“I read Jhumpa Lahiri’s book in a very unique moment. I was on the plane and had just been at the funeral of a person I considered my second mother. I was anguished at having to bury someone in a land that was not hers. From that, Sooni Taraporevala, the screenwriter, and I started working feverishly,” said director Mira Nair on the beginning of her latest film, The Namesake, which will have its general screening tonight at 10:30 pm in the Première section, in the Auditorium’s Sala Santa Cecilia. It will be released in Italy in the spring.

The film tells the story of a couple who, after an arranged marriage in Calcutta, move to New York, where their son Gogol is born, and named in honour of the great Russian writer. Gogol rejects Indian traditions and wants to feel American at all cost, entering into conflict with his parents.

“I also moved to New York from a small town near Calcutta,” continued the director, “but not for an arranged marriage. In India, women are free to choose the men chosen by their parents, who generally look for a man in the same condition as they are for their daughters. I’m interested instead in the erotic side, the passion that can arise between two strangers”.

The director then recounted that she was married for several years to an American, and was depressed because she felt out of place. “I will never forget one July 4th when I was preparing hot dogs, according to American tradition, and asking myself if that was really me. This is the same feeling of being out of place is what Gogol feels when he goes to his American girlfriend’s house and hears her relatives talking about what paint to use when a drama has just happened at home”.

Nair ended by speaking of the condition of women in India and the role of Indian cinema in the world. “In India, we’ve grown up with images of strong women. Our society offers many opportunities, there is a situation of equality, women are in positions of prominence. In cinema, many directors are women, they work in the networks, there are many more there than in Hollywood”. Is this perhaps why the Indian film industry is the most prolific in the world? “Perhaps,” said Nair. “It’s a shame that the West has only realised this in the past few years”.