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When America was ATTACKED!
Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid's novel of the same name, tells the story of a Pakistani banker torn between his American dream and the aftermath of the tragic 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre.
The film that has earned acclaim at various film festivals across the world, including the German Peace Award, joins the growing list of films that deal with with terrorist attacks on the United States of America.
Here's looking at Indian films that have dealt with the issue, with varying success, over the years.
Vishwaroopam
Kamal Haasan's controversial spy thriller narrates the story of troubled former jihadist Viz, who changes his identity and moves to New Jersey.
In his new life, Viz is secretly entrusted, while working as an effeminate Kathak teacher, with the job of foiling Al Qaeda's attempts to trigger a blast in New York City.
My Name Is Khan
Karan Johar's 2010 drama tells the story of a Muslim man (played by Shah Rukh Khan), who faces racial profiling and experiences general hostility in the wake of the World Trade Centre attacks in the US.
SRK's Rizwan Khan suffers from Asperger's Syndrome but goes through life without major glitches in the US -- he gets a job, makes new friends and gets married to a beautiful woman -- before the twin tower attacks.
All hell breaks loose when he is banished from his marital home and he sets out to rise above the temporary setback in his life by winning over hostile Americans around him.
New York
Director Kabir Khan, known for films dealing with terrorism, made Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham starrer thriller New York in 2009.
The film highlights the ordeal South Asian immigrants faced in the US after the 9/11 attacks -- one of the protagonists becomes a terrorist after being wrongfully detained for nine months as a suspect.
Kurbaan
Yet another 2009 film on terrorism, this Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer is the story of a romance torn apart by a terrorist outfit bent on bringing America to its knees.
Avantika (Kapoor), a professor in the US, falls in love with Ehsaan (Khan) during her trip to India.
The couple weds and moves to the US. It takes Avantika a while to realise that her husband is a terrorist after which she sets out to foil his group's attempts to place bombs in a subway.
Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota
This Naseeruddin Shah directed feature traces the lives of several individuals bound together by ill fate.
The film starred some fine actors in significant roles -- Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Boman Irani -- among others.
The story is about these principal characters, and how they are affected by the terrorist 9/11 attack.
Jo Bole So Nihaal
Sunny Deol plays a well meaning constable in Punjab, who falls out of favour with his seniors when he unwittingly facilitates the escape of a mercenary.
He sets out salvage his reputation by trailing the mercenary in New York -- out to get the US president.
I Am Singh
An obscure Bollywood film from 2011, I Am Singh focuses on the issue of racial profiling that became a growing problem for Indian immigrants -- Sikhs in this case -- in the US, following the 9/11 attack.
Hope And A Little Sugar
Tanuja Chandra's heartwarming film tells the story of an Indian girl in New York, who loses her husband in the 9/11 attack, and deals with her father-in-law's consequent hatred towards Muslims.
Mahima Chaudhary's Saloni has lost her husband in the attacks and must now deal with a difficult father-in-law who is struggling to come to terms with his son's death and is as hostile towards their Muslim paperboy as the Americans.