Mira Nair offered a unique insight into her most ambitious projectThe Reluctant Fundamentalist, to date at the fourth annual Doha TribecaFilm Festival (DTTF).
Receiving its MENA premier at the opening night of the festival, ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is the second major international production to receive financing from Doha Film Institute.
Documentarian Marian Lacombe was on set to capture the behind the scenes process and her exclusive documentary was shown before Mira took to the stage along with the book’s author Mohsin Hamid and Screenwriter Ami Boghani for an interactive Q&A session with the audience.
Asked about overcoming any religious tensions when shooting on location, Nair described how positive the on set experience was, with local communities embracing the project across the four location countries. "We made the decision to hire local crew in New York, New Delhi, Istanbul and Lahore and this really helped created the right feeling on set, allowing a deeper sense of understanding to the different sensitivities we were dealing with."
When asked if she was happy with the final film, given the fact this film took over 5 years to make, Nair said "Due to the film making process, you often get to the end of a project with something that you’re happy with, but wasn’t quite what you had in mind at the start.
"However The Reluctant Fundamentalist is exactly the way I envisaged it and the reaction we’ve had on the festival circuit has been really positive."
The Reluctant Fundamentalist author Mohsin Hamid addressed questions of whether this story was autobiographical. "It can really be seen as both as the character and I have experienced similar environments, but this is not my story.
"The question the central character faces about where you belong, from those that are in-between two worlds and the expectations that you have to pick sides is something I can definitely relate too"
Given the sensitivities this film deals with, further questions about audience reactions were raised, however Mohsin said he’d been moved by some responses to the film. "I’ve been moved by conversations I’ve had with those from Pakistan saying it’s the first time they’ve seen themselves portrayed correctly on screen. Their world and the authenticity of the feelings the character goes through is something they’ve really related too".
Screenwriter Ami Boghani added "It’s nice hear about people who see their story in this film. Regardless of where your from, everyone has moments of feeling like the outsider and to question when your home is.
"To see audiences laugh and cry in the same film is really fantastic," she said.
Providing insight into the meaning of the book and the film, Hamid gave his opinion on why the central character remains reluctant. "We deal with two types of fundamentalism in this film, both economic and religious.
"In the end, it’s not so much that the central character Changez remains reluctant, it’s that fundamentalism is an inhumane view and that’s not who he is."
Nair also described her drive for making the film. "12 films have been made post 9/11 regarding the Iraq war, but most are about the soldiers point of view and the bombs dropping.
"We never hear about where the bombs dropped and we really wanted to tell a story that was balanced with more than one point of view".