CINEMA:
The Reluctant Fundamentalist: A Movie Review
Every once in a while, a story comes along which needs to be told from another perspective. Writer Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist was one such post 9/11 tale. His fictional story has been made into a film directed by Mira Nair, writes Ras H. Siddiqui.
(Above): Riz Ahmed and Liev Schreiber in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” [Photo: Ishaan Nair | Reluctant Films II, Inc.]
Every once in a while a story comes along which needed to be told from another perspective. Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist was one such post 9/11 tale. Published in the year 2007, it made its appearance on the American literary scene and earned him recognition here. Little did we envision at the time that his fictional story would be re-told through a film that Indian director Mira Nair would direct. Mira’s past work has already brought her much critical acclaim with successes like Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding and The Namesake to name a few. One day we will have to ask her why she chose The Reluctant Fundamentalist to make a film (we just missed her as she flew to India for the 25 th Anniversary of Salaam Bombay and other events). Our deadline intervenes so that answer will have to wait for a future writing.
The story by Mohsin Hamid here is a complex one, certainly quite a challenge which Mira took on and overcame. But let us first hear from Mohsin (MH) since we were able to catch up with him for this review. He has recently been on the road so to speak promoting his latest novel “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” and responded to my (RHS) questions below:
RHS: How does it feel to see your book story converted into a movie?
MH: It’s exciting and strange. Movies and books are very different things. So for me the main thing was to pick a filmmaker I respected and allow her to make her own film, without trying to insist on complete fidelity, which is impossible.
RHS: Do you think that releasing “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” more than 11 years after 9/11 will be of benefit, helping in the healing process between cultures or is that too ambitious a goal to strive for at this point?
MH: I don’t know. But I do think it is different from almost every other film that has come out in America related to 9/11. This one has a Pakistani protagonist, so it looks out the other end of the telescope, so to speak. I think that’s very important.
RHS: How was it working with Mira Nair on this project?
MH: It’s been wonderful. Mira is brilliant and generous. She has also become a good friend. She is a very special director and human being.
(Above): Mohsin Hamid [Photo: Jillian Edelstein]
Without too many “spoiler alerts” we now move on to the movie itself, one which Mira Nair has handled with a keen eye. It starts off in Lahore with the haunting vocal/spiritual number “Kangna” sung by Fareed Ayaz Qawwal. But during this enriching musical experience a kidnapping of an American “educator” takes place. Subsequently a grainy video about the hostage is delivered to the press. The Asal Mujahideen terrorist cell is the entity responsible, one which is active at a Lahore University campus where Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed) is a teacher of radical (left wing) ideas and becomes “a person of interest” in this kidnapping (Yes, it appears that one can become a person of interest even while living in Lahore).
America is extremely resourceful, and its penetration into the Pakistani political and security landscape is shown to be extensive. We are introduced to Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) an American media man/writer of articles who knows Urdu and interviews Changez at a tea house looking for information on the kidnapping. The place is buzzing with Pakistani security personnel. “Police become very animated when it is an American who has been kidnapped,” says Changez.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist has two major characters, the prime focus of this story is the interaction between Changez, the Pakistani, and Bobby, the American, and neither of them are what they appear to be. This interview is about a news story but in reality it is much more. Bobby is representing a superpower and Changez is a basically powerless man (his only support appears to be his students) who only has his keen intelligence to defend himself and his family. Changez agrees to the interview (he really has no other choice) with Bobby but on the one condition that he listen to his whole story not just bits and pieces of it.
(Above): Kate Hudson and Riz Ahmed in “The Reluctant Fundamentalist.” [Photo: Quantrell Colbert | Reluctant Films II, Inc.]
Changez comes from an educated Lahori (old money but broke) family which is struggling to keep up with its newly rich upstart neighbors. His dad Abu (Om Puri) is a poet and Ammi (Shabana Azmi) who is dealing with their reality the best way she can. His high-maintenance sister Bina (Meesha Shafi) dreams about going to America so that she can have a loft in Soho, a weekend in the Hamptons and a pair of big fake American boobs. “God Bless America,” she says. Changez who has gained admission to prestigious Princeton University later adds, “God bless America indeed. God bless its level playing fields. God bless winning.”
America provides an opportunity for Changez to bring back financial security to his family. He is certainly bright and gifted. Nearing graduation, while being interviewed for a job by his future mentor Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland) representing Underwood Samson & Company, a Wall Street valuation firm, he is asked why he came to America? “In America, I get an equal chance to win,” says Changez.
Changez joins and becomes a rising star at Underwood Samson and finds this success by being ruthlessly efficient. He also meets his love interest Erica (Kate Hudson) a young photographer still grieving about a love she has lost. Changez and Erica become an item. Things are going great till Jim and Changez go to the Philippines on a company assignment where Changez once again shows his magic for saving corporations money by drastically reducing their workforce. It is on television in a Manila hotel room that Changez sees the twin towers fall on 9/11/2001 and it is from there that his American dream starts to unravel.
At the airport, on his return to America, he shows his Pakistani passport, is separated from his coworkers, asked to strip and is cavity searched. In many drastic ways (and some subtle ones) the America that Changez came to find success and refuge in has changed, and that change transforms him too, slowly but surely. Changez, the once open-minded clean-shaven (drinking) progressive starts growing a beard and the rest is the story of The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
(Above): Mira Nair and Live Schreiber on set. [Photo: Ishaan Nair | Reluctant Films II, Inc.]
The perpetrators of 9/11 killed many innocent people. But the results of their actions also caused misery for countless others worldwide. The war on terror (WOT) is indeed deep and dark in this story and Mira Nair has handled it with the focus and care that it deserves. This is filmmaking at its best (flaws and all). Imagine that the city of Lahore has almost lost its usual vibrancy and color in this movie (although Istanbul thankfully fares better). The American corporate world is equally colorless and only interested in the bottom line. Guilt and innocence is exposed here. And in the end the increasing trust deficit between countries and cultures is questioned.
This film will encounter many critics on both sides of the divide created by 9/11. But let us hope that besides South Asians and Muslims, more people from mainstream America will take the time to see The Reluctant Fundamentalist. It is worth watching especially if one really wants to know what life is like from the perspective of someone in the crosshairs of America’s security establishment.
(“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” is slated for a late April-early May release in the U.S. It contains some violence, Punjabi-Urdu-English profanity and some sexual situations)
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Ras Hafiz Siddiqui is a South Asian American writer. He lives in Sacramento, Calif.
