The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a 2012 political thriller drama film directed by Mira Nair and starring Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, and Liev Schreiber. It is based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Mohsin Hamid. The film is a post-9/11 story about the impact of the terrorist attacks on one Pakistani man and his treatment by Americans in reaction to them. In 2007, Nair read the manuscript of Hamid's unpublished novel. After reading it, she decided to make a film. Her production house, Mirabai Films, and Nair's long-time partner, producer Lydia Dean Pilcher's production company, Cine Mosaic, optioned the film rights to the novel. The film premiered as the opening film for the 69th Venice International Film Festival, and at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival. The film had a limited release in the United States on 26 April 2013, by IFC Films. In Pakistan, the film was released in Urdu with a changed title as Changez on 24 May 2013. The film also screened at the 31st Munich International Film festival. The film won the "Centenary Award" at the 43rd International Film Festival of India. Upon its release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box office bomb, earning only $2.1 million worldwide on a $15 million budget. The film received several awards, many of them honoring the film's efforts to address tolerance and xenophobia. Plot Anse Rainier, an American professor at Lahore University, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Bobby Lincoln, an American journalist in Pakistan, arranges to interview Rainer’s colleague Changez Khan, whom he suspects is involved in the kidnapping.