The Namesake (2006)

Ashoke and Ashima marry in Calcutta and move to New York in the 1970s, where Ashima struggles with loneliness in a cold new country. Their son is named Gogol, after the Russian writer, a name that means something private to his father. As Gogol grows up in American suburbs, he is embarrassed by his name and by his parents' ways, and he drifts towards a life that has little room for his family, until events force him to understand where he comes from. Mira Nair adapted Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 novel with a screenplay by her long-time collaborator Sooni Taraporevala, shooting in New York and Kolkata. Irrfan Khan and Tabu give deeply moving performances as the parents, and the film is often cited as one of the finest portraits of the immigrant experience.