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Superman Returns) stars as Gogol.

This immensely pleasurable film is...a saga of the immigrant experience that captures the snap, crackle, and pop of American life, along with the pounding pulse, emotional reticence, volcanic colors and cherished rituals of Indian culture.
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