The Namesake

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The Namesake

PG-13

2007

2h 2m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

136 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

After moving from Calcutta to New York, members of the Ganguli family maintain a delicate balancing act between honoring the traditions of their native India and blending into American culture. Although parents Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) are proud of the sacrifices they make to give their offspring opportunities, their son Gogol (Kal Penn) strives to forge his own identity without forgetting his heritage.

Critics Consensus

An ambitious exploration of the immigrant experience with a talented cast that serves the material well.

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Shubhra Gupta

The Indian Express

06/19/2019

Mira Nair turns Jhumpa Lahiri's gentle, evocative novel The Namesake, into a gentle, evocative film.

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Namrata Joshi

Outlook

01/24/2019

3/4

There are bound to be quibbles about whether they get their Bengali right or whether Nair captures the culture and ethos. But it still can't take much away from this humane, warm and elegantly crafted film.

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Roxana Hadadi

Pajiba

08/23/2018

The Namesake captures the interior struggle between centuries of history and the appeal of living only in the now, and it's grippingly beautiful and overwhelmingly moving.

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Paul Emmanuel Enicola

The Asian Cut

02/16/2025

[The Namesake] understands that identity is not something one chooses definitively, but something fluid—reshaped by time, by experience, by the stories we inherit and the ones we create.

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

08/09/2024

The scene is filmed with such a light touch, but is bursting with such complete understanding that the deepest loves are often expressed with a small glance or a meaningful gesture, rather than anything showy or grand.

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

01/06/2021

4/10

Indian director Mira Nair's film has noble intentions that become noticeable from the preamble, but to me it seems as a flat and very dull drama about family, immigration, and cultural traditionalism. [Full review in Spanish]

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Joan B

@joanberri Jul 30

The Namesake is a spiritually beautiful film about gentle souls and family. I have not been so touched by any film in quite long time. Thank you all!

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Faiz D

@RT95588871 May 13

Moving and beautifully shot.

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donnie m

@RT64375194 08/08/2023

i LOVED this movie-so many messages about what love is and what it isn't

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Ken R

@RT36478503 06/26/2023

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.

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lanfranco c

@Lanfrancobz 10/13/2022

Is it possible to overcome the culture clash?

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02/15/2022

I read the book first, and recommend that, as there is much more content in the book that there isn't time for in the movie. But the movie added a wonderful taste of the flavor of the Bengali lives, and the actors playing the mother and father were superb and made those characters really come alive.

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Mira Nair

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Kal Penn

Gogol Ganguli

Tabu

Ashima Ganguli

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Synopsis

After moving from Calcutta to New York, members of the Ganguli family maintain a delicate balancing act between honoring the traditions of their native India and blending into American culture. Although parents Ashoke (Irrfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) are proud of the sacrifices they make to give their offspring opportunities, their son Gogol (Kal Penn) strives to forge his own identity without forgetting his heritage.

Director: Mira Nair
Producer: Lydia Dean Pilcher, Mira Nair
Screenwriter: Sooni Taraporevala
Distributor: Fox
Production Co: Mirabai Films
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Language|A Scene of Drug Use|Sexuality/Nudity|Some Disturbing Images)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 9, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 12, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $13.6M
Runtime: 2h 2m
Sound Mix: Dolby, SDDS, DTS

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