Review of the movies : The Reluctant Fundamentalist & Midnight's Children

   This task has been given to the students to study Postcolonial elements in the movie. For more details about the given task click here... 

         The Reluctant Fundamentalist

      It is a 2012 political thriller drama film based on the 2007 novel, The Reluctant Fundamentalist byMohsin Hamid, directed by Mira Nair, starring Riz Ahmed and Kate Hudson in lead.^[4] The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a post-9/11film, a movie about the impact on one man of the Al Qaida attacks and the American reaction to them. ( Wikipedia)

    The story starts with an interview. The American CIA agent Bobby Lincoln gives an interview for the abduction of American Professor in Lahore. Bob was Taking interview of Changez Khan in the Coffee cafe in Lahor that he may be involved in this abduction or in the matter of 9/11. Here Mira Nair interestingly used the flashback technique which was move us from Pakistan to America in eye opening way. The title of the movie give us two different views one is that fundamentalist in terrorism and other business fundamentalist.

       
       The film starts with an interview of Changez Khan By Bobby in which Changez Khan narrates his story about his life in America. The hero of the novel was very young, intellectual, businessman and highly reputed. There he was living a good life with his beloved Erica, a very good artist in photography. But suddenly all the things changed  with Changez after the attack on WTC tower. All people look towards him like he is terrorist, he insulted by FBI and many American fellows and abused him. Once, he loved America like his native land but after abusing and insulted her sincerity he came back to Pakistan and starts delivering lectures in University. 
      But this American agent blames him that you are teaching terrorism in university, which was not the truth.He lost his innocent fellow by the fire of American Agent then CIA agents realized that they have done mistake and killed innocent man. But at the end of the movie Changez wants to freedom from Mujahid and America's business culture and he wants to live a meaningful and simple life with the happiness of family. 
      In this movie we finds avery good use of narrative technique like flashback technique to make movie very interesting, and also used very good camera focus when we see the scene of attack on WTC tower when camera on the face of Changez rather on live telecast, to know the expression of Changez towards it. Also a very good meaningful background musics are there to convey the nonverbal ideas.  So in a nutshell we can say that movie has tremendous effect on audience. Because what people were not able to see that this movie has tried to represent. 

        While trying to see the Postcolonial elements in the movie we came to know that how western countries sees the Muslims and especially Pakistani. Mostly Americans view over them is much problematic. But no one can raise the question against the power. And that same thing we can see in this movie. 
    
                          Midnight's Children 
        
    

       Midnight's Children is a 2012 Canadian-British film adaptation of Salman Rushdie's 1981 novel of the same name. The film features an ensemble cast of Satya Bhabha, Shriya Saran, Siddharth Narayan, Ronit Roy, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Seema Biswas, Shahana Goswami, Samrat Chakrabarti, Rahul Bose, Soha Ali Khan, Anita Majumdar and Darsheel Safary. With a screenplay by Rushdie and directed by Deepa Mehta,^[3] the film began principal photography in Colombo, Sri Lanka in February 2011 and wrapped in May 2011. Shooting was kept a secret as Mehta feared protests by Islamic fundamentalist groups.( Wikipedia) 

            The film starts with the year 1917, the birth year of Indira Gandhi and end with the emergency or we can say that the last stage of Indira Gandhi's Life. So, some may have question that why the protagonist of the film narrated the the history before the thirty years when he was not in her mother's womb? Well, I don't know why Rushdie connected Indira Gandhi's era throughout the film, we must read the novel to understand the connection. The story about the Children who were born in the stroke of the midnight 15th august 1947 with the magical power, in which two major character like Saleem Sinai, the protagonist belong to reach family while the Shiva who was born in poor family later joined the Army and fought in the battle with Pakistan to free Bangladesh.

        The main idea of hybridity in culture and identity we can see in the movie, as per the quote 'Let reach to be poor and poor to be reach' Saleem, actually, the son of British man William Methwold and poor Marathian lady and the Shiva was the son of Ahemad Sinai and Amina, but, Mary, a nurse in the hospital changed these both baby boy with each other because her lover was a Marxist and pursued mary to protest against an elite groups. 
          While moving further we finds that Saleem went to pakistan and Shiva Joined Indian Army, so here we can see the partition of India and pakistan. later on, After the war, Saleem came to India, his mother land and marry with Parvati, beloved of Shiva and she gave birth to baby boy who was the son of shiva so, we again see the hybridity. And also we can see the culture of India like snake Charmer. Thus,  movie ends with the diverse range of interpretations. And film maker has tried to represent real India through the technical aspects. 

        Postcolonial studies : 

   

Hybridity : Mixing of two  - Saleem is the perfect example of hybrid man, who was the son of colonizer and poor Indian lady and also the other character, Shiva was another example of hybrid man who was the son of Muslim parents.

Miscegenation : In simple words we can say  that a relationship between different races. In the movie we can find the sexual relation between White colonizer Methwold with black skin Indian Poor lady and another sexual relationship with white Saleem with black skinned Parvati. Which highlights the themes of  the book Black Skin White Mask. 

Magic Realism :  Here this term referred as to show India as a country of Snake Charmer. In the movie it is used as a plot moving theme too. But has significant meaning. Same way in movie we finds Saleem has power of sense of smell to feeling the different things and people whereas Parvati also has power like Abrakadabra to hide people or things in the trug.  

     

                       Thus, we can say that these both movies has widened our mind by showing the real India, how western countries sees us. And ultimately it throws more light on Postcolonialism.   

                                                 Thank you...