Movie Review "Reluctant Fundamentalist"

Movie Review   Reluctant Fundamentalist:-

 

“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid, directed by Mira Nair This whole story about 9/ 11 attack, a movie about the impact on one man of the Al Qaida attacks and the American reaction to them. This movie is all about political controversy and 9/11 attack and American dream of Changez khan in idea of  East and West.

in the context of debates about US multiculturalism after 9/11. It suggests that while Hamid's novel undoubtedly identifies and critiques the racism at the heart of the so‐called war on terror – expressed both in domestic and foreign arenas – his text also appears to be seduced by certain aspects of American exceptionalism "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" follows the transformations of the wide eyed Pakistani Changez Khan, who arrives in the US with great professional ambitions. We find in the movie that all things are about power and superiority, here in Changez Khan’s case, he is becoming the part of circumstances, there is also other things that why all wrong things happened with him because belongs to Muslim Community? And so what his fault as  Muslim. American look at him as he is part of ‘Terrorist’.

In the context of colonizer and colonized equation, even E.M. Forster (A Passage to India) shows that love or friendship is not possible between the masters and subjects. Due to similar reasons, Dr. Aziz finally returns towards his own Indian identity. However, Hamid still believes in the possibility of a meaningful, positive relationship between America and the non-European world. Hamid’s narrative holds American culture and political policies responsible for pushing Changez on to the journey to disillusionment. Finally Changez drifts away from America. Inner   Fury by Kamala Markandayya  , where the racial difference strips away the mythical illusion that there can be any kind of rapprochement between the colonizer and the colonized. Hamid points his finger at America and American society and shows that everything is not perfect with it. He identifies the problems and flaws of the American culture.

Post colonial aspect in Movie:-

·       “Hegemony” – is the power of the ruling class to convince other classes that their interests are the interest of all domination by consent.(Changez: Certainley)

·       “Hybridity”- Hybridity has frequently been used in post-colonial discourse to mean simply cross cultural exchange. Hybridity commonly refers to the creation of new transcultural forms. And also hybridization takes many forms like cultural ,political, racial, etc

Cultural Hybridity-Changez drinks wine.

“East  vs West”- here in this movie different in east vs west. Changez (east-Pak), Erica(West-US). White &western superiority vs colored & colonial inferiority

·       Alterity (Otherness):-The state of being different or other. After 9/11 attack Changez fails to feel like he fits in as  part of his community.

Riz Ahmed as Changez Khan
Kate Hudson as Erica
Liev Schreiber as Bobby Lincoln
Kiefer Sutherland as Jim Cross
Om Puri as Abu, Changez's father
Shabana Azmi as Ammi, Changez's mother
Meesha Shafi as Bina Khan, Changez's sister