India Post News Service
NEW YORK: "We are standing in line since 9 pm to get into Paris Theater for the 9.55 pm show of Namesake… the number of people is unbelievable… the line has extended till the next block, at least 500-600 people here. Not sure how all of us are going to fit into this theater…" That was Raj Gilda, a New York consultant, sending this message to this Correspondent through his Blackberry from outside the Paris Theater in Manhattan on the opening weekend screening of the Mira Nair movie The Namesake.
Well, that was not the only show that ran to a packed house going by the opening weekend box office rakings of the film — $248,552 from six locations averaging $41,425 per theater. "Fox Searchlight (which released The Namesake) generated the biggest opening weekend average of the year with The Namesake," writes Gitesh Pandya on his website Boxofficeguru.com. Pandya, who works for Fox Searchlight, continues, "The opening weekend box office numbers show it’s the highest opening average for any film in 2007."
Comparatively, the opening weekends of other Indian-themed films that debuted in limited release show: Monsoon Wedding (Feb 2002) - $68,546 from 2 theaters in NY for a $34,273 average; Bend it Like Beckham (Mar 2003) - $161,528 from 6 theaters in NY/LA/CHI/TOR for a $26,921 average; and Water (Apr 2006) - $56,280 from 5 theaters in NY/LA/SF for a $11,256 average. The movie opened in 34 additional theaters last week, in cities including Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, Denver, Philadelphia, San Jose, Seattle, and Vancouver.
The film will expand further this week (March 23) into Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, Montreal, Oakland, Phoenix, San Diego, and St. Louis. Based on Pulitzer Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same name, the Namesake has received rave reviews across the board from the mainstream as well as the ethnic media.
Pulitzer Prize-winning Joe Morgenstern’s review in the Wall Street Journal called it "a richly spiced immigrant saga – an endearing, wry tale of Indian family in the US. Morgenstern’s particular accolades seem to have gone to Tabu, who plays a pivotal role in the film. "Ashima, the initially lonely bride, is played by the Indian film star Tabu, whose skill and tact are equal to her startling beauty, or vice versa," he wrote.
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