This ambitious adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri's novel spans two generations and two continents, and continues Monsoon Wedding director Mira Nair's fascination with culture clash. Irrfan Khan plays a young Bengali man who returns from Calcutta to his adopted New York with his new wife (Tabu) during the 1970s. The namesake of the title is their son, Gogol, who is named after the Russian author by his father. Stark juxtapositions between colourful India-set scenes and the grey realities of living as an immigrant in the First World let Nair create an epic tale of dual identities and family history, as the adult Gogol (Kal Penn) struggles to find his place in the world. Yet in spanning so many decades, The Namesake asks a lot of its actors and Penn (better known from stoner comedy Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies) rarely convinces, leaving an emotional void at the centre of this otherwise handsome and poignant tale.

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