Pursuit of Happyness : by Gabriele Muccino

Pursuit of Happyness brings in hope and aspiration "things will turn out best"

'Do your job , Try to the fullest , Make a sincere effort' are the three well-defined mantras which make the backdrop of the movie.

Will-Smith plays a happy chappy making a full-strength effort to support his family ( a 4 year old kid and his wife played by Thandie Newton) .

The narration of the movie is handled with aplomb with first-person account of the different phases in his life

1. Stupid Phase

2. Running Phase

3. Happyness Phase

to name a few......

Based on a true - story of a small town bone-density scanner medical agent (Chris Gardner) , his never-say-die attitude reaping rich rewards of making him a stock broker and eventually opening his own investment firm.

Will Smith excels yet again in an emotional saga bringing happyness and sorrow vicariously for the cinegoer.

Recommended for people with high EQ .. nice sweet watch.

Rating : 4.0/5.0

The Namesake : by Mira Nair

The Namesake depicts the life of a typical middle class Bengali Family caught in a cross-cultural maze on the other side of the world.

Irfan Khan excels as an eccentric father obsessed with a famous Russian author named Gogol. Irfan's counterpart played by Tabu complements the actor superbly with a sweet , non-melodramatic performance.

The journey of the family starts with the couple acclimatizing to the unexplored milieu. Addition to the family with a son and daughter adds to the flavour. Americanization of the children has been dealt with aplomb and depicted in subtle manner.

Naming of the son "Gogol" lends the backdrop of the film and how the son copes with consequences of the same. Kal Penn , who plays "Gogol" is pretty good and allows the parent-son relationship a kick.

Some of the highlights would be :

1. Gogol introducing his phirang girlfriend to his parents

2. Taj Mahal visit of the family

3. Emotional Climax

Mira Nair may have done full justice to Jhumpa Lahiris book ( though I have not read it :) ) .

Coming from the director of Monsoon Wedding , the movie is a must-watch .

Rating : 3.5/5.0