Mira Nair's latest attempt to popularise Indians in the West fails to achieve its objective. The film is not without its merits, but this is certainly not her best achievement, and it falls somewhat short of both "Monsoon Wedding" and "Kama Sutra".
The titular namesake refers to Gogol Ganguly, played by Kal Penn, who seems to be to Indians today what Sidney Poitier was to Blacks in 60s and 70s Hollywood i.e. the guy who plays every role available for that ethnic group.
But there is one important difference between Penn and Poitier (and it's not the letters that come after the P). It's that Poitier's acting skills and class in general are far superior. I couldn't help feeling that Penn was punching above his weight, and that he needs to graduate past teen comedies a little more slowly.
But Penn is not the film's greatest impediment. Try as I might, I couldn't narrow this film's protagonists down to less than 3 (namely Gogol, his mom and his dad). This device works well for epics and mini series', but made this movie seem unwieldy if I were to be kind, and unfocused if I were to be realistic.
The other problem is the unashamed "high-brow-ness" of choosing a relatively obscure literary reference for a movie destined for general release. I'm the first one to speak out against dumbing things down, but even I think a back story related to the writings of Shakespeare (or even Dostoevsky for goodness sake!) would have made for a more accessible story.
No doubt Mira and her friends are all congratulating themselves for being incredibly clever and well-read and being able to catch all the in jokes. And since succeeds so well on that front, maybe that was the ultimate objective.
The titular namesake refers to Gogol Ganguly, played by Kal Penn, who seems to be to Indians today what Sidney Poitier was to Blacks in 60s and 70s Hollywood i.e. the guy who plays every role available for that ethnic group.
But there is one important difference between Penn and Poitier (and it's not the letters that come after the P). It's that Poitier's acting skills and class in general are far superior. I couldn't help feeling that Penn was punching above his weight, and that he needs to graduate past teen comedies a little more slowly.
But Penn is not the film's greatest impediment. Try as I might, I couldn't narrow this film's protagonists down to less than 3 (namely Gogol, his mom and his dad). This device works well for epics and mini series', but made this movie seem unwieldy if I were to be kind, and unfocused if I were to be realistic.
The other problem is the unashamed "high-brow-ness" of choosing a relatively obscure literary reference for a movie destined for general release. I'm the first one to speak out against dumbing things down, but even I think a back story related to the writings of Shakespeare (or even Dostoevsky for goodness sake!) would have made for a more accessible story.
No doubt Mira and her friends are all congratulating themselves for being incredibly clever and well-read and being able to catch all the in jokes. And since succeeds so well on that front, maybe that was the ultimate objective.