A fundamental message

Iam reluctant to see any movie with the word ‘fundamentalist’ in its title!” tweeted a friend recently. This ignorance is exactly what acclaimed director Mira Nair wishes to address with her latest rhetoric, The Reluctant Fundamentalist. The story is based on Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid’s novel of the same title published in 2007, and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Under Nair’s assured direction the story subtly deals with the explosive subjects of racial profiling, cultural identity and the resultant debates that are dividing the civilized world. After making critically acclaimed films like Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding, Vanity Fair, Namesake and Mississippi Masala, Mira Nair is telling another poignant story that has global implications.

Classified under the genre of drama-thriller, The Reluctant Fundamentalist holds one’s interest despite some slow patches. The film is fuelled by a magnificent performance from British Actor

Riz Ahmed as Changez Khan and reasonably good support from actors Kate Hudson (as his girlfriend Erica), Liv Schreiber (as American journalist and CIA Agent Bobby Lincoln) and Kiefer Sutherland (as his boss Tom Cross). Om Puri and Shabana Azmi appear briefly as Changez’s parents, and Meesha Shafi is noticeable as his sister Bina. Set mainly in America, Istanbul and Lahore, the movie is replete with references to rich Pakistani culture. Traditional qawwalis and Sufi sounds are mixed with Michael Andrews’s fine music, a colourful wedding, a family gathering and Urdu poetry add to the exotic flavour for which Mira Nair films are renowned.

The story is about Changez, a young man from Pakistan who lives his American dream, studying at Princeton University and working as an economic analyst with a corporate firm in Wall Street. He meets and falls in love with Erica, a conceptual artist who hasn’t got over her boyfriend’s tragic death. Specialising in corporate downsizing, Changez travels to various countries and is completely drawn into the world of western capitalism, when suddenly 9/11 occurs. Changez becomes deeply dejected when his exalted status does not protect him from being victimized in America post 9/11. A decade later, Changez relates his story to CIA agent Bobby Lincoln while sitting in a café in Lahore and the plot suddenly deviates from drama to action.

Riz Ahmed as Changez symbolically carries the weight of thousands who experienced the xenophobic backlash after 9/11. In one scene he says to Bobby the CIA agent: “You picked a side after 9/11, I didn’t have to. It was picked for me.” With his inscrutable expressions and a cultured accent Changez tells a story that makes this film a thought-provoking watch that will resonate with many. Mira Nair and writer William Wheeler have taken some poetical license and changed several parts of the original story by Hamid. The ending is also quite different from the book. Ever since its release the film has attracted mixed critical reviews, however no one doubts that this is a ‘well meaning’ attempt at depicting social alienation.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist was screened recently at Hoyts Melbourne Central as part of the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne. Australian cricketer Greg Chappell officially opened the film to a large crowd of cinelovers. He expressed his eagerness to watch the film and thanked IFFM organisers for choosing this latest offer from wonderfully accomplished director Mira Nair. Prior to the show Mitu

Lange from Mind Blowing Films took a few minutes to thank her friend Ayesha who helped influence her decision to include Pakistani films in the IFFM. “I was initially hesitant to include Pakistani films in an Indian festival; however Ayesha assured me that it will receive full support from the Pakistani community. This proved true at last year’s festival with the screening of Josh, and I am glad to see that this year as well, we have a strong presence from the Pakistani community, making this festival truly multicultural,” said Mitu.

Bhowmick

Preeti Jabbal