In The Namesake, an adaptation of Pulizer Prize-winning Jhumpa Lahiri's novel, Gogol Ganguli charts his journey to self-definition. Caught in emotional tug-of-war, he must reconcile between his Indian heritage and modern American life.

I actually read and thoroughly enjoyed the book, leaving much room for letdown. It will be a great challenge for a motion picture to capture Lahiri's subtle and sensitive portrayal of her characters or her elegant, precise choice of words. Where Gogol is depicted as very human; weak and selfish at times, yet essentially good, the film is bound to romanticize, rendering our hero an idyllic victim of circumstances.

That excluded, the trailer is skillfully put together; catching one's attention with some good punchlines (this is not a romance/comedy as presented in the synopsis), the second part, a run of poignant scenes, drawing one in further.

Now for some nitpicking - I could not resist. While the screenplay tries to stay true to the source, evident by entire sentences I recognize, certain facts are altered. Gogol was not born in New York, but in Cambridge, Mass. Nowhere in the book does it mention that Gogol shaves his hair as a sign of mourning (I won't say for whom, so as not to spoil the story). I guess this is almost prerequisite of a book adaptation. Kal Penn is a grungy-looking, albeit complex hence apt Gogol.