Review: The Namesake

Filming a good novel is more often than not an extremely tough act. For one, you've got to decide what parts of the book you're gonna keep, and what parts you're gonna omit - this is a really tough balance to preserve, as upcoming filmmaker Gautham Menon undoubtedly found in his latest outing. And then, you've got to get the right actors for all the parts too; a singular mistake could well ruin the efforts of everybody else.

Mira Nair does a great job of adapting Jhumpa Lahiri's novel to screen. I thought she got both the above aspects right, though she had a bit of luck with the latter. I mean, Nair was originally about to cast Rani and Abhishek, for chrissakes. Thankfully, better sense prevailed, and we have the wonderful pair of Tabu and Irfan instead. And I do mean absolutely, spectacularly, wonderful - both of them, especially Irfan, elevate the movie from a mere realistic NRI diaspora movie to a thoughtful, caring look at the lifespan of a couple. Kal Penn is alright, I guess, he seems to do everything right, but I thought his performance didn't have 'soul', whatever little thing that it is that seperates the truly great actors from the rest.

Mira's not at her best here though - this lacks the languid fluidity of, say, a Salaam Bombay, or even a Monsoon Wedding. I mean, you can feel her trying to tug at your heartstrings in some of the scenes, like the one where Tabu lugs around a bag of laundry in icy Manhattan, or even the one where a stoic Irfan receives the news of the demise of his FIL, and then gently holds Tabu befoe breaking the news to her. However, Irfan and Tabu pull off quite a few splendid scenes, pulling back the move from a 'what-if' to a little gem. For example, there's this friggin' awesome scene, where Irfan tells his son about the origin of his name - his eye actually glistens with a teardrop that threatens to fall, but never does (somehow, this scene so reminded me of Manoj Bajpai's self-directed tirade at Raveena's bedsite, in the much-neglected 'Shool'). There were little snippets everywhere, like Irfan's and Tabu's last scene together at the airport, Tabu trying on his shoes, the entire Taj Mahal routine etc.

Ultimately, IMO, the movie belongs to Irfan. I mean, after watching the movie, he's the most poignant thing you remember about the movie. And this is despite the fact that the two most important roles in the movie belong to Tabu and Kal Penn. Also, this is such a departure from Irfan's regular normal Nana-like, dialogue-spouting venomous characters (like in Haasil, Maqbool etc), that I'm glad he got a chance to do such a role in a mainstream film like this. Hopefully, this should mean that he gets a better variety of roles, and doesn't get stuck in the same rut (like Paresh Rawal has).

Apna Sapna Mani Mani

But alas! Mani Ratnam, at least this time round, has compromised his vision to deliver the all-India hit that has proved so elusive in the past - which is not bad, just that its a little sad to see somebody like Mani Ratnam succumb to BO dictates too. He takes bits and pieces from some of his best movies, to tell us the fable of pioneer Gurukant Desai in his latest outing 'Guru'.

Guru, like Anandan of 'Iruvar', is a man of dreams. The difference is that Guru dreams of wealth, while Anandan dreams of politics and power. The similarities don't end here, though. Both Guru and Anandan marry a bold, forthright Aishwarya Rai; neither of them marry for love, at least in the beginning. Neither of them can resist the corrupting allure of power, despite claims to the effect that they do it all 'for the people'.

Guru, like Velu of 'Nayakan', believes that laws are made to be broken, especially if they do not make sense. Neither Guru nor Velu-Nayakan hesitate to intimidate adversaries by barging into their homes uninvited. Both of them stop short, however, from harming an enemy upon the uncomfortable realization that he's married to somebody they love.

Guru and Sujatha, like Shekhar and Shaila from 'Bombay', have twins.

Guru and Manikdas, like Anandan and Selvam from 'Iruvar', split after a clash of ideologies. However, they continue to be respectful of each other, despite being harsh critics of each other too.

Meenu, like Anjali, is expected to die shortly. Yet her enjoyment of life during her brief existence endears herself to everyone around her.

The Mallika number 'Mayya Mayya' serves much the same purpose as 'Nila Athu' from 'Nayakan'.

Despite all this rehashing, the film has some great moments - especially the scenes featuring Abhishek and his dad, Abhishek and Aish (sharing some sort of camaraderie at last, after some 5 films together) after they first come to Bombay, the ones with Abhishek and Mithun together, and of course all the scenes with Madhavan oir Vidya Balan anywhere in the frame.

Aishwarya, easily the weakest link of the cast, manages to hold her end together. Despite retaining her ingratiating voice and style of dialogue delivery, she delivers a competent performance. This is easily her best work after 'Iruvar'.

Mithun is a solid presence in the movie. There's nothing much that stretches the actor in him, really. But its a relief to see him in a normal character role, with a decent part to play (as opposed to stuff like 'Lucky').

Vidya Balan, though saddled with a half-baked role, is very, very competent. So is Madhavan, re-doing his intense act from 'Leysa Leysa'. The proposal scene between him and Vidya Balan was one of the best scenes of the movie.

In the end, this is an out-and-out Abhishek vehicle. I'm no fan of the guy (I didn't like him in 'Yuva', for instance), but here he's outdone himself. Apart from his odd posture at times, he's extremely good here (especially considering the fact that he's barely 20 films old). While it is true that he could have got a lot of the nuances like the accent, for one) correct, his expressions were spot-on. Most importantly, nowhere did it seem that any other contemporary actor might have done a better job.

ARR, surprisingly, disappoints. This is nowhere in the realm of his earlier collaborations with Mani. While 'Jaage', 'Ay Hairathe' and 'Tere Bina' are exquisite, the same cannot be said about the rest of the soundtrack. What's more, Mani disappoints with his picturizations - especially with that of 'Tere Bina', which seems straight out of 'Snehithane' from 'Alaipayuthe'.

In the end, 'Guru' is a disappointment for those who were expecting Mani at his vintage best; I do hope his 'Lajjo' with Aamir and Kareena has a more original screenplay. However - and this holds true especially for those who are not familiar with some of Mani's earlier movies - it most definitely is worth a watch for Abhishek's bravura performance.