Thursday, August 01, 2013

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013) - Political Thriller



As this movie released – I thought it’s going to be another movie on a Muslim in US before and after the 9/11 attacks with Mira Nair’s name attached to it – became another turn off to not to see the same old beaten to death stories – how wrong I was – to judge it just like that without even watching it. As I finally picked it today – I was totally shocked by the way it turns out to be – it’s an amazing movie – first is the way the writer / she has handled the subject, second – the superb cast and finally the fantastic ending, totally unbelievable at least for those who haven’t read or have any idea about the book. Not every Muslim who returned to his country after getting abused by Americans after 9/11 turned into a terrorist and took a revenge for something they shouldn’t have done with the innocent Muslims. Now that’s something different and totally unexpected. Riz Ahmed does full justice as the protagonist and his is another heart breaking story, Fantastic is the way he is supported by two talented guys Liev Shrieber as CIA Agent and Kiefer Sutherland as his boss. Others in cast too are well known figures like Kate Hudson as his girl friend, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi as his parents, Adil Hussain as Al Quaeda Chief in Pakistan, Imad Shah as his colleague in Lahore University. It’s predictable from the very start but it works big time because of the solid casting – we did develop a connect with the protagonists, understand their dilemma. This became another movie based on a book that I am now keen on reading the book. It also gives a quite an insight into today’s Pakistan – if the author has to be believed – they aren’t that backward as we think they are, I was a little shocked to see that too. Even the background music and a couple of songs in the background add a different feel to it. I will definitely rate it a good 3/5 and will highly recommend it to all. If nothing else – it does works like a great thriller.

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