The Namesake (2006)

Director:

Mira Nair

Writers (WGA):

Sooni Taraporevala (screenplay)
Jhumpa Lahiri (novel)

Release Date:

9 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Two Worlds. One Journey.

Plot:

American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family's unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways.

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | Interracial Romance | Name Change | Arranged Marriage | Namesake

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Irfan Khan	...	Ashoke (as Irrfan Khan)
Jagannath Guha	...	Ghosh
Ruma Guha Thakurta	...	Ashoke's Mother
Tabu	...	Ashima
Sandip Deb	...	Music Teacher
Sukanya	...	Rini
Tanushree Shankar	...	Ashima's Mother
Sabyasachi Chakravarthy	...	Ashima's Father (as Sabyasachi Chakraborty)
Tamal Sengupta	...	Ashoke's Father (as Tamal Roy Choudhury)
Dhruv Mookerji	...	Rana
Supriya Choudhury	...	Ashima's Grandmother (as Supriya Devi)
Stuart Rudin	...	Homeless Man
Heather MacRae	...	Nurse Patty
Sumitra	...	Calcutta House Staff
Kanti	...	Calcutta House Staff
Michael Countryman	...	Mr. Wilcox
Kousik Bhowal	...	Dr. Gupta
Rupak Ginn	...	Uncle
Soham Chatterjee	...	Gogol (Age 4)
Gargi Mukherjee	...	Mira Mashi
Pallavi Shah	...	Kajol Mashi
Jhumpa Lahiri	...	Jhumpa Mashi
Noor Lahiri Vourvoulias	...	Baby Sonia
Linus Roache	...	Mr. Lawson
Josh Grisetti	...	Jerry
Kal Penn	...	Gogol / Nikhil
Justin Rosini	...	Marc
Dan McCabe	...	Bart
Bobby Steggert	...	Jason
Sahira Nair	...	Sonia
B.C. Parikh	...	Mr. Mazumdar
Sibani Biswas	...	Mrs. Mazumdar
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Moushumi Mazumdar
Lakhan Das	...	Baul Singer
Kharaj Mukherjee	...	Chotu
Glenne Headly	...	Lydia
Daniel Gerroll	...	Gerald (as Daniel Gerrol)
Jacinda Barrett	...	Maxine
Amy Wright	...	Pam
Brooke Smith	...	Sally
Christie Moreau	...	Phone Operator
Jo Yang	...	Ms. Lu
Krishna Dikshit	...	Funeral Priest
Kartik Das	...	Boat Man
Gary Cowling	...	Hotel Manager
Sudipta Bhawmik	...	Subroto Mesho
Gretchen Egolf	...	Astrid
Baylen Thomas	...	Blake
Jeb Brown	...	Oliver
Jessica Blank	...	Edith
Mia Yoo	...	Viola
Benjamin Bauman	...	Donald
Sebastian Roché	...	Pierre
Maximiliano Hernández	...	Ben
Partha Chatterjee	...	Reformed Hindoo
Mitali Bhawmik	...	Singing Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcus Collins	...	Graham (uncredited)
Sandi DeGeorge	...	Moshumi's Friend (uncredited)

Directed by
Mira Nair

Writing credits (WGA)
Sooni Taraporevala		(screenplay)
Jhumpa Lahiri		(novel)

Produced by
Lydia Dean Pilcher	....	producer
Lori Keith Douglas	....	co-producer
Anadil Hossain	....	line producer: India
Yukie Kito	....	co-producer
Yasushi Kotani	....	executive producer
Mira Nair	....	producer
Ronnie Screwvala	....	executive producer
Zarina Screwvala	....	co-producer
Taizo Son	....	executive producer
Dinaz Stafford	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Nitin Sawhney

Cinematography by
Frederick Elmes		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Allyson C. Johnson

Casting by
Cindy Tolan

Production Design by
Stephanie Carroll

Art Direction by
Suttirat Anne Larlarb		(as Suttirat Larlarb)

Set Decoration by
Lydia Marks

Costume Design by
Arjun Bhasin

Makeup Department
Norman Bryn	....	makeup artist
Milton Buras	....	hair stylist
Rita Dey	....	hair stylist: India
Anup Kumar Ganguli	....	makeup artist assistant: India
Nazafarin Gazdar	....	hair stylist: India (as Nazafrin Gazdar)
Kelly Gleason	....	key makeup artist
Shyam Reddy	....	makeup artist assistant: India
Peggy Schierholz	....	key hair stylist (as Peg Schierholz)
Heidi Kulow	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Harish Amin	....	production supervisor: India
Preetam Chowdhury	....	unit manager: India (as Pritam Chowdhury)
Kelley Cribben	....	post-production supervisor
Lori Keith Douglas	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Avani Batra	....	third assistant director
Joyati Bose	....	assistant director: second unit, India
Kristin Cameron	....	second assistant director (as Bristin Bernstein)
Michael DeCasper	....	first assistant director
Dylan Gray	....	first assistant director: India
Eric Richard Lasko	....	second second assistant director (as Eric Lasko)
Nitya Mehra	....	second assistant director: India
Akshay Roy	....	second second assistant director
Jay Jay Odedra	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Ann Marie Auricchio	....	scenic artist
Russell Barnes	....	art department coordinator
Tuli Basu	....	art department coordinator: India
Martin Bernstein	....	construction coordinator
Brinda	....	art department trainee: India
Jeff Butcher	....	property master
Daniela Capistrano	....	art department intern
Tanmoy Chakraborty	....	art director: India
Kiran Chandra	....	art department assistant
Kiran Chandra	....	prop coordinator: India
Chhotu	....	set art assistant: India (as Chotu)
Nirmal Chandra Das	....	set dresser: India
Rajendra Kumar Das	....	assistant art director: India
Rajendra Kumar Das	....	construction manager: India
Santi Das	....	set art assistant: India
Natalie N. Dorset	....	first assistant props (as Natalie Dorset)
Peter K. Dunbar	....	leadman: Washington DC (as Peter Dunbar)
Michelle Farrell	....	scenic artist
Stephen R. Geiger	....	scenic artist
Caroline Irons	....	scenic artist
Saurabh Jana	....	sculptor: India
Sivan Kaplan	....	art department intern
Bryan Kenneth	....	art department assistant
Robin Koenig	....	on-set dresser
Connie Kozaleck	....	scenic foreman
Bolai Kundu	....	set art assistant: India
Pratap Pradhan	....	head setman: India
Aparna Raina	....	set dresser: India
Aarthi Rayapura	....	art department intern
Jeffrey Rollins	....	set dresser (as Jeff Rollins)
Sharmishta Roy	....	set decorator: India
Sanjay	....	set art assistant: India
Tapas Sarkar	....	prop coordinator: India
Will Scheck	....	greensman
Mark Paul Selemon	....	greensman (as Marl Selemon)
Arnab Sen	....	art department trainee: India
Stephen Shapiro	....	carpenter
Sha-Sha Shiau	....	art department assistant
Amrita Singh	....	set dresser: India
Greg Sullivan	....	charge scenic artist
Sushovan	....	art department trainee: India
Robin Thomas	....	property master: India
Tublu	....	set art assistant: India
Jessie Walker	....	camera scenic artist
Denis Zack	....	set dresser (as Dennis Zach)
Robert Currie	....	assistant property master (uncredited)
Maus Drechsler	....	props (uncredited)
Ann Edgeworth	....	props (uncredited)
Gerard V. Engrassia	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Deborah Jensen	....	additional art director (uncredited)
Tasayu Tasnaphun	....	digital artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gina Alfano	....	adr editor
David Boulton	....	adr engineer (as David Bolton)
Brian Bowles	....	dialogue editor
Rachel Chancey	....	foley editor
Ryan Collison	....	foley engineer
Keith Culbertson	....	sound re-recordist
Michael Holmstrom	....	sound mix engineer
Paul Katz	....	sound mix engineer
Thomas Kodros	....	sound engineer: Dolby (as Tom Kodros)
Linda Murphy	....	boom operator
Ed Novick	....	sound mixer
Dave Paterson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dave Paterson	....	supervising sound editor
Jay Peck	....	foley walker
Mary Ellen Porto	....	dialogue editor
Steve Schwartz	....	assistant sound editor (as Stephen Schwartz)
Dominick Tavella	....	sound re-recording mixer
Damian Volpe	....	sound effects editor
Joe White	....	utility sound (as Joseph White Jr.)
Doug Winningham	....	sound effects recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Shantanu Paul	....	special effects coordinator: India

Visual Effects by
John Dowdell	....	2K digital intermediate colorist
Chris Gelles	....	visual effects executive producer: & Company
David Isyomin	....	visual effects supervisor: & Company

Stunts
Allan Amin	....	stunt coordinator: India

Camera and Electrical Department
Shankar Asari	....	sparks: India
Garrett Boehling	....	dolly grip
Joydeep Bose	....	camera intern: India
Kathleen Corgan	....	second assistant camera: India
Mulchand Dedhia	....	gaffer: India
Samuel G. Friedman	....	best boy electric (as Sam Friedman)
Mara Galus	....	camera loader
Abbot Genser	....	still photographer
Ganesh Ghosh	....	spot boy: India
Kurt Lennig	....	rigging gaffer
Jonathan Lumley	....	gaffer
Sukanta Majumdar	....	cableman: India
Raghu Mandal	....	spot boy: India
Edgar Martin	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Hollis Meminger	....	second assistant camera
G. Monic Kumar	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Milan Moudgill	....	still photographer: India
Basab Mullik	....	camera intern: India
Anna Novick	....	company grip
Jay Jay Odedra	....	director of photography: second unit (as Jay J. Odedra)
Neil O'Malley	....	second grip
Douglas Pellegrino	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Doug Pellegrino)
Lance E. Phox	....	rigging best boy (as Lance Phox)
Ram Prasad	....	camera loader: India
Nitin Rao	....	steadicam operator: India
Ganesh Kumar Reddy	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera, India
Jim Riley	....	company grip
Dave Rudolph	....	electrician
Kelly Rutkowski	....	electrician
Ravi Sanjan	....	spot boy: India
Gerard Sava	....	camera operator
Chris Silano	....	first assistant camera
Tim Smythe	....	key grip
Praveena S.	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera, India
James Thorne	....	electrician (as Jim Thorne)
James Turner	....	key rigging grip
Lawzari Vishwakarma	....	sparks: India
Nawroz Zaria	....	sparks: India
Gregg de Domenico	....	additional film loader (uncredited)
Justin Panzanaro	....	grip (uncredited)
Gerard Sava	....	steadicam operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Aditi Bhattacharya	....	casting trainee: India
Emily Chakraborty	....	casting trainee: India
Karen E. Etcoff	....	extras casting (as Karen Etcoff)
Tess Joseph	....	casting: India
Ruchi Pugalia	....	casting trainee: India
Soumitra Saha	....	casting assistant: India
Matt Schreiber	....	casting associate
Sohag Sen	....	casting consultant: India
Nina Srivasatava	....	extras casting associate
Loveleen Tandan	....	casting consultant: India
Roody Dorsainvil	....	casting assistant (uncredited)
Payal Sethi	....	additional casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Megha Barnabas	....	costume intern
Zakir Hussain	....	costume dresser: India
Abdul Jabbar	....	tailor: India
Ellen Mahlke	....	key costumer
Christina Morales	....	costume intern
Urmilla Lal Motwani	....	wardrobe supervisor: India
Hilary Niederer	....	assistant costume designer
Ravi Pawar	....	costume assistant: India
M.D. Sanaullah	....	costume dresser: India (as MD Saunaulla)
Stev Taylor	....	wardrobe assistant
Shahnaz Vahanvaty	....	costume coordinator: India
Deirdre N. Williams	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Kenny Becker	....	color timer
Asal Hejazi	....	post-production intern
Lupita Nyong'o	....	post-production intern
Noëlle Penraat	....	negative cutter (as Noelle Penraat)
Francis Power	....	post-production assistant
Priyadarshini	....	post-production intern
Nirali Shastri	....	post-production intern
David A. Smith	....	assistant editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter (uncredited)
Mike Trinker	....	digital intermediate editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Ulhas Bapat	....	musician: santoor
Mitali Bhawmik	....	musician: singer
Thom Chadly	....	music score mixer
Reshmin Chowdhury	....	musician: singer
Linda Cohen	....	music supervisor
John M. Davis	....	music editor
Stephen Hussey	....	conductor
Maya Iwabuchi	....	orchestra leader
Dilshat Khan	....	musician: sarangi
Niladri Kumar	....	musician: sitar
Sara Loewenthal	....	additional music copyist
Deepak Pandit	....	musician: violin
Nitin Sawhney	....	music arranger: strings
Nitin Sawhney	....	orchestrator: strings
Rajinder Singh	....	musician: swarlin
K. Srinivasan	....	musician: flute
Paul Talkington	....	conductor: orchestra
Satyajit Talwalkar	....	musician: tabla
Gary Thomas	....	orchestral recording engineer

Transportation Department
Terry Adams	....	driver
Jim Buckman	....	transportation captain (as James S. Buckman)
Robert Buckman	....	transportation co-captain
Kajol Chakraborty	....	transportation manager: India
Debit Chanda	....	picture vehicle coordinator: India
Indranil Chowbhury	....	transportation coordinator: India
George Collins	....	driver
Curtis Europe	....	driver
Billy Featherstone	....	driver
Kenneth Garrison	....	driver (as Ken Garrison)
Richie Hubka	....	driver
Jim Kelly	....	driver
Sean Leahy	....	driver
Soumya Rakshit	....	picture vehicle coordinator: India
J.R. Scarlatos	....	driver

Other crew
Patrick Andrews	....	production assistant
Michael Barnes	....	financial legal services
Puloma Basu	....	cast production assistant
Ashley Bearden	....	assistant production coordinator
Sammy Bhattacharya	....	office production assistant: India
Ami Boghani	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Sumit Bothra	....	manager: Nitin Sawhney, Embargo Management Ltd.
Pinaki Chatterjee	....	set production assistant: India
Praveen Chowdhury	....	set production assistant: India
Sara Clarke	....	production office intern
Victoria S. Cook	....	legal services: Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz (as Victoria Cook)
Chandan Das	....	location manager: India
Arun Dasgupta	....	dialect coach: Bengali
Surjuakiran Das	....	intern: Mirabel Films
Maurice Davis	....	on-set intern
Yvonne de Cock	....	instructor: iyengar yoga (as Yvonne de Kock)
Sonia Deepak	....	on-set intern (as Sonia Khanduri Deepak)
Thomas De Napoli	....	creative executive: cine mosaic production
David Dreishpoon	....	craft service
John Druzba	....	location intern
James Feldman	....	set production assistant
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	post-production accountant (as Jennifer Freed)
Salil Gandhi	....	legal services: Frankfurt, Kurnit, Klein & Selz
Pushan Ganguli	....	set production assistant: India
Rituparno Ghosh	....	translator: Bengali
Sumana Ghosh	....	translator: Bengali
Nupur Goenka	....	intern: Mirabel Films
Sandeep Gondalekar	....	location assistant: India
Indranil Halder	....	set production assistant: India
Thalia Harithas	....	on-set intern
Michael Hartel	....	assistant location manager
Sean Hogan	....	production accountant
Shernaz Italia	....	agra coordinator: India (as Shernaz 'Shenny' Italia)
Eric Kench	....	location assistant
Saurabh Kikani	....	production office intern
Elliot Koss	....	on-set intern
John Larkin	....	production assistant
David Laurentin	....	parking assistant
Yana Collins Lehman	....	post-production accountant
Denzil Linhares	....	production assistant: Bombay
Peter Madamba	....	script researcher
Nitin Madan	....	office production assistant
Taylor Marshall-Green	....	payroll accountant
Bruno Michels	....	set production assistant
Naeem Mohaiemen	....	translator: Bengali
Nadia Mohammad	....	intern: Mirabel Films
Kellie Morrison	....	location manager
James Murphy	....	instructor: yoga
Frank Murray	....	assistant accountant
Sean Murray	....	set production assistant
Rakesh Nair	....	intern: Mirabel Films
George Nannas	....	chef (as George Nanas)
Sean Oliver	....	adr loop group
Ani Pandit	....	office production assistant
Ashwini Parulkar	....	instructor: yoga, India
Stephen Popernik	....	location coordinator
Neta Pulvermacher	....	choreographer
Justin Rosini	....	location assistant
Ranjeeta Roy	....	production secretary: India
Ashley Rudden	....	director of development: cine mosaic
Mary Ann Santos	....	production office intern
Sunaina Sen	....	set production assistant: India
Payal Sethi	....	assistant: Ms. Nair
Probal Sircar	....	location assistant: India
Yasmine Stafford	....	production coordinator: India
Himkar Tak	....	production office intern
José Tejada	....	parking coordinator (as Jose Tejada)
Divya Thakur	....	titles designer: Design Temple
David Tineo	....	unit production assistant
Priti Trivedi	....	on-set intern
Shanti Wesley	....	on-set intern
Meghan K. Wicker	....	production coordinator (as Meghan Wicker)
Derek Wimble	....	set production assistant
Bill Timoney	....	adr voice group (uncredited)

Thanks
Zoya Akhtar	....	special thanks (as Zoia Akhtar)
S.M. Ferozeuddin Alameer	....	special thanks (as Feroze Alameer)
Ritwik Ghatak	....	dedicatee
Nemai Ghosh	....	special thanks
Mira Gupta	....	special thanks
Ram Maheshwari	....	special thanks
Soumitra Majumdar	....	special thanks
Satyajit Ray	....	dedicatee
Dayanita Singh	....	special thanks
Garry Winogrand	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Cine Mosaic
• Entertainment Farm (EF)
• Mirabai Films
• UTV Motion Pictures

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2007) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2007) (Argentina) (all media)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2007) (Germany) (theatrical)
• FS Film Oy (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2007) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Gativideo (2007) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Special Effects

• & Company (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Angel Studios  orchestra recorded at
• Camera Service Center  camera: grip and lighting equipment
• Charu Travels  transportation: India
• Chowdhury's Guest House  accommodations: India
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color
• Design Temple  titles and graphics design
• Du Art Film and Video  dailies telecine
• Eastman Kodak  film provided by
• Embargo Management  management: Nitin Sawhney
• Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz  legal services
• Goldcrest Post Production New York  color correction
• Goldcrest Post Production New York  on-line editing
• Killer Tracks  additional source music
• Panchu Travels  transportation: India
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  orchestra
• Prasad Film Laboratories P. Ltd.  dailies processing (as Prasad Laboratory)
• Premiere Catering  catering
• Rounder Records  soundtrack
• Sony Music Studios  music mixed at
• Sound One Corporation  sound facility (as Sound One)
• Taj Group  accommodations: India
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexuality/nudity, a scene of drug use, some disturbing images and brief language.

Runtime:

Argentina:122 min | Canada:122 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | USA:122 min

Country:

India | USA

Language:

Hindi | English | Bengali | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | Singapore:NC-16 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | USA:PG-13 | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:6 | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:12 | Brazil:12 | Australia:M | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:12A

Filming Locations:

Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Kate Hudson and Natalie Portman were considered for the part of Maxine.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Several anachronisms show up in the 1977 flashback sequences showing Calcutta (Kolkata); the railway station shows a sign for Indusind Bank which was not established until the late 1990s; there is a building of The Telegraph which was not launched till 1982; and there are shots of several bridges and buildings which are only recent additions to the city.

Quotes:

Gogol Ganguli: Who's Pierre?
[silence]
Gogol Ganguli: Are you having an affair?
[more silence]
Moushumi Mazumdar: Maybe it's not enough that we are both Bengali.
Gogol Ganguli: That's not why I love you.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-03-10)" (2007)

Soundtrack:

Raag Mishra Mel Ki Malhar