The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a film for the young: Mira Nair

New Delhi: Mira Nair, who is equally at home directing stories from the sub-continent and from Hollywood, has merged both the worlds in The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a coming-of-age story where she deals with questions of identity and belonging. The director, who has previously helmed films like Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masaala, Monsoon Wedding and Amelia, has adapted Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid’s novel to show a young Pakistani’s love and subsequent disillusionment with America in the post 9/11 era. [caption id=“attachment_780723” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A still from The Reluctant Fundamentalist. IBN Live.[/caption] “My film is about a young man who sees things for the first time. It was important to make this film for my son and all the 20 somethings of the world. It’s a coming-of-age story and it’s about how we all find our way but the way today is more complicated than 20 years ago. “It is also about how we sit here and dream about America and when we go there, we are given this illusion of belonging. But do we really belong? The film raises these questions,” Nair told PTI in an interview. The Indian-American director, 55, says that for the first time a film has “a brown person” in the lead with Riz Ahmed, who is supported by Hollywood and Bollywood A-listers like Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi. PVR is releasing the film in India this Friday, the same day it hits theatres in Pakistan. A major part of the movie is set in Lahore, which was recreated in Delhi. ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ has had a great journey since its opening at the Venice International Film Festival. It has already released in the US and Nair said there was enormous interest in the film. “The Bostan bombings happened two days before the release and there was enormous interest in the movie. The audience there wanted to know why someone raised in America turns against it. My film is not just about it but it opens a window that has not been opened before. It shows how we open our arms in America and then cast out at the same moment.” PTI