The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A Pakistani man's life in America is complicated by the aftermath of 9/11 and his interactions with an American journalist.
The story
Anse Rainier, an American professor at Lahore University, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Bobby Lincoln, an American journalist in Pakistan, arranges to interview Rainier's colleague Changez Khan, who he suspects is involved in the kidnapping. Meeting Lincoln at a café, Changez reflects on his life in America, his career on Wall Street, and his complicated relationship with an American photographer. The narrative explores the cultural and political tensions between the two men as they navigate the consequences of the September 11 attacks and the complexities of identity in a post-9/11 world.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Anse Rainier, an American professor at Lahore University, is kidnapped and held for ransom. Bobby Lincoln, an American journalist in Pakistan, arranges to interview Rainier's colleague Changez Khan, whom he suspects is involved in the kidnapping. During their meeting at a café, Changez recounts his journey from a scholarship student at Princeton to a high-level executive at a Wall Street firm, where he faced discrimination after the 9/11 attacks. He also details his strained relationship with an American photographer, Erica. The film flashes back to his time in the US, his resignation from his firm after a moral conflict, and his return to Pakistan as a lecturer. As the interview progresses, tensions rise as a crowd gathers outside. Changez reveals he knows Lincoln is working for the CIA. During a chaotic confrontation in the crowd, Lincoln, acting as a shield, accidentally shoots and kills Changez's brother, Sameer. Lincoln is later extracted by the CIA, and it is revealed that Changez had told them the truth about having no involvement in the kidnapping. The film ends with Changez delivering a eulogy for Sameer while Lincoln reflects on Changez's words about his dual identity.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 130
- Production countries
- United States; India; Qatar
- Original languages
- English; Urdu
- Directors
- Mira Nair
- Writers
- Mohsin Hamid · story; Ami Boghani · story; William Wheeler · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Riz Ahmed · Changez Khan; Kate Hudson · Erica; Liev Schreiber · Jim Cross; Kiefer Sutherland · Lincoln; Om Puri · father; Shabana Azmi · mother; Haluk Bilginer · owner
- Genres
- political thriller; drama
- Themes
- Identity; Xenophobia; Tolerance; Post-9/11 impact
- Tone and mood
- Serious; Tense
- Premise and plot tags
- Political Thriller; Drama; Based on a Novel
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007 novel)
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 56% · scale: percentage · review count: 99; Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 28
- Awards and nominations
- Audience Favorite—World Cinema · Mill Valley Film Festival · 2012 · Won; Mill Valley Film Festival Award · Mill Valley Film Festival · 2012 · Won; 1st Centenary Award · 43rd International Film Festival of India · 2013 · Won; Truly Moving Picture Award · 2013 Heartland Film Festival · 2013 · Won; Best Film of the Bernhard Wicki Film Award · 2013 Munich Film Festival · 2013 · Won; Best Narrative Feature of the Audience Awards · 2013 CAAMFest · 2013 · Won; The Bridge, the German Film Award for Peace · German Film Award · 2013 · Won
- Production trivia
- The film was released in Pakistan under the title Changez.; The soundtrack features a mix of traditional Pakistani songs, Urdu poetry, and pop/funk/rap.; The film was based on a manuscript that was unpublished when Mira Nair first read it in 2007.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…