Mira Nair, a renowned film maker’s new movie “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” will open the 69th edition of Venice film festival next month. The movie stars Shabana Azmi, Om Puri and our very own Meesha Shafi. The event will last from 29th August to 8th September.
The film follows the story of a young Pakistani man, chasing corporate success on Wall Street, who at the end finds himself confounded in a clash between his American Dream, a hostage crisis, and the withstanding a call of his family’s homeland.
The music of the film is provided by Peter Gabriel, and the movie is produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher.
Along with Meesha Shafi and Shabana Azmi, the movie is also starring some Hollywood celebrities including Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland and Liev Schreiber. Actor Riz Ahmed, who was last seen in Freida Pinto starrer ‘Trishna’, is also included in the cast by Mira Nair for the role of ‘Changez’.
Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera said, “Nair has made an exemplary film adaptation of a novel that deals with the topical issue of fundamentalisms of any kind or nature. With great sensitivity, subtlety and remarkable sense of cinematic narrative, the director is never reluctant to take a difficult stand, inspired by profound ethical and moral reasons that, although choosing to face reality, still reject its compromises and aberrations.”
The announcement of the film as the opening movie of the Venice film festival is the biggest official news till now, as the complete program of the festival is scheduled to be released on 26th July.
