PVR Pictures has pushed the India release date of Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ to 17 May 17 2013. The movie was earlier set to release on 10 May. The film stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Live Schreiber, Shabana Azmi, Imaad Shah and Om Puri.

Earlier, there were talks that Mira Nair was hobnobbing with the idea of casting Ranbir Kapoor in her upcoming film <em>The Reluctant Fundamentalist</em>. The latest is that Nair has ended all talks by deciding to cast Pakistan-born actor Riz Ahmed to play the protagonist in the above movie. Talking to us over the phone, the director explained, "For my film I did audition Ranbir Kapoor, but since the role demanded worldliness which I found in Riz Ahmed, I opted for him.”

Mira Nair's, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a unanimous choice of the Jury members, was awarded with the first Centenary Award and presented with a Silver Peacock, a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh at this year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Mira Nair's, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, was also the closing film that brought down the curtains at the 43rd International Film Festival of India, Goa.

Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the first film of Indian origin to be the opening film at the Venice Film Festival. The core cast, Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Keifer Sutherland and Live Schreiber would accompany Mira to Venice and then to the Toronto Film Festival. Says Mira, “The four main actors are going to be there with me in Venice. Then we move to Toronto where our film will be premiere in the Gala section on 8 September (2012). So it’s one hectic festival binge for us.” Mira’s films are no strangers to Venice.

With the exultation comes the rain-clouds. Just when Mira Nair was rejoicing over the singular honour of having her latest work The Reluctant Fundamentalist being selected as the opening film at the Venice Film Festival, the director has lost her father, the retired civil servant Amrit Nair. Though Mira has two older male siblings she was the closest to her father.