The Namesake scores over Shakira

After witnessing India's depressing but {almost} expected defeat in the hands of Sri Lanka and burning few posters of Sachin Tendulkar , 2 posters of Dhoni and no poster of Kumble (It was done in TV by some body else in various parts of India)there was a serious choice to make between watching Shakiras belly dancing or Mira Nair's Namesake to rewind and come out of depression.Shakira came with a costly tag of minimum Rs.2000 ticket attached to it and according to one of my wise friends who has been cheated {he claims by two gals } who was along with me while making the choice between Shakira and Namesake spending money on Shakira or any women is like drawing lines in water .The only other thing that can be compared to this is a bet on Indian Cricket team before world cup 2007. Lot of hype and no tangible results. I don't exactly agree with him but I do agree with him about the futility of wasting time{not only money} on Shakira and some other women in the world . After hearing about lot of break ups {which comes attached with tears and heart breaks of friends} which in turn means long phone bills of consolation for me, I have concluded like this blog that affection may matter more than the object of affection, and experiencing the feeling of loss is important, and not the loss itself, so that you wont make mistake a second time.So all guys and gals don't worry if you lose her and him. It happens you know.


The loss I mentioned is not the loss of identity that you face when you become an ABCD {American Born Confused Desi} and the loss of an ABCD is the essence of story in "The Namesake" . Once again Rediff.com and Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN agree on this movie.I have always admired the movies of Mira Nair . Be it Salaam Bombay! (1988) , Mississippi Masala (1991) , Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996) or Monsoon Wedding (2001) the characters , the sets, the costumes and the script boast of palpable Indian authenticity which fits into various parts of the story completing the jigsaw puzzle giving us a film worth watching. These days I can't think about an authentic Mira nair film with out her authentic Indian touch . In the same way I can't think about a Karan Johar flick with out his authentic wedding group dance .

It is always interesting to compare when any book is made into a movie with respect to the characters, story line, plots and sub-plots to check the effectiveness on celluloid as they do in my imagination as a reader. The first movie that I saw which was made from a book was Mathilukal .The story follows a writer (Basheer) himself who lands up in jail and meets a woman on the other side of the wall separating their jails (men and women). Neither has seen each other, nor do they know much about the other, but they end up gaining a connection although separated by the wall.I started thinking about the woman after I finished the story but I started thinking about the wall after I saw the movie.In the movie the wall symbolizes both unity and separation. It is only through the wall that two people met. yet, it is that same wall that kept them apart when the writer is released on the day in which the lady was supposed to give her reaction.The memories of something is being thrown repeatedly in the air at the end of a movie is still vivid and still I remember it because i started comparing it with the story as soon as the movie ended.

It is a totally different experience when you see life being induced into the characters on screen who are familiar to you through the pages of the book.The adaptation of the same story when it is loosely adapted can be starkly different as in that was seen in Kaliyattam and Omkara on how Shakespeare's Othello was adapted.The challenge for any director is in maintaining the consistency of the story as has been imagined by all the readers who would have read the book. Mira Nair never disappointed me in any of her films and The Namesake exceeded all the expectations.It is a must see if you like seeing good , serious Indian English films.

No wonder I could connect to it so easily as I could see the the many of my U S residing family members in so many characters . There is this feeling of 'being lost' that you experience and see in people when the cultures collide and if you know anyone like that this movie is a must see.It is not worth seeing if you are someone who like an SRK flick or a Mohanlal masala.