NRI Week in Movies: Water and Namesake

Water and The Namesake are completely unrelated except for the fact that both directors are expat Indians. Water was directed by Deepa Mehta (of Fire and Earth fame). I don't know whether controversy dogs Mehta or Mehta dogs controversy -- both Fire and Water earned the ire of religious extremists in India. Fire, because of its theme of lesbian love in a middle class Indian family and Water, because of its depiction of widows. While I have no truck with the religious extremists of any kind, the story of Fire seemed tacky in the extreme. Except for the two lead female characters, everybody else seemed like parodies of perverts. The saving grace were Shabana and Nandita Das's acting skills.

With Water, it seems the other way round. It had a fairly strong storyline but the acting was abysmal. A piece of wood has more expression than the two main leads (Lisa Ray and John Abraham). However, the lack of acting skills of Ray and Abraham were made up by Sarala (who essayed the role of Chuhiya, the child widow) and Seema Biswas (as the dignified and motherly widow who acts as Chuhiya's protector). There is no denying that widows in India had a raw deal and kudos to Mehta for highlighting it (although she's definitely not the first or the best) but the quoting of random scriptures without context was jarring. Now the question of authnticity -- the reason for portraying Gandhi as a saviour or more aptly a catalyst of change on the issue of widows could be two fold -- either Mehta lacks knowledge of history or she used the most recognisable figure in the Western world when it comes to India. On this, I have only one thing to say -- at least she didn't try to show a white man riding to the rescue of the widows!!!

The Namesake was a different ballgame altogether. Its based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Jhumpa Lahiri and boasts of great actors such as Tabu and Irrfan Khan in the main roles. The movie is a leisurely exploration of a couple's relationship with each other as well as their children. Maybe because its somewhat autobiographical, it refreshingly does not have a cause or an agenda to promote. Therefore, there is no drama over the arranged marriage nor does it show the husband as a monster or a saint. They are just your garden variety couple who comes to the US to make a better life for themselves. There is no grand love story but a gentle exploration of the relationship as it grows and matures.

The book is more focussed on Gogol, the son and his trials and tribulations as a second generation Indian-American. The movie balances both relationships well. Kal Penn as Gogol is phenomenal. His transition from a bratty American teenager to a mature young man is extremely believable and strikes a chord. Who hasn't encountered such kids in their families?? However, the sister gets much less screen time. Its not so much the fault of the director as the book since it focusses mostly on Gogol. A very watchable movie as it depicts the lives of so many NRI Indians without stridency or sycophancy.