Mira Nair’s 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist' Gets Doha Film Institute Cash

LONDON -- Filmmaker Mira Nair’s ambitions to bring Mohsin Hamid’s novel The Reluctant Fundamentalist to the big screen is being backed with cash from the Doha Film Institute.

Adapted by Bill Wheeler, Hamid, and Ami Boghani and produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, is the second international production to garner financial backing from the Doha Film Institute (DFI).

The movie starts shooting this week on location in Atlanta, New York, Lahore, Delhi and Istanbul.

Fundamentalist details the story of Changez, a young Pakistani man chasing corporate success on Wall Street in the era of globalization.

After 9/11, Changez experiences a seismic shift in his own attitude, unearthing allegiances more fundamental than money, power, and maybe even love.

Riz Ahmed stars as Changez alongside Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber and Kiefer Sutherland.

A Mirabai Films and Cine Mosaic production Fundamentalist, marks DFI’s first financing involvement in an independent feature film.

Nair said: “My father lived in Lahore before the partition of India and Pakistan. I am inspired to make a contemporary film about Pakistan, especially in this day and age when the perceived schism between Islamists and the Western World becomes more pronounced each day. In the Doha Film Institute, I have a like-minded partner who shares a common belief in this story and its ability to affect change, having supported this project from the very beginning. In this day and age to have creative freedom to make a film that is political, timely and multi layered is a gift.” 

DFI’s first ventured into international production earlier this year with Black Gold, alongside Quinta Communications.