They are living oxymoron of the glorious past and the vibrant present. New York & Calcutta. What a brilliant exposition of the two cultures. Quaint, rich, busy, retro, dirty, and yet charming in so many ways. Sandstone buldings, the bridges Howrah and Brooklyn in the two cities arcoss the rivers Hoogly and East River. Mira Nair’s new film Namesake hit home for a lot of people who probably migrated for bigger and brighter opportunities overseas. Set in the 60’s this captivating drama is about a couples journey into building a meaningful life in a strange new society that they were quite unfimiliar with — New York!
Indian born American children seem to take little interest in their ancestry or of sacrifices their parents made to give them the American dream they so take for granted. By and large this maybe true but I think Mira Nair is slightly biased on this issue. A lot of rigid parents fail to assimilate and adapt to new cultures which is hardly talked about, let alone written about or captured in a film. They(the parents) go through all this trouble, and anxiety and totally fail to adapt to their new surroundings, or culture or even keep an open mind about their newly acquired present. This is part cause why the children fail to show interest in their parents ancestry. Its a silent fight of constant unacceptance from both sides. No one really wins or is happy but they stay put and feign happiness day after day.
There are two sides to every story and while I loved this film and would readily recommend viewing the movie it would be fair to say Mira Nair has in my opinion only portrayed the parents side of the story. It still however is a brilliant movie. Slow to start but it really picks up! Well worth a watch.
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