'Namesake' releases in India on March 23

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) After opening in the US to rave reviews, Mira Nair's 'The Namesake', being hailed in cinematic circles as "India's first truly crossover film", hits Indian cinema screens this week.

Being co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures in association with Fox Searchlight, 'The Namesake' beautifully reflects the reality of the life of millions of South Asians who have left their homes for the United States to experience a world of limitless opportunities, only to be confronted with the perils and confusion of trying to build meaningful life in a baffling new society.

Featuring prolific actors Tabu and Irfan Khan along with Indian American actor Kal Penn and Hollywood actor Jacinda Barrett, 'Namasake' is India's "First truly Crossover Movie" with a global release of 1150 prints across countries like the US, UK, France, Switzerland, India, New Zealand, Italy and Spain, spread over March and April.

On March 23, 'The Namesake will release in India in over 90 cinema screens, the same day it will show in Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego, and St Louis.

Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Jhumpa Lahiri, Namesake' deals with life of the Ganguly family - Ashima (Tabu) and Ashoke (Irfan Kahn) - as they migrate from Calcutta to New York City. Once there, Ashima is overwhelmed by the loss of traditions and cultural personality, clinging to her husband for guidance and love.

From their marriage comes Gogol (Kal Penn), who grows up caught between the heritage of his family and the fast life in America. As a first generation American teenager, Gogol must learn to tread a razor thin line between his Bengali roots and his American birthright in search of his own identity.

As Gogol attempts to forge his destiny - rejecting his given name, dating a rich American girl and heading to study architecture at Yale - his parents cling to their Bengali traditions. But their paths keep crossing with both comic and revelatory consequences - until Gogol begins to see the links between the world his parents left behind and the new world that lies in front of him.

In a way, the Ganguli family's movement from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act, as exemplifies life of millions of South Asians who have migrated to the US over the years, to meld to a new world without forgetting the old.

Though parents Ashoke and Ashima long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded to their children.

''Namesake encompasses, in a deep human way, the tale of millions of us who have left one home for another, known what it is to combine the old ways with the new world, who have left the shadow of our parents to find ourselves for the first time,''said Mira Nair, the director of the film, on the eve of its release in India.

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