Comments on: 21 Things You Didn’t Know About The Namesake

by: Kali

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 03:29:37 +0000

I found the story very touching, emotionally powerful. It was neither funny, or clever or thrilling, but I haven’t been teary eyed during a movie in a while. Thanks Jhumpa Lahiri for a great story that is our lives abroad the homeland. Can’t wait to read the book.

As for the adaptation to the screen, I thought Tabu was fantastic. I thought Kal Penn was outstaged by her performance. Kal Penn kept putting on blank faces, which didn’t really make sense to me.

by: Patela

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:32:38 +0000

This is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It’s the only movie that I thought came out better than the book, and that’s rare. I’m surprised Nair considered Bachan for Gogol, that would have been a HUGE mistake. Someone from India could not play this role, and Kalpen did an amazing job. My only complaint is I wish someone like Sarita Choudhury could have played the leading lady role. Sarita is too old for that part, but I’m sure there’s a young Indian woman who could have taken on that role and make it more believable.

by: Marian Poucher

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:42:59 +0000

My daughter gave me the book to read just last month, I read it in a couple of days and loved it. Today I saw the film on tv, it made me cry and like Kristine wished I had a Bengali friend. Everyone played an excellent part but i particualry liked Ashima, maybe its because i’m a mum and put myself in her place. If you have to choose one, read the book.

by: Fritz LeChat

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:23:19 +0000

I like Kal Penn and all, but the world’s most famous South Asian actor? Wouldn’t that be Amitabh?

by: Kristine Murphy

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 20:59:38 +0000

I saw this absolutely beautiful movie just the other evening….after reading the book I wished I had a Bengali friend….

by: Jasna

Mon, 26 May 2008 04:34:23 +0000

Love how some people get so obsessed with correcting and criticizing, especially when it turns out they’re wrong. Lighten up a bit, will ya?

Anyway, interesting article, and I appreciate all the research and effort put into creating it. I just finished the novel myself and haven’t gotten around to the movie yet, but I will soon. This article’s intrigued me even more about it.

by: Ahmed

Tue, 06 May 2008 04:27:23 +0000

I saw this film last week on TV and i thought it was an interesting story, well directed. I particularly liked the character of Ashima Ganguli…for me, she represented one of the pluralistic characters of the Indian female..mild, patient and wise, the catharsis of which was captured so beautifully in the last frame of the film when Ashima sang in her native Kolkata. I loved that voice and song. i would love to know if anyone can direct me on how to get this music…I am assuming this is an old song?

by: batseye

Fri, 02 May 2008 22:11:46 +0000

Hindustani comes from a combination of Hindi words with a few Urdu words interspersed. Hindustani is more casual and it is easy to confuse it with Hindi itself.
For eg;
Hindi: Hamara desh bahut vishaal hai.
Hindustani: Hamara mulk bahut bada hai.

by: Shazia

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:47:39 +0000

I found the objections to Nair’s use of the word Hindustani to be oddly vicious so I went to the websites that were recommended to find out why. Both answers.com and wikipedia state that before Partition, Hindustani was synonymous with Urdu, that the word describes the spoken Hindi-Urdu that is mutually intelligible. The common language that Pakistanis and North Indians speak to each other is Hindustani. When I discovered this, it occurred to me that those who are objecting so vehemently to Hindustani are also objecting to the possibility that Hindus and Muslims are not that different, that we speak the same language and have similar cultures. Hasn’t enough blood been shed already? I would respectfully like to state that it is exactly this kind of rhetoric, the rhetoric that insists that Hindustani doesn’t exist as a language, this rhetoric that has already torn us apart and continues to fuel South Asian hatreds.

by: Tiger Singh

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:21:11 +0000

Sonia I’m afraid you’re mistaken. The language Hindi is separate from the language Urdu. Both have their own scripts and are completely different when you see them. Urdu is a mixture of Hindi, Persian (Farsi), Arabic and Pushtu. Hindi is derivative of Sanskrit, the ancient language of India from which all other Indian languages have come. You are correct in saying that Hindustani is the name for an Indian or to say that someone is from India. However, this word comes from the language called Hindustani. Hindustani is a mixture of Urdu and Hindi. It’s fusion language and is neither Hindi nor Urdu. The term for an Indian or to be from India, is Bharti, from the word for India, Bharat. India is called Bharat in Hindi, and Hindustan in Urdu or Hindustani.