Namesake
March 19, 2007
3.5 stars out of 5
Regular readers will know that I am a sucker for a film in English and Hindi with subtitles. The previews made this one look particularly interesting.
Around my house, Mira Nair, who did Vanity Fair and a half-dozen other art house movies, would be a hero solely based on her direction of Monsoon Wedding. But she has come close to that level with this Bengali in America coming of age story. Immigrant longings and interracial romance, joy and sadness added up to a riveting movie. I always had a feeling that Kal Penn (Harold and Kumar go to the White Castle, Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj) might be a good actor. Turns out he is. And Zuleikha Robinson, who plays his blooming flower Bengali girlfriend… well, there isn't a sexier woman in movies today. Period.
Rated PG-13 for some mild sex and nudity that the film could easily have done without. I was charmed and entertained, and taken to places I've never been. Good film.