NEW YORK: New Yorkers were treated to a star-studded premiere of Mira Nair’s much-talked about movie Namesake, at the Chelsea West Cinemas in Manhattan on March 6. The premier was attended by lead actors Tabu and Irfan Khan besides a host of other leading cast and crew members.

The Namesake is the story of the Ganguli family whose move from Calcutta to New York evokes a lifelong balancing act to meld to a new world without forgetting the old. Though parents Ashoke and Ashima (Irrfan Khan, Tabu) long for the family and culture that enveloped them in India, they take great pride in the opportunities their sacrifices have afforded their children.

Paradoxically, their son Gogol (Kal Penn) is torn between finding his own unique identity without losing his heritage. Even Gogol’s name represents the family’s journey into the unknown.

Mira Nair and Donna Karan were Co-hosts of this special portion of the evening to benefit Maisha, www.maishafilmlab.com, a film training program founded by Mira for filmmakers in East Africa and South Asia, and the Iyengar Yoga Institute, www.iyengarnyc.org, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the study, teaching and dissemination of yoga as taught by BKS Iyengar, author of Light on Yoga.