The Reluctant Fundamentalist-Review

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Watched on: 19-05-2013

Directed By: Mira Nair

Based on a honored novel , this schematic film interweaves two narratives in 2011 Lahore. The film is a blunt, slow and pretentious work of art. It's about the dramatic rise and fall of a Pakistani migrant in the US. The 130-minute narration meanders for the first hundred minutes and rapidly picks up pace during the last thirty minutes in a very melodramatic manner.

The film begins with an intimidating situation, where an American professor at Lahore University is kidnapped. The CIA with the help of Bobby ,an American journalist, tries to search out information about the kidnapping through Changez Khan, also a professor,in the tense atmosphere of a cafe frequented by student activists. Bobby’s task is to discover whether Changez was involved in the kidnap of an American visiting professor at the local university.

The second strand centers on Changez insisting upon telling his life story as a pro-western upper-class Pakistani, educated at Princeton, drawn into the world of western capitalism as an economic analyst specializing in corporate downsizing, and in love with an American conceptual artist. Suddenly 9/11 makes him question all his values, and he returns home to become a lucid exponent of anti-capitalist ethics and principles. But does this make him a fundamentalist or a spokesman for terrorism? But where Nair is wonderfully spot on is when Changez, hopeful of a great future in the US, takes his first tentative steps into his workplace and, almost simultaneously, a life-altering romance. The film unfurls in a non-linear manner and that layers the narrative with series of incidents that are predictable. With the protagonist being on an even keel, the script does not investigate deeply into his psyche, but operates functionally on the situational complexities of the plot; hence it is unable to involve the audience emotionally.

Ahmed's portrayal of Changez's transition from a practical and efficient business analyst to a patriotic professor in his country is superficial. The intensity of neither his humiliation nor his pain reflects in his manner. This is evident in the two scenes that could have changed the equilibrium of the film. The first scene is where he disagrees with his boss to sack the editor publisher of a publication in Turkey and the other scene is at the art studio, when he is angry with his girlfriend Erica when she displays her indulgent art exhibits, but this is what I think.

Performances are solid but add little beyond their characters' stereotypical American reactions to Changez's decisions. Om Puri as Changez's father is a fascinating personality, but his limited screen presence is a shortcoming Shabana Azmi as Changez's mother walks through her role nonchalantly. Imaad Shah as Sameer, a student activist, appears comfortable on familiar grounds and is noticeable.

The only plus point in the movie is its soundtrack. The film kickstarts with the qawaali and brilliantly sung "Bijli aaye ya na aye" steals the show.

Mira Nair has taken great pains to ensure the authenticity of the settings. The smooth flow of the visuals, though appealing, is often broken with the unsteady hand-held camera work. So the rapid edits, especially during conversations, are jarring.

So on the whole, Mira Nair tried to show the same old concept but with a different touch.

Ratings: 3/5