Mira Nair`s `Reluctant Fundamentalist` opens Venice film festival

New York: Indian filmmaker Mira Nair`s `The Reluctant Fundamentalist`, a riveting drama about a young Pakistani`s disillusionment with the great American dream in the post 9/11 era, opened the 69th edition of Venice film festival Wednesday.

Nair, an old favourite at the festival, premiered the film in an out-of-competition screening. An adaptation of Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid`s book of the same name, the film follows the story of a young Pakistani man, chasing corporate success on Wall Street, who ultimately finds himself embroiled in a conflict between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the enduring call of his family`s homeland. `The Reluctant Fundamentalist` has a mix of Bollywood and Hollywood top names such as Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber. The lead character of `Changez` has been played by Riz Ahmed of `Trishna` fame. Adapted by William Wheeler and produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher, the film was shot in the cities of Lahore, Delhi, Istanbul, New York and Atlanta. Nair, the Golden Lion winner in 2001 for `Monsoon Wedding`, returned to the festival for the fifth time. She has previously presented `Mississippi Masala` and `Vanity Fair` at the festival. The India-born director made her debut in 1988 with Oscar nominated `Salaam Bombay!` and went on to make internationally acclaimed movies like `Mississippi Masala`, `The Perez Family`, `Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love`, `My Own Country`, `Monsoon Wedding`, `Hysterical Blindness`, `Vanity Fair`, `The Namesake`, `New York, I Love You` and `Amelia`. PTI