Mira Nair's movie packs in far more universal appeal than Jhumpa Lahiri's book. Rather than the movie's fidelity to the book, my main basis of comparison was: on the whole, does it tell a deeper, richer story ? I thought yes; it improved on a mostly drab and plodding book, altering it in positive ways.

For instance: the movie reduced the book's all-pervading, melancholy sense of loss and exile of the middle-class Indian economic migrant (which I couldn't relate to and found rather annoying); it had richer vignettes of India as seen through visiting NRI/ABCD eyes; its manner of revealing the significance of "Gogol" was more effective; near the end, it made the middle-aged Ashima come into her own as a woman/singer; and so on.

The movie captured several "immigrant moments" at least as well as the book, the stuff that lots of Indians will surely relate to - old world mannerisms and husband-wife relations, the mulish adherence to tradition and custom, difficulties with names, the particular cliquishness of Bengalis, and most importantly, the tragicomic distance between most first generation Indian immigrants and their offspring.

Ashoke's death and Ashima's reaction to it were handled more deftly (except the oddly formal/festive attire Ashima wore at home when she got the news). However, the moment of parting between Gogol and his white girlfriend was worse than the book's (if I recall correctly), showing her in an absurdly selfish light. His relationship with Moushumi and her character were much less developed than in the book. This, in particular, shifted the book's primary focus on Gogol to more of a family portrait.

I liked Kal Penn as the bored and bumbling ABCD teen and young professional with his small rebellions and his later arc of personal growth. We see his insecurities, his disdain for the "Indian culture" his parents represent, his desire to belong in the only world he has known. Tabu and Irfan Khan were also good, though I understand their Bengali accents were not too authentic. Ultimately, the movie lacked the emotional and intellectual resonance of a great work of art, and that I think is largely due to the slight work of miniature artistry on which it is based.