This is one of those movies where one should read the reviews as much as watch the movie. As far as the movie goes, it is a waste of opportunity. Actually, had the story not been as good as it was, I would have been much more critical of the people who executed such a poor piece of work. They actually took a very good story, very good actors and simply made a below average TV series kind of stuff. I also fail to understand how they made the movie so predictable, especially what happened at Turkey or the whole affair of Riz Khan with the woman. It was a bad piece of move making..... Besides the story, what is interesting is the reviews (remember what i mentioned earlier). The number of people who manage to connect with the story is amazing. It is probably why they gave a higher rating also. This further shows the opportunity that was missed....

Mira Nair (age 55) is almost more of an international than an Indian film director per se with such co-production's as Mississippi Masala (1991, Denzel Washington) and "Vanity Fair" (2004, starring Reese Witherspoon) in her kitty, but she is better known for such films as Salaam Bombay (1988) and "Kama Sutra, a Tale of Love" (1998), and "Monsoon Wedding" (2001) which remains, till date, the most successful Indian film internationally outside of the NRI market. Wedding won the Golden Lion (Best Film prize) at the Venice Film Festival making her the first female recipient ever of this award. Her film "The Namesake" premièred at Rome in 2006 and was an international critical success. "Amelia" the story of American aviatrix Amelia Earhart portrayed by Hilary Swank, came out in 2009 and was met with mixed reviews but demonstrated the director's versatility and ability to handle all-American as well as Indian subject matter. Among those who praised Earhart was noted American critic Roger Ebert (recently deceased) who described it as "a perfectly sound biopic, well directed and acted", an opinion with which this writer completely concurs. "Nair's "Reluctant Fundamentalist" opens in Lahore, Pakistan (actual location) with the kidnapping of an American diplomat and an interview by an American journalist with a young American-Pakistani college professor, Changez, suspected of inciting anti-American terrorism. The scruffy looking journalist, actually an undercover CIA agent who is fluent in Urdu, is a close friend of the kidnapped American and is hoping to get information that will secure his release. Changez agrees to be interviewed under condition that the journalist listen to his entire story through to the end. Agreed. We now learn in flashback that Changez (Genghis?) was an outstanding student at Princeton and then held down a top job in a leading New York financial firm. Not only that, his adviser there was an iconic second generation Hollywood character actor. He had everything going for him except for his name and swarthy looks when 9/11 hit. Forced to undergo humiliating racial profiling at airports and slurs from former colleagues he gradually transforms from a staunch believer in the American dream to a die hard opponent of the system that is degrading him. He returns to Pakistan as a university professor in Lahore where he incites his students to anti-American activities.Through this dialogue in the threatening atmosphere of a crowded Pakistani café we begin to see the other side of terrorism -- how our own prejudices can turn a faithful American citizen into a disillusioned "reluctant" terrorist. There is consistent tension in the film and it ends with a rousing shootout, but it leaves you asking lots of questions. Nair herself says that her purpose was to do just that --create a dialogue on a subject nobody has the answers to but everybody has an opinion on. The main question on my mind after the screening was "why did I sit all the way through this and not take an early walk?" In a lengthy lecture after the screening Nair revealed that her father was actually a Punjabi from Lahore who had to move to India after partition, which makes her feel especially close to this story and enabled her to get permission to shoot on real locations in Pakistan --most unusual for an Indian filmmaker. The central role of Changez, on the cusp of two conflicting cultures, is played convincingly by British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed, the American journalist less convincingly -- far less convincingly -- by Liev Scheiber, Kiefer Sutherland is Changez's breezy corporate mentor in New York, and Changez's wishy-washy American love interest was Kate Hudson. Based on a scenario with too much stretch and strain and undermined by too many leaky supporting roles the entire film was pretty flounder-aroundery and failed to measure up to the promise of the title.

I am not a regular reviewer so please excuse my English writing.Well, yes. A very good "fiction" story. Riz Ahmad did good job. Om Puri sir, excellent as always. The story is so powerful that it really dragged me to IMDb to appreciate it. I love the Qawwali from Coke Studio from the very famous group.Most of the "Pakistani" parts are filmed in India so there are flaws. Let's come to the poor location selection, bad choices of characters and worst dialogs as always in the Hollywood movies made for South Asia. Shabana Aazmi was a huge misfit because the family is a Lahori family but Shabana's Punjabi is not that up to the mark.Secondly, the universities in Pakistan (even the worst ones) don't look like the one shown in the movie. Even if I assume it's a fiction movie, there must me something close to reality. You can check google images of "Pakistani universities".Thirdly, why, when we show people from Pakistan, there are Muslim caps everywhere :). Guys, there are hardly few people in Lahore who wear Muslim caps but I know the director have tried to show the religious extremism but it's not the best way.And Shabana says to Riz on the phone, "Electricity is not available and Eid Mubarak". I can assure that the time shown in the movie, at that time there was hardly any loadshedding in Pakistan. In fact between 1998 - 2008, most of the people forgot about power cuts. Power cuts started from 2008. Even if there is a powercut, a Princeton graduate with a huge salary can't afford a power generator in his house in Lahore :)Riz Khan's acting is good but he recited a very common verse of Iqbal that was wrong. I am sure even a lot of Indians know the correct version.I would say very good writing but poor direction and bad location choices.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is one of those films everyone should see. The main character is a Pakistani who goes to an Ivy League University in the United States and then moves on to a corporate life in New York City prior to 9/11. He grew-up wanting to be an American, but he suddenly finds himself being viewed as an enemy after the Twin Towers are struck.The struggle that he undergoes is an analogy for Pakistan. He wants the American dream; however, it won't have him as he is, represented through a seemingly doomed relationship and the alienation he undergoes at work. He is young, and hasn't yet found his truth. His journey to finding it is the underlying drive of the film.The Reluctant Fundamentalist captures the modern world, but there is a couple drawbacks. Kate Hudson is miscast. She is too old for the role, and isn't quite capable of handling the character's strong emotions. Though, it doesn't help that her romance doesn't take the full course that it does in the book. The rest of the cast is outstanding. Riz Ahmed handles the protagonist with dignity and grace, Kiefer Sutherland portrays an Executive roughly without overdoing it, and Liev Schreiber represents the audience's gaze with the proper dichotomy. In Liev's final scene, he expresses the exact same feelings I had when finishing the novel.