Mira Nair’s ‘Namesake’ to open Cinequest film festival
SILICON VALLEY, Feb 10: Mira Nair’s “The Namesake”, featuring Bollywood actors Tabu and Irfan Khan, will be the opening night spectacular at this year’s Cinequest Film Festival on February 28 in San Jose.
An adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Namesake”, the festival organisers have described the movie as tone of the most exhilarating films of the year, by one of the most provocative filmmakers of modern times.
It is the tale of an immigrant couple, Ashoke and Ashima, who escape the chaos of Calcutta (Kolkata) in the seventies for a new life in the United States with the wife finding it especially difficult to adjust to American customs.
It is their son, Gogol, played by Indian-American actor Kal Penn, who struggles most. As a young man, Gogol rebels against everything that makes him different, including his family’s expectations.
Nair’s brilliant adaptation of the novel powerfully captures the hold of family traditions and expectations among Indians in America, resulting in an intensely stirring film.
During the 12 days from February 28 to March 11, the festival will screen 160 films from around the world, drawing more than 70,000 attendees.
Unique in its concept, Cinequest has emerged as one of the top 10 film festivals in the world.
— PTI
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