The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012) Movie Script
1
Well, I prefer movies
that make me forget
about the problems
with the world.
Come on, Yaar.
I mean, "Bol" is a brave movie.
It had to be made.
And you know all the students
in the union
are just raving about it.
Bravo, son!
Uncle, your medicine.
Damn good bootlegger, yeah?
This divine music...
Sweetens the sting of death.
How many people are there?
What are you doing?
Get off me!
Don't hurt him!
Is there anyone to help me?
Please, don't go.
- All okay, son?
- Absolutely.
Jamal, salaam.
Hello, Mr. Bobby.
Alissa?
It's Bobby calling from Lahore.
Listen...
Something's happened.
Cooper...
We've got something.
We have sound?
I'm a professor.
I'm a professor.
I didn't do anything.
Please...
Please, don't kill me.
Please, don't kill me.
I didn't do anything.
This won't help you.
Please, don't...
That's all.
Let's do our own checking
at the university.
Get CTC on the line, please.
They sent a tape.
This place has the best tea
in Lahore.
And do you take sugar, Bobby?
No, thank you.
Well, you have waited
a very long time
for this interview,
and for that,
I must apologize.
Oh, I'm just glad we
could finally do it.
I finally felt the time was right.
Do you mind if I record?
Let's enjoy our tea for
a moment, please.
Oh, I loved your early work.
Your book on Massoud
fighting the Taliban...
great stuff.
I'm still trying to figure out
who wrote the other two.
Oh, thank you.
I'm flattered that you read them.
Nobody move!
Stay calm.
- What's this?
- Shall we take them in?
Sir, the police are here.
Get up!
Search him.
Enough.
Catch that boy!
They seem a little edgy.
Our police become
very animated
when it's an American
that's been kidnapped.
You teach at the same
university as Anse Rainier.
I do.
Don't you think he's
worth looking for?
By roughing up people who
had nothing to do with it?
I've heard the group
taking responsibility
recruits here.
What makes you so sure
they had nothing to do with it?
They're my students.
And they're innocent
until proven otherwise.
I learned that from CSI: Miami.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Do you think he's still alive?
So tell me, Bobby,
what exactly is the article about?
Well, I'm still working on it,
but so far the logline is,
"Pakistan's New Militant Academia. "
Am I part of the new
militant academia?
I don't know.
Are you?
You know, the answer
to that question
may challenge some of
your preconceived notions.
Changez, I'm a journalist.
Generally, we try to avoid
preconceived notions.
But of course.
- You mind if I...
- Yes.
I only ask one thing.
That you please listen
to the whole story
from the very beginning,
not just bits and pieces.
Do I have your word?
You do.
Looks can be deceiving.
I am a lover of America.
Although I was raised to feel
very Pakistani.
After all, the blood of princes
runs in my veins.
Perhaps that's an exaggeration.
Let's say the princes and I
moved in the same circles.
We attended the same schools...
Lived in the same neighborhoods.
But all of a sudden,
there were new princes in town.
Hey, Chingu!
Buy a new car.
Time to junk your oxcart.
Yes, we still had the prestige
of a Punjab Club membership...
Abu, we need a new car.
But our bank account was empty.
And retire this magnificent chariot?
Nonsense.
These new-money scoundrels
are ruining the place.
Your Bina madam's waiting.
Bond!
What vulgar clothes.
No one will marry you.
Ammi, please.
I'm the Bond girl.
It's no joke.
They're lining up.
Go, work in India.
There, anything goes.
"Though memories fade,
"may Allah never free you
from my love. "
Changez, remember,
your father's a poet.
Sing for us.
Mm-mm.
He doesn't want to sing
those songs anymore, Ajju.
He's an American now.
Va, va, va, va...
Listen, son.
He fusses over you
because he loves you.
You know that, right?
Cigarette?
Poems don't buy generators.
Somebody has to be
where the money is.
Hey, Chingu,
take me to New York with you.
I could be the dazzling
new ethnic friend
on Sex and the City
or something.
But, Chan, what about
your Mr. Bond?
Oh, please.
Bond?
I'd drop him in a second
for Mr. Big.
All I want is a loft in SoHo,
weekend in the Hamptons,
and a pair of big,
fake American boobs.
What? Is that too much to ask?
Not at all.
God bless America.
God bless America, indeed.
God bless its level playing fields.
God bless winning.
See you next Friday.
Changes, take a seat.
You have 20 minutes
to convince me
that you belong
at Underwood Samson.
Well, I've never gotten a B
in my entire life.
Touch wood.
And I'm about to graduate
summa cum laude.
Good... although I've heard
that line several times today.
What else?
Well, I also played
varsity soccer
four years straight.
I'm glad you got some exercise.
Changes, a position at our firm
as a financial analyst
is one the most sought-after
jobs in the entire world.
Lift up the hood.
Show me what makes you run.
Where are you from?
Lahore in Pakistan.
Are you on financial aid?
Yes, I am.
It's more difficult for
an international student
to be accepted at an
Ivy League school
if they apply for aid.
You must have really needed
the money.
Yeah, I did.
The accent's great.
Makes you sound like royalty.
How did your rich-kid friends
at Princeton
react to your Horatio Alger story?
Most of them don't even know
where their bootstraps are.
You know what, Jim?
We don't really discuss it.
I know you're seeing
a lot of people today, so...
Wait.
Your friends here
don't even know, do they?
That's interesting.
That's lifting up the hood.
So tell me, Changes,
why did you want to come
to America?
For future reference, Jim,
it's "Changez. "
In America,
I get an equal chance to win.
And whether or not
you hire me, Jim,
I am going to win.
Good fucking answer.
Thank you, God!
I was a soldier
in your economic army.
I worshiped in those
magnificent temples
of money and steel
where men in tailored suits
control the fate
of billion-dollar corporations...
men like me.
You got skylines like that
back home?
You're all smart.
The game changer at
this stage is will.
Do you want excellence
more than the person
sitting next to you?
At Underwood Samson,
we do not get paid for hunches.
The reason why our fees
are higher than any other firm
is because of our unparalleled ability
to not only assess value
but to create it in our
clients' businesses.
We do that by focusing
on the fundamentals.
This is a hypothetical business.
Thanks to groundbreaking research,
BNUS Transportation,
using 11-foot-tall cylinders,
can teleport travelers
to any destination
in the world instantly.
Buenos Aires to Cairo
in a second and a half.
I want you to tell me
what the company is worth.
Information is in your binders.
You have one hour.
Okay.
Is he serious?
So that's as per the third quarter.
Please, continue.
And because of these factors,
I project the total value
of BNUS at $48 billion
with revenue growing at an
average 52% per annum
for the first two years.
I'm not with you
on the growth rate.
Changez,
I've got a five-star
safety rating
from A.B. Townes.
My travel cylinders only cost
11 million bucks apiece.
What is your analysis?
Your company is worthless.
What?
Care to clarify?
Well, A.B. Townes is
all well and good,
but if your business
is convincing a mother
that you can successfully
disarticulate
and then reassemble
all the molecules
in her five-year-old
thousands of miles away,
this technology
is at least a generation away
from practical,
widespread usage.
Is that a hunch?
Because you're not getting paid
for hunches.
No.
Page 68.
Your own market surveys show
72% of your potential travelers
would never use the cylinders
no matter how safe you
proved that they were.
So I should just pack up
and go home?
No, I'm saying you should
pack other people up
and go into shipping.
The same... the same
polling suggests
that 94% of clients
would be okay
with you teleporting
their baggage.
So your business isn't travel;
it's shipping...
subcontainer-scale shipping.
Real-world assignments
come in on Monday.
Nothing too exciting.
Everybody will be disappointed.
Almost everybody.
Go, brother.
# Let's go #
# Uh-huh, yeah, yeah #
# Top-level philanderer #
# My time in the camera #
# Reason why she's smiling #
# 'Cause I'm nice
with the algebra #
# President, I rose to the top
of my class #
# Model chick by my side #
# Champagne in the glass #
# And she telling me #
# Papi far ahead
in these lanes #
# So such-and-such #
# Should probably
just stop speaking my name #
# I'm the boss here,
the king would never... #
Toss it, Wainwright.
Ow!
Plays out like this.
First, B-school.
Second, run my own hedge fund.
Third, philanthropy.
And in 25 years,
I'm gonna be devoted full-time
to wiping out malaria.
What if someone takes out
malaria before you get there?
Well, I'll pick the next
available disease
and kick its ass too.
If that lazy fuck Posada
would learn to slide like that,
we'll get another pennant
this year.
Well, unlike you commoners,
I have a law degree.
I'm gonna run a Fortune 500 company
until I hit ten digits.
What about you, Changeez?
Where do you see
yourself in 25 years?
25 years...
I'm gonna be the dictator
of an Islamic republic
with nuclear capability.
Anyone want a soda?
No, I'm good...
Saddam.
He really scared me.
Thought he was for serious.
Thank you.
Wow.
Ooh!
Whoa!
What the hell was that?
That was Herman.
He overshot his gap.
Herman, are you okay?
Oh, man.
Yeah, I'm good.
You all right?
Oh, I hope I got that.
Your expression was amazing.
You're not hurt, are you?
No, lost a couple of inches of hair,
but apart from that...
Oh, you know what?
It's a little out of focus.
Excuse me!
Could you do that again?
Do... do that again?
It looks great.
Yeah, sure.
Oh, thanks.
All right.
Like, one or two feet higher.
Come on.
Go fly, Herman.
I'll strap my wings on.
I'm sorry.
Is this, like, a magazine
shoot or something?
No, no, no.
It's not that official.
I'm just photographing
these guys for a new project.
I wasn't trying
to kill you, so...
And I won't kill you.
I promise.
We'll see.
In Lahore... in Pakistan,
where I'm from...
kids don't fly on skateboards;
they fly kites.
Kites?
Really?
I don't know your name.
- Oh, Changez.
- Ah.
Stay on your mark, Changez.
Changez.
Changez...
That's right.
Very good.
Okay, Herman?
He's coming, isn't he?
He's coming.
I can feel him.
- Whoo!
- Sweet, Herman!
Great.
Okay.
- Right.
- Sorry, got to run.
Is there a way I can...
Hey.
You're my William Tell.
You know,
with the apple and the...
Right.
Shot it.
Bye.
Wainwright.
Mm!
Couldn't get the number,
could you, Mobutu?
He was right.
I'd missed my moment.
Here I am rambling on,
and I haven't offered you
anything to eat.
I'm sorry.
Junaid!
Yes, Khan, sir.
Get us a chicken curry.
Dall and two naans.
Okay?
A rogani naan for me.
Wow.
I think I'm growing on him.
Students...
The police are here
for your protection.
Do not interfere
with Professor Rainier's
investigation.
Do not forget,
demonstrating and disrupting
the peace is forbidden.
We advise you
to return to class
and cooperate
with the police.
It's serious.
The police are everywhere.
Forget them.
Poetry is serious too.
As Khan sir says...
"The most transcendent poetry
is, by definition, political. "
So you want poetry
to do the protesting?
Why not?
Mm.
All well, sir?
You're always where
the food is, no?
Why aren't you at home
marking these exams?
Yeah, well...
Ahmad and those guys
wanted me to protest,
but you know me.
I need lunch
before I can protest.
Presenting the militant academic.
Bobby Lincoln, this is my
teaching assistant, Sameer.
Watch out.
He knows Urdu.
Peace be upon you.
And you.
Peace be with you, brothers.
Ali, start your protest
so I can go home!
So, Bobby, I must ask you.
Why do you think they'd
be harassing my family?
I can't speak for the
American authorities,
but I think it's safe to assume
they consider you
a person of interest.
And they make these decisions
with what evidence?
So how do... how do I
become uninteresting?
Look, Changez,
the kidnapping of an
American citizen
is about as heavy
as it gets for them.
And I'm sure if you were willing
to go in and talk to them,
they'd probably be able
to help you.
You think I had something to do
with this kidnapping, Bobby?
I'm not the one you
have to convince.
Is that the first lie you've
told me today?
They've got Asif.
Some things are heating up.
- I know nothing.
- Give us their names!
I must warn you, Bobby,
I find it very difficult
to confess all
to a man I know so little about.
Fair enough.
What do you want to know?
Well, what drew you
to our part of the world?
Well, for one thing,
it's a hell of a lot
more interesting
than Paterson, New Jersey.
"Your nest is not atop the
dome of a royal palace.
"Your next is not atop
the dome of a royal palace.
"You are a royal falcon.
Build your nest
on a mountain peak. "
Wow.
Iqbal.
So now Lahore is your nest.
Been here seven years.
Your Urdu is quite good.
I've picked some up.
Looks like you picked up a
couple of weights too, huh?
You look quite solid
for a journalist.
Thank you.
Like somebody who could move
very quickly
in the event of an emergency.
I'm not anticipating any
emergencies, are you?
The future is very hard to predict.
Oh, not if you're an analyst
from Underwood Samson.
Yes. The Navy SEALs
of finance, eh?
You know, like the SEALs,
our special talent set us apart.
We were catapulted
into privilege.
I felt I was entering
in New York
exactly the same social class
my parents were falling out of
in Lahore.
Hey, Underwood's worth it.
I hear his brownstone's worth
$16 million.
Well, mozzarella stick,
when I'm CEO
and you're my butler,
you're gonna wear tails.
- Gentlemen.
- All right, all right.
So shall we, gentlemen?
- Thank you, good sir.
- You're welcome.
I hear he has a Monet
over the pisser
in the master bathroom.
Interesting piece, isn't it?
Hello, Mr. Underwood.
Thank you for having me.
Changez.
The artist is having her
first solo show very soon.
I advise getting in early.
Yes, it's impressive.
Oh, my God.
You've got to be kidding me.
Actually, Erica,
this discerning young man
was just admiring your work.
Oh.
You know him already.
My William Tell.
Yes.
He's very courageous.
Well, if my niece
is vouching for you,
I think Jim Cross
better watch out
for his corner office.
You drink, Changez?
- Yes, I do.
- Good!
I had a Pakistani once.
He didn't drink.
Oh, Jesus, Uncle Max...
What?
You got something
for this fellow?
Matter of fact, we do.
I was just about to talk to him
about our project
in the Philippines...
auto business.
Interested?
- Yes, definitely.
- Good.
Well, let me know
about Sunday
at the Greenwich house,
my darling.
Okay.
Bring your friend if you like.
Mm.
Can I borrow you
for a moment?
You clean up very nicely.
Thank you.
I'm sorry about being related
to that knucklehead
of an uncle.
Oh, go easy on him.
It's not easy to grow up
in the slums of Connecticut,
right?
No.
Erica, darling!
Oh!
You know,
I knew a Pakistani once,
and he saved me from small talk
at a Wall Street party.
Really?
Did he drink, though?
Because I hear they don't drink.
# I want you to be #
# I want you #
# So this is... #
Your father is a poet.
- Yes.
- I don't believe you.
- Why would I make that up?
- Unbelievable.
You know how often I dream
of having a family full of poets?
What?
No, I'm serious.
Is he published?
Yeah.
His laser-sharp words
and his inadequate salary
are well known
throughout the Punjab.
Wow.
Who was that guy jumping
in your painting?
My boyfriend, Chris.
Is he... is that your
current boyfriend?
He died 23 weeks ago.
We grew up together.
Wow.
I'm sorry.
My friends keep saying,
you know, "Turn the page. "
"Lift the black veil. "
And it's just...
I wish it was that easy.
People back home have
this thing called iddat.
It's like, um... it's like the period
that a woman is allowed
to mourn her husband.
But she's only allowed
to mourn him
for four months
and ten days.
And then it's over?
Mm-hmm.
Right.
That'd be nice.
It's okay to turn the corner.
You're already two months
into overtime.
I don't mean to be flippant.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's good.
It helps.
# I want you to be #
# I want you #
# Come on now,
so sure #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
No, no.
Blues originated in West Africa.
Okay, you can say it as
many times as you like...
The blues originated
in West Africa.
Actually, I don't really know
what I'm talking about.
Look at this.
Okay, so all these pictures of me...
you've got to have
a little crush on me.
You have a very
healthy self-esteem.
That's good to see.
You know what this says to me?
This is saying,
"Changez, throw a burka on me
"and confiscate
my college degree
and take me home to Mama. "
Would I have to wear a burka?
You look so serious.
Oh, my God.
Get out.
- What?
- Don't do that.
Don't make fun of me.
- "Do I have to wear a burka?"
How am I making fun of you?
What?
You know...
After you told me stories
about Lahore,
I kept hearing your voice
afterwards.
You know, I don't recognize
my own voice anymore.
It sounds all tinny and fake,
like someone who doesn't
come from anywhere.
You sound real to me.
Oh, God...
I feel like I'm cheating.
Should we stop?
Oh, I want to.
I want to, but I can't.
Pretend I'm him.
Oh, Manila, Manila.
Hide your virgins
and your extra layers
of middle management,
'cause we're not here
to play.
- Welcome.
- Good morning.
Changez Khan from New York.
We had one goal:
to figure out
how much profit
this company
could really throw off.
How do you squeeze
more productivity
out of a company that pays
its workers 5 bucks a day?
I think the fat is there.
Let me get this straight.
You're saying that they
can effectively lose
1/4 of their workforce?
- 1/3.
- 1/3 is a big chunk.
I'd feel more comfortable
shooting for a 15% reduction.
May I?
Please.
Okay, so this entire sector
is devoted to fixing mistakes
that they make
on the assembly line.
I say, let's get in a team
from Japan
and fix the line.
Then we can get the
current error rate of 11%
down to industry standard,
which is 4% to 5%.
Then this entire crew
becomes completely superfluous.
Boy, that's brutal.
That's too aggressive.
That line is already
at capacity.
I want to put together
a team of consultants...
the best, ex-Toyota maybe.
I want them here soon...
like tomorrow.
Done.
You have a gift for this,
a very lucrative gift.
Please.
I have a theory about those
who have the gift.
They're outsiders.
You and I have a lot more
in common than you think.
I was the first in my family
to go to college.
My father was a car salesman.
He would come visit me at Harvard
with his cheap haircut
and his Payless shoes,
and it would make me hungry,
hungry to be the best.
You're hungry like that too.
So...
Where do you see yourself
in the next ten years?
I'd like to be a managing director
at Underwood Samson by 30.
Why not 27?
The first step to becoming
a managing director
is to be made an associate.
We'll start laying down
the groundwork
as soon as we get home.
Until then,
consider this a down payment.
You're a long way
from Lahore, kid.
Let's eat.
Um, I... I don't know
which tower it hit,
but it hit directly in the middle
of one of the World
Trade Center towers.
Sean, what kind of plane?
Was it a small plane, a jet?
It was a jet.
It looked a two-engine jet,
you know, maybe a 737.
We are talking about
a large passenger jet.
A large passenger commercial jet,
that's right.
And where were...
Oh, my God!
- Oh...
- Oh, my God.
That looks like
a second plane.
Now it's obvious,
I think...
Right now, we can recap
and tell you
that two planes have hit
the towers.
It looks like there's
a lot of smoke.
We're still trying
to get information.
Police are telling us,
if you're in the area,
please get out of the area ASAP.
Stay with us as we get
more information.
There was a huge explosion.
I can't really see very well
right now,
so what I'm trying to do
is just head out...
head over to the
Hudson River, so...
In that moment, I should have
felt sorrow or anger,
but all I felt was awe.
What audacity.
The ruthlessness of the act
was surpassed
only by its genius,
that David had struck Goliath.
I'm sorry if my reaction
to the attacks
has offended you, Bobby.
I hope you see that
I'm not celebrating
the death of 3,000 innocents,
just as you would not celebrate
the death of 100,000
in Baghdad or Kabul,
for that matter.
But before conscience kicks in,
have you never felt a split
second of pleasure
at arrogance brought low?
And you ask me why they're
harassing your family?
Let's just cut the bullshit, okay?
You believe in violence
as a tool for social change.
You teach a course
in violent revolution
at Lahore University.
Your lectures are full
of anti-American rhetoric.
We will wipe the blood of the
invaders from our swords!
If that weren't enough,
you were spotted at an
Asal Mujahideen meeting
with Mustafa Fazil,
a known cell leader.
I think I can help.
I knew you would.
What are you doing?
Last night, Anse Rainier
was kidnapped,
and this morning,
your class was canceled.
If you're just an innocent
bystander, Changez,
why were you hiding?
Only guilty people hide.
Your candor is appreciated, Bobby,
but your conclusions are wrong.
See, all this rhetoric such as,
"We will wipe the blood
of the invaders from our sword,"
this is like undercooked meat.
It's satisfying
when times are lean,
but if you gorge yourself on it,
you will get sick.
Now, I may be an opponent
of American interference in Pakistan
but so are many of your
own generals.
Classes on revolution
are taught at Duke.
Are all those professors
planning on blowing up
federal buildings?
I did attend a meeting
at the Jamia Madrasah.
A madrasah is a place
of learning, Bobby,
and I'm a teacher.
My work takes me
to all kinds of places,
just as your work
has brought you here.
My thinking
is that knowledge is power,
not just religious knowledge but...
You say guilty people hide.
So do people who feel hunted.
I missed my lectures for
a much more direct reason.
What the hell is this?
They entered my home
and attacked my family.
Who did this?
A calamity!
Bandy!
Who did this to you?
Three agency bastards
showed up.
We have to get you
to a hospital.
Changez, they attack your uncle.
They follow Ammi around
in the Sabzi Mandi.
Why this massive campaign
against you?
Ammi, this is all going to stop, okay?
I promise you.
Why do you have to keep giving
these firebrand lectures?
And where are you going now?
Stay out of it.
- Keep an eye on him.
- I'll be there.
A few days after my
house was raided...
my uncle's shoulder shattered
and his ribs broken...
my office was ransacked.
These are the people
who tore my office apart.
But that shouldn't surprise you,
should it, Bobby?
You were there.
I recognized you
from your column.
So you're a spook.
Shit.
Fuck.
Is there someplace private
we can talk?
Bobby!
Bobby!
What the hell?
Lincoln!
Bobby!
Get me another frequency.
Bobby, I want you
to exfil out of there now.
What the hell are you doing?
Fuck!
We got surveillance on the roof?
- Yes.
- Cover the fucking roof!
Did you go to them,
or did they come to you?
Look, Changez...
Don't insult me.
You want to have a dialogue?
Let's have a dialogue.
Did you go to them,
or did they come to you?
They came to me.
How does that happen?
How do you go from
writing so passionately
against intervention
in this region to this?
You want to know
how it happened?
I'll tell you.
In 2001,
while you were busy
getting rich in New York City,
I was in Takhar Province,
Afghanistan.
A friend introduced me
to Ahmad Shah Massoud.
I spent a week interviewing him.
He was opening
schools for girls,
talking about democracy,
resisting the Taliban.
I know he had blood
on his hands,
but he stood for something,
meant something to people,
and that's why I thought
we didn't need to be there.
Massoud never got the chance
to read my book.
Six months after it came out,
he was killed by a bomb
hidden in a video camera.
Two days after that,
the same guys that killed him
took down the towers.
And that's when I realized
I'd been wrong.
We did need to be here.
So I picked a side.
Look.
You obviously knew who I was
coming into this, so...
So what?
Are we still having
a conversation?
Are you still a writer?
You may be a spook.
But if anyone can
help me, it's you.
You picked a side after 9/11.
I didn't have to.
It was picked for me.
All unattended bags
will be removed
by airport police
and immediately seized
and destroyed.
Please do not leave
bags unattended.
Note to self:
don't fuck with the
United States military.
U.S. citizen or foreign national?
Foreign national.
Could I see your passport, please?
- Step over here, sir.
- Sorry, is there a problem?
- He's an employee of mine...
- Follow me, please.
Don't worry about it, man.
I'll catch up with you guys.
Come on.
Let's go.
He's not what they're looking for.
Stand right there.
I'll take your belongings.
I need you to remove
all of your outerwear
and place it on that chair.
So you want me to strip?
Remove your outerwear.
Who did you stay with?
Were you by yourself?
And if not,
who did you travel with?
Arms out.
Face this way.
Arms out to your side.
Arms down.
Step over here.
Remove your underwear,
bend over,
place your hands right here,
and spread your legs.
Put your clothes on.
So what happened?
They actually made you strip?
Let's say they were very thorough.
This whole city's
in a state of panic.
60 bomb scares yesterday.
I just found that my college
roommate's father
was in the second tower
when it fell.
It's just a nightmare.
Guess people circle the wagons
after something like this.
Apparently they close
the borders too.
Could you blame them?
Lunatics hijacked planes
from two different states,
killing thousands of people,
not to mention themselves.
It's beyond human comprehension.
How does that happen?
How does it happen like that?
What makes you think
I'd know?
Nothing.
You...
Sorry, Changez.
All I'm saying is,
before I'd start
a full F-16, tank-ass war
against the entire Muslim world,
I'd give the CIA,
INTERPOL, whoever,
a chance to track these
motherfuckers down.
We got hit first.
It's Pearl Harbor
all over again.
It's common fucking sense.
I'm not saying you're wrong,
but what nation-state
attacked us?
Nation-state, my ass!
You're splitting hairs.
- Am I?
- Yeah.
They believe God told them
to blow us up.
It's in their book.
It's in their book?
Yeah.
Whatever it's called.
I watched as American patriotism
took on different forms.
American flags.
God bless America.
Aha!
You want?
For some people,
it provided comfort;
for others, a profit.
Hey, give me flag too.
Go!
$10, $10.
And for the vulnerable,
it became a shield.
American-led military attacks
continue tonight
against targets throughout Afghanistan.
Even as the first emergency...
I'm famished.
We ordered two lassis.
It's bad times, man.
Seven more attacks
in the last week.
Is this the line for chai?
You hear about Sodhi
in Arizona?
They shot him
right on the street.
It's really bad for the Sikhs.
Sikhs are in trouble.
Any beard or turban is a target.
Not a problem for you, eh?
Suited, booted.
Good for you.
No plastic here.
- Give him his tea.
- No, no, please.
Don't embarrass me.
You are like my brother.
Thanks.
I might have been suited
and booted,
but I felt just as vulnerable
as they did.
There was only one place
I felt safe...
With her.
You want to learn
how to say "love"?
Yeah.
There's not just one way
of saying it.
- There's, like, two or three.
- Okay, okay.
Okay, so there's ishq.
Ishq.
Ishq.
Ishq.
Mm.
Well done.
And then there's pyaar.
Pyaar.
That's quite good.
Yeah?
- You're good at this.
- Pyaar.
You said this word before
to someone?
Ishq.
Pyaar.
This isn't your first time, is it?
Mohabbat.
Mohabbat.
I can't believe
they're not there.
It's crazy.
It was a time of uncertainty.
For me, the only things certain
were love and profit.
It wasn't long before the
economic laws of nature
reasserted themselves.
Small companies were again
swallowed up by big ones.
Those that didn't grow would die.
Some stakeholders are obviously
you people right here.
That's why need to revisit...
For the 25 years that
I've worked here,
per union rules,
we only take those requests
in writing.
See, with due respect,
that is exactly the kind
of bureaucratic mind-set
we're trying to challenge here.
I am not a bureaucrat.
We don't have to like each other.
We just have to get the job done.
Now, pull out the union contracts.
We might need to cancel
some of them.
- He's young.
- I've worked here 25 years.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
Hi, stranger.
When are you coming back?
I miss you.
Fuck you, Osama.
A tiny slice of violence
had wormed its way into my life,
and I didn't know
how to remove it.
What was soft inside me
fell away.
What was hard became harder.
Talk to me, Bobby.
What's going on?
I need more time.
You're exposed, and the clock
is ticking on Rainier.
Turn your target now,
or we're taking him to Peshawar
to put the screws on him.
Okay.
What did Massoud do
to members of his force
that collaborated
with the Taliban?
He slit their throats.
Yes, he did.
Do you want that
to happen to me, Bobby?
Is there something
you're not telling me?
Juniad, look at that.
Careful.
Watch out.
Brother...
Khan, sir, let's go down.
Hurry.
Each moment is precious,
Bobby.
Come.
It's time to go inside.
Where is the security guard?
Hello?
I'm talking to you, Ma.
Hello?
Keep the candles safely.
Trouble could break out anytime.
The sweets go in the kitchen,
the soft drinks too.
Ma, you're being stubborn.
I'll make one phone call
to the caterers.
They will handle everything, okay?
Baita, with the shortages,
the prices have doubled up.
We just can't afford it.
No, what we can't afford
is for you to collapse,
okay, because you're trying
to organize
your daughter's wedding
singlehandedly.
Just let me do it.
It's done.
My prince.
Out of my sight.
One thing.
Don't tell Abu.
Okay, I won't.
Okay, talk later.
Love you, baita.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
God be with you.
Hello!
Enough already!
- Just... just look at me.
- Hello?
Just look at... okay, fine.
Fine, fine, fine.
You're unbelievable.
Do you know that?
I'm worried about my mom here.
She's going nuts
because of the wedding.
A wedding gets her closer
to grandchildren.
That's what she wants, right?
Yeah, I guess.
I made your mom and dad
something for the wedding.
That's why you wanted the photos?
Your ma is so gorgeous.
Mm.
You're gorgeous.
Thank you.
Mm.
Do you ever think about kids?
Um...
I did before,
but the world's a little scarier now,
so I'm not as sure
as I used to be.
My parents never said it
out loud,
but I know they want
two things in life.
They want security
in their old age,
and they want grandchildren.
And you want to
give that to them.
Yeah.
They're my parents.
You have a sense of filial duty.
Yeah, I guess
I'm old-fashioned like that.
It's nice.
So does that mean
you're persuadable?
I don't know.
Hey.
Erica?
Hey, what is it?
What's wrong?
Erica...
Ah.
I can't believe I'm talking
about having kids
with another man.
Honey, it was just talking.
It was just fooling around.
And I'm not another man.
No, no, no.
No, no.
You are another man.
You are.
Chris... he didn't have any family.
Not like you.
I was his family, okay?
I was his family,
and I'm forgetting him.
Oh, God.
You know, I had been...
I'd been drinking,
and Chris asked me
if I was okay to drive,
and I said yes.
I killed him.
Oh, God.
Sometimes I just wish
I could take a break
from being myself.
Me too.
Following the Parliament
attack in New Delhi,
the troops are gathering
at the border.
The fear of war between
India and Pakistan...
Nuclear powers,
grows every day.
How many weddings have
a bomb shelter contingency plan?
The world couldn't wait
one more week
before exploding itself?
Hello. Let's stick to
happier subjects.
How's the groom?
He's an actor, so...
A working actor
but an actor nonetheless.
Poor Abu keeps his
heart medication close at hand.
You know, if the war
doesn't kill him...
The wedding costs will.
Move on.
They never stop girls.
Pakistan was born into
violence 50 years ago.
We knew how to cope.
As the tensions became worse,
the biryanis became
more delicious,
the bootleggers
more frequent,
and the celebrations
more raucous.
Here comes the groom!
Really?
Girls, be on time to dress her
for the wedding tomorrow, huh?
Did you make this?
Show me your ring.
What are you thinking about?
Just how much you must love
all this attention, no?
Not about your girlfriend?
Your turn next, Nasreen, hmm?
Find me a guy now.
Lovely girl, and from a good family.
But you can't consider her
because you're an ocean away.
Luckily, Abu, they have women
in New York too, you know.
I'm sure they do.
What exactly do you do
at the Underwood?
It's Underwood Samson.
We help companies to figure out
how much they're worth,
and then we make suggestions
so that they can increase their value.
Hmm.
So...
I'm a fruit seller.
You don't buy my guavas.
- You don't sell me guavas.
- No.
I pay you to tell me,
"The price of the guava
is 8 rupees. "
Yes, but I can also help you
to increase the value
of your whole fruit stand.
With redundancies.
So two fruit sellers become one,
and the money is saved.
Terrific.
I don't see the point.
I'll send you back
to your village!
Sorry, sir.
In the tent, the supervisor
will fire him.
That young man
drops one plate,
and his livelihood is gone.
I should talk to the supervisor.
No, no, no, no, no.
Come here.
Your empathy is aroused
because of this one man
whose face you can see.
But with one line
of your pen,
thousands of people
lose their livelihoods.
Abu, you know what?
A lot of people...
middle-class people,
shareholders...
they all benefit
from what I do.
You tell yourself
what you want to.
You see your mother's handiwork?
If I told you the amount
your Ammi had to work with,
you wouldn't believe me.
What is it?
- Nothing.
- What, nothing?
Nothing?
Never choke on a true word, son.
Well, she had some assistance.
What do you mean?
I mean that this job of mine
that you don't see the point of
actually helped to create
this celebration, all right?
- Excuse me.
- No, no, Abu.
I'm just trying to tell you
that this work of mine
can be useful to us.
You've made your point very well.
Thank you.
# You say things
to burn the heart... #
# You speak of a nest
now broken... #
# You inflict such suffering... #
# Yet say I must smile... #
My wisest ally, and I'd cut
him to the quick.
Only his pride.
Please, Changez,
don't let yours get in the way
of doing the right thing.
What would you have me do?
Help us find Rainier.
Changez...
Work with us.
The agency has discretionary funds
for this kind of thing.
We can protect your family,
relocate them.
Bobby, you promised
to listen to me, didn't you?
Did you not hear
a word I just said?
There are some things
that money cannot fix.
When I returned
to America,
I found that the life
I was building
had begun to slip out of reach.
Should get this guy a razor.
Yeah, hi, Erica, it's me.
Can you pick up, please?
I haven't heard from you
in a few days now.
And I don't know what kind of
magical artistic masterpieces
you're cooking up,
but I miss you.
Hi.
Hi, sweetie.
Ah, that is the sound
I wanted to hear!
Okay, listen.
Hear me out.
I know you're on a deadline.
My show's in three days.
Look, I'm so under
the gun right now.
I just... I can't talk.
- Okay, but dinner.
Just dinner.
I haven't even told you
about the wedding.
They loved your present.
Please don't make me feel guilty.
Okay, your work
is important to you.
Okay, but I don't get to choose
when to take time off; you do.
So, like, one hour
is all I'm asking for.
I had a Pakistani once,
and he was very supportive.
Hey.
Hey yourself, werewolf.
Not sure what's going on
with the beard situation,
but it's starting to freak
some people out around here.
I don't understand.
But Dr. Phil has a mustache.
What? It reminds me
of where I come from.
Jerk chicken reminds me
of where I come from,
but I'm not smearing it
all over my face.
Maybe you should.
You have a message.
Happy Eid, son.
Happy Eid.
The house is no fun without you.
There's no power either.
We'll eat in the dark tonight.
Thinking of you, baita.
Abu also.
Much love.
Happy Eid.
Quite a beard.
That's getting to be some
very serious mullah action.
I want you to get me
two glasses of the crystal...
So we've got to evaluate
a prestige publisher
in Istanbul for a conglomerate.
And guess what.
You are the chosen one.
Thank you.
The directors agreed with me.
We're upping you.
You are the youngest associate
in the history of Underwood Samson.
Although, I do believe
appearances are important.
Success requires...
some adjustment
in that department.
Underwood, Samson,
and The Mighty Khan.
Oh, no partners.
Just Khan. I'm a dictator,
remember?
Mm.
Motherfucker.
Next time you want to see me,
call my secretary, okay?
Up yours.
I'm not going to take
medication!
No more medication.
There's a crazy Arab guy
in midtown Manhattan.
Long-distance killer!
Why he get all credit?
Yeah, 53rd and Lexington.
Homegrown!
We are homegrown bombers!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- We're homegrown bombers!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- We are homegrown bomb...
Bomb your children!
You bastard!
Hey!
He's crazy.
Hey!
Hold up!
You in the black coat,
stop right there.
- I didn't do...
- Hands on the car.
- I didn't do anything.
- Put your hands on the car.
The guy you're looking for
is back there.
Yeah, we'll get him.
- I work on the 53rd floor...
- Hands down.
Of that building,
Underwood Samson.
Why don't you just check?
Why don't you just...
- Officer, please.
- Spread your legs!
You got any weapons on you?
Don't do this, man.
Ain't doing nothing
but my job, little man.
Ow, man!
Uh-uh!
Get your hands off me!
Uh!
Wait right here.
I'm Special Agent Ford.
This is Special Agent Jackson.
This is inexcusable.
I'd like to see my lawyer, please.
Are you refusing to talk
to us?
No, you picked up
the wrong guy,
and I'm sick of this shit.
I want to see my lawyer.
You ever been to the Philippines?
I work at Underwood Samson.
I was inspecting a company there
as a financial analyst.
You ever had any combat
training in Afghanistan?
Of course I've never had
combat training,
and I've never set foot
in Afghanistan!
Don't get upset.
I am upset. I'm upset
about my treatment.
I'm not a fucking terrorist.
Have you ever been a member
of a terrorist organization?
Okay, you know what?
I'm sick of having to try
and prove a negative,
so why don't you either
charge me with something
or let me go?
How do you feel about the
United States of America?
Agent Ford,
I love the United States of America.
Hey, baby, I can't wait to see you
at my opening tonight.
And the gallery's on the corner
of Crosby and Prince.
Okay, I'll see you.
Hey, Marina!
Hi, sugar.
I'm alone.
I'm very, very alone.
I want to forget.
Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder:
never accept a parcel or bag
from a third party
for any reason.
I want to forget.
Never leave your baggage
unattended.
- Hors d'oeuvres?
- Oh, no, I'm vegan.
I had a Pakistani once...
I'm glad... I'm glad
you're enjoying it.
Good to see you.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Good to see you.
Ah.
- This is amazing.
- Thank you.
Changez?
Changez!
I'm so happy you're here.
I don't recognize my
own voice anymore.
What have you done?
It's... what do you mean?
This is us.
It's about us.
From you too now?
You're the one goddamn person
I trusted in this city,
and now I get this shit,
this fucking shit
from you too now?
Hmm?
- I don't...
I thought... I thought...
I thought you'd be proud of me.
- Why would I be proud?
What?
Proud of being your own
little pet artistic project?
Can we please take this outside?
- No, what?
Was that the idea?
Huh?
How chic! How chic!
"I'm gonna date a Pakistani
after 9/11,
and it's gonna be great
for my bohemian street cred. "
Is that the idea?
- That's completely unfair.
"I fucked the 20th hijacker"?
Huh?
I'm like the ultimate downtown
status symbol right now.
Is that it? You're just
gonna walk away?
That's all you got to say
for yourself?
I mean, are your feelings so pure?
Would you have
been interested in me
if my uncle wasn't your CEO
or if my mother lived in Queens
instead of Park and 85th?
- Are you kidding me?
You're a sick girl.
It was never about that for me!
You might not believe this,
but that is an expression of love.
- You know what it is?
That... that is defamation.
I want it taken down.
Changez, please.
Please, just take a breath.
I can't believe
you're reacting this way.
How do you want me to react?
Please take a breath.
How could you do that?
Stop attacking me!
Stop attacking me
for one minute!
Please stop attacking me!
Please!
Please stop attacking me!
You could do it because
you're reckless.
You're reckless enough
to drive drunk
with the person
you supposedly love
sitting in the passenger seat.
Oh...
Oh, I didn't know...
I didn't know you could
be capable of such cruelty.
Well...
The holding company acquired
Basak Yayimci Publishing
nine years ago.
It used to be a classy press,
but it's hemorrhaging money,
and we need to stop the bleeding.
Nazmi Kemal will not
be happy to see us.
For 42 years,
I've made books.
And through this press,
the greatest Middle Eastern writers
have given their stories to the world.
And you've come here
to render me obsolete.
I have great respect for
the work of publishers.
I've valued half a dozen or so
over the last ten years.
Are you qualified to value me?
Well, no one can put a value
on what you've accomplished here.
My father is a poet.
He's well known in the Punjab.
His greatest friend is his publisher.
You are a keeper of our culture
in this part of the world.
Your father is a poet?
I think you should be ashamed
of yourself,
doing what you're doing here.
Right.
If you'll excuse us,
we need to use your office.
The accounts you asked for.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Last two years.
Right.
Take these figures,
discount it to the net
present value.
What's the ROA?
Zero.
I'll call London.
Changez.
Look what I found.
Part of an anthology
of contemporary poets
from the Punjab.
Your father is Ajmal Khan, correct?
I didn't realize he'd been
translated into Turkish.
That's for you.
Thank you very much.
Would you care to join
me for lunch?
Sure.
Have you heard
of the Janissaries?
No.
They were Christian boys
captured by the Ottomans
to be soldiers in the
mighty Muslim army.
When they came of age,
they were sent to kill
their former families
and destroy
their former homes.
How old were you when
you went to America?
I was 18.
Ah.
Much older.
The Janissaries were always
taken in childhood.
And when they became men,
they were devoted
to their new caretakers
to serve their adopted empire.
I'm not devoted to the empire.
Mm.
I apologize for my demeanor.
I'm working through some
personal matters at the moment.
A woman.
Young men don't make
good mercenaries.
They need a cause to fight.
May I?
Mm.
When you determine
where you stand,
the color will return
to your world.
I'm not so hopeful about
the color returning to mine.
Hey.
Good news.
London gave us the green light
to terminate Nazmi Kemal
and shutter the offices here.
They want us to take care of it
because we're here in person.
So do you want the honors
or should I?
I'll do it.
In the morning?
Good.
Get back to me
as soon as you're done.
Get some rest.
- Okay.
I imagined
those Janissary boys, uprooted,
landing in new homes
with new fathers...
some of them good fathers...
their loyalties terribly divided.
You're deluding yourself that
you have this role here.
You don't.
You don't.
Go home, Bobby.
Go home?
Go home?
Do you have any fucking idea
what happens to your family
if I go home?
Huh?
Once they snatch you
and drop your ass in a cell
in Peshawar...
Seven more students arrested.
We must protest.
Brothers, please listen!
Everyone, listen to me!
Hussain, do what you must,
but do it peacefully.
Remember, no violence.
- Sir, observing situation.
Stand by.
Copy that.
You know, my capacity
for evaluation
hasn't diminished, Bobby.
You know what I see before me?
I see a man with hash
under his fingernails
who likely smokes it alone.
I see the odd white man
who lives in the old quarter
and only ventures out
to buy local food
and local girls...
Who's been here so long
his own blood family
have forgotten him.
And there's nobody here
to replace them.
You're playing a dangerous game,
Changez.
- I'm sorry.
I'm just...
I'm telling you something
that it took me a long time
to realize.
Some truths take their time.
I was just coming to see you.
Interesting message you left me.
You're not letting him go?
What the hell does that mean?
It means that I'm not
gonna fire Nazmi Kemal.
And, in fact, I'm not gonna do
any more evaluations.
I'm quitting the firm, Jim.
You accepted the position
of associate
less than three months ago.
You leave now,
you'll be giving up all hope
of ever doing this kind of work
again anywhere.
You'd be committing
professional suicide.
I know I've let you down, Jim,
and I'm deeply sorry for that.
But I have to tell you
that I'm through.
You're telling me?
You don't tell me!
Can we be civil, Jim?
You think you're the only person
who's experienced
injustice firsthand?
Throw a rock out there
anywhere in this city,
and it'll land on the grave
of someone
who's seen worse than you.
Now, maybe you're having
some kind of a breakdown.
I will see to it that you
will get some rest
after this is done.
But you will treat
my commitment to you
with the respect
that it deserves!
And to myself as well.
I have a commitment to myself.
Do you want to be an insurance
salesman, Changez,
with a mortgage
and a migraine?
Is that the life you envision
for yourself?
As opposed to what?
I have to live in truth.
You taught me, Jim.
You put your fucking shoes on,
and you go down to that office,
and you do the job
you were hired to do!
It's not my job anymore.
# Hear me out, O, Lord... #
# It was you, true Lord, who said... #
# Man, you are king of the world... #
What's he gonna do?
About time.
Fidel.
Is this about me beating you
in basketball?
You're gonna be a great analyst,
Wainwright.
What are you gonna be?
Yes, I read the perspectives,
and more importantly...
# A fine king You made,
O Lord... #
# Who endures life's blows
with grace... #
# I don't want this kingdom, Lord... #
# All I want is a grain of respect... #
# Hear me out, O Lord #
# Heed my plea,
and I'll heed Yours... #
# Curse me if I break this vow... #
# If this pact displeases You... #
# Then let me find
another God... #
- Hey.
- Hi.
Ah, you're...
you're moving.
Yeah.
I should have told you
what I'd been working on.
I wanted to let you in
more than I did.
It's just, everything
about falling in love with you,
Changez, it hurt so much.
- It's okay.
I understand.
I'm sorry about what I said.
Oh.
You're going back to Pakistan?
I have no job, no visa.
I have to leave the country
within two weeks.
You want to come?
Yes.
But my iddat isn't over yet.
You haven't eaten in two days.
Good to see you, Mr. Khan.
And you, Professor Rainier.
We've experienced an exodus
of foreign professors
from Lahore in the past
several months.
I need an answer quickly.
So two months ago,
I was sitting in my office
on the 53rd floor of a
Manhattan skyscraper.
I was living my dream...
the American dream.
So now I'm back.
What I'd like your help with is,
is there a Pakistani dream?
One that doesn't involve emigrating.
It seems we...
we put out our begging bowl
to other countries.
We do exactly
what they tell us to do,
and then we despise them for it.
After a while, we start
to despise ourselves for it.
I know I did.
If we wish to be self-reliant...
We need to talk about taxes.
So you were talking
about options.
What are the options
for Pakistan right now?
Would you like to join us
at one of our meetings?
If you look at the stats,
we don't actually tax
our population.
So let's start
on the national level,
and we'll break it down to personal.
The only way the government...
- Khan.
I'd like to introduce Mustafa Fazil.
This is Professor Changez Khan.
Talk to me, Bobby.
What's going on?
It's called progress.
It takes time.
Time's up, pal.
I've got to get you out of here.
I don't need a second American
kidnapped today.
Students, cooperate
with the police or else!
Free the students!
Out, America, out!
- Sir, are you all right?
- Yeah...
The students are fired up.
It's explosive.
If you come busting in here now,
you're gonna blow everything.
He's gonna lead us to Fazil.
I know it.
If you don't have a location
on Rainier,
we're wasting time;
I'm coming in.
I need you to go out there
and keep them calm for me.
They don't listen to me.
And your family is really
worried about you.
Tell them I'm fine.
Phone them.
Stay low.
Cooper, no.
Coop?
We're going in!
Everything okay?
What's going on?
It's okay.
We need to talk...
Alone.
Are the police cooperating?
Don't count on it.
Go! Go!
Go!
Go, go, go!
We need to talk about Anse Rainier.
Okay, let's talk about him.
Have you seen all the rumors
in the newspapers?
Do you know what the students
are saying about him?
Look, Changez,
an extraction team
is on their way here.
If you don't give me something...
Call it off!
Bobby, what do you think
is going to happen
when they get here?
Do you think all these young men
are just gonna stand idly by?
all: Out, police, out!
Out, police, out!
Huh?
You need to ask yourself
if you think
all those lives are worth
risking to save one.
Who is Anse Rainier?
He's an academic.
He teaches English to orphans
on his day off.
The guy doesn't have
a violent bone in his body.
He read my galleys
for the Massoud book.
He's a friend, a mentor,
like Jim Cross was to you.
If that's true, Bobby,
you should think very carefully
about who your friends are.
The only way the government...
Salaam.
So you were in America when
they attacked Afghanistan.
Yes.
How did you feel
when you saw the bombs dropping
on your brothers and sisters?
I felt angry.
Yeah, Americans speak of equality,
then take 100 Muslim lives
to avenge 1 life of their own.
They speak of democracy,
then support kings and dictators.
Changez...
You have an office
in the faculty building.
Yes, I do.
Changez...
Many Muslims can
sympathize passively.
A mujahid acts.
There are items,
tools of resistance,
that we would like to store
in your office.
Yeah.
A wise and effective mujahid
appears to the enemy
as a negotiable man.
He hides behind masks.
Wear this mask for us, Changez.
I'm asking you
to join the fight.
I was his for the taking.
I had seen firsthand
the arrogant America
he described,
the blindness,
the hypocrisy, the xenophobia.
My anger had congealed,
hardened by injustice
and disappointment.
Of course I would fight.
Of course I would bleed the enemy.
But then he used that word...
Our only hope as a people
are the fundamental truths
given to us in the Q'uran.
We do that by focusing
on the fundamentals.
With due respect...
These young men were engaged
in their own valuation,
just like Underwood Samson,
moving human beings in and out
of binary columns:
worker, liability, American, Pakistani,
martyr, infidel, alive, dead.
I was tired of the reduction.
I was tired of deciding
from a distant perch
the fate of people
I did not know.
Yes, I'm a Pakistani.
Yes, I'm a Muslim.
Yes, I'm an opponent of
your country's assault on mine.
But that's not all I am.
We're both more
than these things, Bobby.
And I've never taken up arms,
and I never will,
so please, tell them
to leave my family alone.
Hey!
Hand me those petrol bombs!
Wait a minute.
What's going on?
Where are you going?
Rainier's fate is not in my hands.
Stop all this!
Changez.
Hey, Changez!
Wait!
Police dogs!
Servants of America!
- Listen!
- I've said all I had to say.
I heard you back there.
I did.
I'm tired of taking sides too.
I just want to bring
my friend home.
When you picked a side
after 9/11,
you said they came to you.
So who invited you
to join the fight?
It was your friend, wasn't it?
Professor Rainier
was in Afghanistan in 2001.
I remember him talking about it.
Just tell me the truth!
You know the truth!
Rainier brought me in.
He was a case officer.
No, wait!
Wait, Changez.
Wait.
We can stop this right now,
you and me.
If that extraction team
comes in here,
all hell's gonna break loose,
and you know it.
Do you have any idea
what it means
for me to help the CIA
in my own country?
Please, Changez.
Try to see the man.
He has a wife... her name's Alissa...
and two small girls,
Sophie and Molly.
Let me call them, please.
Let me call them and tell them
that he's safe.
I can't.
I can't.
Sir, the cops are roughing up
the students.
Only you can control them!
I'll be right there.
I'm coming!
Then do it for your students,
for their future,
because you and I both agree
they deserve one.
There's a butcher's shop
near Sheranwala Gate.
I've heard a student
talk about it.
There's a back room.
You can only get to it
through the freezer.
I heard Asal Mujahideen
sometimes use it.
Now call them off.
Thank you.
You did the right thing.
I'm calling it in.
Don't move.
Get out!
The police!
Stay calm!
No one go outside!
Junaid, calm them down.
Don't worry, sir.
Sameer, go outside.
Calm them.
Amreh, hello?
Amreh, I know where Rainier is.
You're cutting out.
What?
Bobby, can you hear me?
At Sheranwala... hello?
Bobby, can you...
Police have been warned
and will assist.
At Sheran... hello?
Fuck.
Brothers, listen to me, please!
Everything's okay.
Sit down.
Did you call them off?
Who were you texting?
My sister.
Show me your phone, Changez.
What?
Show me your phone.
Why?
Put your hands on the counter.
What are you doing?
He has a gun!
He has a gun!
What a fucker!
Move!
Get it?
What are you doing?
Put your fucking hands
on the counter now.
Get back!
Fool!
He has a gun!
What the fuck are
you doing, Bobby?
You texted your sister, huh?
Yes, I did.
- Yeah?
- Yes.
Then what the fuck is this?
Why, Changez?
Why?
Kept us nice and busy
while you gave your pals
a head start, didn't you?
Huh?
You're making a mistake
that's gonna get us both killed.
Just give me your phone.
Get back!
Let's go, real slow.
Back!
Step back!
Step back!
Professor Khan is in danger!
You're gonna get us
both killed, Bobby.
all: Professor! Professor!
Step back!
Step back!
We're with you, brother!
Move!
Ah!
Sameer!
Sameer!
Step back!
Step back!
Just secure Bobby and
get the hell back here.
Go, go, go!
We got you, Bobby!
Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Come on!
What the fuck happened?
He gave us away.
I caught him texting when
I went to get my phone.
That's why they killed Anse.
- When?
- Ah!
15 minutes ago.
- No, we found Rainier.
- I know. I know.
A butcher shop at Sheranwala Gate.
What are you talking about?
We found Rainier in a
morgue in Karachi.
We got word 20 minutes ago,
but he was dumped there
this morning.
This morning?
Shit.
Local intelligence verified
that Changez rejected Fazil.
We misread him.
Shit.
Sameer's parents wish me
to address you.
They understand
our strong emotion.
Emotions give us courage.
I have another message
from his family.
If our innocent, smiling Sameer
could hear it...
He would fully agree.
They ask us not to cry
for their son.
Too many tears have flowed
into the river.
They ask us not to take revenge
in their son's name.
Too much blood has
flowed into that river.
They ask us not to curse fate.
Allah holds our son
in His embrace.
Wipe your tears!
And pray for a future
free of dictators and tyrants...
Free of all invaders.
Come, bring your loved ones.
Go tell the majestic sun
to preserve its precious rays.
We'll teach the core of our own
beings to glow with its light.
Would you please listen
to the whole story,
not just bits and pieces?
Do I have your word?
You do.
Looks can be deceiving.
I am a lover of America.
Well, I prefer movies
that make me forget
about the problems
with the world.
Come on, Yaar.
I mean, "Bol" is a brave movie.
It had to be made.
And you know all the students
in the union
are just raving about it.
Bravo, son!
Uncle, your medicine.
Damn good bootlegger, yeah?
This divine music...
Sweetens the sting of death.
How many people are there?
What are you doing?
Get off me!
Don't hurt him!
Is there anyone to help me?
Please, don't go.
- All okay, son?
- Absolutely.
Jamal, salaam.
Hello, Mr. Bobby.
Alissa?
It's Bobby calling from Lahore.
Listen...
Something's happened.
Cooper...
We've got something.
We have sound?
I'm a professor.
I'm a professor.
I didn't do anything.
Please...
Please, don't kill me.
Please, don't kill me.
I didn't do anything.
This won't help you.
Please, don't...
That's all.
Let's do our own checking
at the university.
Get CTC on the line, please.
They sent a tape.
This place has the best tea
in Lahore.
And do you take sugar, Bobby?
No, thank you.
Well, you have waited
a very long time
for this interview,
and for that,
I must apologize.
Oh, I'm just glad we
could finally do it.
I finally felt the time was right.
Do you mind if I record?
Let's enjoy our tea for
a moment, please.
Oh, I loved your early work.
Your book on Massoud
fighting the Taliban...
great stuff.
I'm still trying to figure out
who wrote the other two.
Oh, thank you.
I'm flattered that you read them.
Nobody move!
Stay calm.
- What's this?
- Shall we take them in?
Sir, the police are here.
Get up!
Search him.
Enough.
Catch that boy!
They seem a little edgy.
Our police become
very animated
when it's an American
that's been kidnapped.
You teach at the same
university as Anse Rainier.
I do.
Don't you think he's
worth looking for?
By roughing up people who
had nothing to do with it?
I've heard the group
taking responsibility
recruits here.
What makes you so sure
they had nothing to do with it?
They're my students.
And they're innocent
until proven otherwise.
I learned that from CSI: Miami.
Yeah.
Hmm.
Do you think he's still alive?
So tell me, Bobby,
what exactly is the article about?
Well, I'm still working on it,
but so far the logline is,
"Pakistan's New Militant Academia. "
Am I part of the new
militant academia?
I don't know.
Are you?
You know, the answer
to that question
may challenge some of
your preconceived notions.
Changez, I'm a journalist.
Generally, we try to avoid
preconceived notions.
But of course.
- You mind if I...
- Yes.
I only ask one thing.
That you please listen
to the whole story
from the very beginning,
not just bits and pieces.
Do I have your word?
You do.
Looks can be deceiving.
I am a lover of America.
Although I was raised to feel
very Pakistani.
After all, the blood of princes
runs in my veins.
Perhaps that's an exaggeration.
Let's say the princes and I
moved in the same circles.
We attended the same schools...
Lived in the same neighborhoods.
But all of a sudden,
there were new princes in town.
Hey, Chingu!
Buy a new car.
Time to junk your oxcart.
Yes, we still had the prestige
of a Punjab Club membership...
Abu, we need a new car.
But our bank account was empty.
And retire this magnificent chariot?
Nonsense.
These new-money scoundrels
are ruining the place.
Your Bina madam's waiting.
Bond!
What vulgar clothes.
No one will marry you.
Ammi, please.
I'm the Bond girl.
It's no joke.
They're lining up.
Go, work in India.
There, anything goes.
"Though memories fade,
"may Allah never free you
from my love. "
Changez, remember,
your father's a poet.
Sing for us.
Mm-mm.
He doesn't want to sing
those songs anymore, Ajju.
He's an American now.
Va, va, va, va...
Listen, son.
He fusses over you
because he loves you.
You know that, right?
Cigarette?
Poems don't buy generators.
Somebody has to be
where the money is.
Hey, Chingu,
take me to New York with you.
I could be the dazzling
new ethnic friend
on Sex and the City
or something.
But, Chan, what about
your Mr. Bond?
Oh, please.
Bond?
I'd drop him in a second
for Mr. Big.
All I want is a loft in SoHo,
weekend in the Hamptons,
and a pair of big,
fake American boobs.
What? Is that too much to ask?
Not at all.
God bless America.
God bless America, indeed.
God bless its level playing fields.
God bless winning.
See you next Friday.
Changes, take a seat.
You have 20 minutes
to convince me
that you belong
at Underwood Samson.
Well, I've never gotten a B
in my entire life.
Touch wood.
And I'm about to graduate
summa cum laude.
Good... although I've heard
that line several times today.
What else?
Well, I also played
varsity soccer
four years straight.
I'm glad you got some exercise.
Changes, a position at our firm
as a financial analyst
is one the most sought-after
jobs in the entire world.
Lift up the hood.
Show me what makes you run.
Where are you from?
Lahore in Pakistan.
Are you on financial aid?
Yes, I am.
It's more difficult for
an international student
to be accepted at an
Ivy League school
if they apply for aid.
You must have really needed
the money.
Yeah, I did.
The accent's great.
Makes you sound like royalty.
How did your rich-kid friends
at Princeton
react to your Horatio Alger story?
Most of them don't even know
where their bootstraps are.
You know what, Jim?
We don't really discuss it.
I know you're seeing
a lot of people today, so...
Wait.
Your friends here
don't even know, do they?
That's interesting.
That's lifting up the hood.
So tell me, Changes,
why did you want to come
to America?
For future reference, Jim,
it's "Changez. "
In America,
I get an equal chance to win.
And whether or not
you hire me, Jim,
I am going to win.
Good fucking answer.
Thank you, God!
I was a soldier
in your economic army.
I worshiped in those
magnificent temples
of money and steel
where men in tailored suits
control the fate
of billion-dollar corporations...
men like me.
You got skylines like that
back home?
You're all smart.
The game changer at
this stage is will.
Do you want excellence
more than the person
sitting next to you?
At Underwood Samson,
we do not get paid for hunches.
The reason why our fees
are higher than any other firm
is because of our unparalleled ability
to not only assess value
but to create it in our
clients' businesses.
We do that by focusing
on the fundamentals.
This is a hypothetical business.
Thanks to groundbreaking research,
BNUS Transportation,
using 11-foot-tall cylinders,
can teleport travelers
to any destination
in the world instantly.
Buenos Aires to Cairo
in a second and a half.
I want you to tell me
what the company is worth.
Information is in your binders.
You have one hour.
Okay.
Is he serious?
So that's as per the third quarter.
Please, continue.
And because of these factors,
I project the total value
of BNUS at $48 billion
with revenue growing at an
average 52% per annum
for the first two years.
I'm not with you
on the growth rate.
Changez,
I've got a five-star
safety rating
from A.B. Townes.
My travel cylinders only cost
11 million bucks apiece.
What is your analysis?
Your company is worthless.
What?
Care to clarify?
Well, A.B. Townes is
all well and good,
but if your business
is convincing a mother
that you can successfully
disarticulate
and then reassemble
all the molecules
in her five-year-old
thousands of miles away,
this technology
is at least a generation away
from practical,
widespread usage.
Is that a hunch?
Because you're not getting paid
for hunches.
No.
Page 68.
Your own market surveys show
72% of your potential travelers
would never use the cylinders
no matter how safe you
proved that they were.
So I should just pack up
and go home?
No, I'm saying you should
pack other people up
and go into shipping.
The same... the same
polling suggests
that 94% of clients
would be okay
with you teleporting
their baggage.
So your business isn't travel;
it's shipping...
subcontainer-scale shipping.
Real-world assignments
come in on Monday.
Nothing too exciting.
Everybody will be disappointed.
Almost everybody.
Go, brother.
# Let's go #
# Uh-huh, yeah, yeah #
# Top-level philanderer #
# My time in the camera #
# Reason why she's smiling #
# 'Cause I'm nice
with the algebra #
# President, I rose to the top
of my class #
# Model chick by my side #
# Champagne in the glass #
# And she telling me #
# Papi far ahead
in these lanes #
# So such-and-such #
# Should probably
just stop speaking my name #
# I'm the boss here,
the king would never... #
Toss it, Wainwright.
Ow!
Plays out like this.
First, B-school.
Second, run my own hedge fund.
Third, philanthropy.
And in 25 years,
I'm gonna be devoted full-time
to wiping out malaria.
What if someone takes out
malaria before you get there?
Well, I'll pick the next
available disease
and kick its ass too.
If that lazy fuck Posada
would learn to slide like that,
we'll get another pennant
this year.
Well, unlike you commoners,
I have a law degree.
I'm gonna run a Fortune 500 company
until I hit ten digits.
What about you, Changeez?
Where do you see
yourself in 25 years?
25 years...
I'm gonna be the dictator
of an Islamic republic
with nuclear capability.
Anyone want a soda?
No, I'm good...
Saddam.
He really scared me.
Thought he was for serious.
Thank you.
Wow.
Ooh!
Whoa!
What the hell was that?
That was Herman.
He overshot his gap.
Herman, are you okay?
Oh, man.
Yeah, I'm good.
You all right?
Oh, I hope I got that.
Your expression was amazing.
You're not hurt, are you?
No, lost a couple of inches of hair,
but apart from that...
Oh, you know what?
It's a little out of focus.
Excuse me!
Could you do that again?
Do... do that again?
It looks great.
Yeah, sure.
Oh, thanks.
All right.
Like, one or two feet higher.
Come on.
Go fly, Herman.
I'll strap my wings on.
I'm sorry.
Is this, like, a magazine
shoot or something?
No, no, no.
It's not that official.
I'm just photographing
these guys for a new project.
I wasn't trying
to kill you, so...
And I won't kill you.
I promise.
We'll see.
In Lahore... in Pakistan,
where I'm from...
kids don't fly on skateboards;
they fly kites.
Kites?
Really?
I don't know your name.
- Oh, Changez.
- Ah.
Stay on your mark, Changez.
Changez.
Changez...
That's right.
Very good.
Okay, Herman?
He's coming, isn't he?
He's coming.
I can feel him.
- Whoo!
- Sweet, Herman!
Great.
Okay.
- Right.
- Sorry, got to run.
Is there a way I can...
Hey.
You're my William Tell.
You know,
with the apple and the...
Right.
Shot it.
Bye.
Wainwright.
Mm!
Couldn't get the number,
could you, Mobutu?
He was right.
I'd missed my moment.
Here I am rambling on,
and I haven't offered you
anything to eat.
I'm sorry.
Junaid!
Yes, Khan, sir.
Get us a chicken curry.
Dall and two naans.
Okay?
A rogani naan for me.
Wow.
I think I'm growing on him.
Students...
The police are here
for your protection.
Do not interfere
with Professor Rainier's
investigation.
Do not forget,
demonstrating and disrupting
the peace is forbidden.
We advise you
to return to class
and cooperate
with the police.
It's serious.
The police are everywhere.
Forget them.
Poetry is serious too.
As Khan sir says...
"The most transcendent poetry
is, by definition, political. "
So you want poetry
to do the protesting?
Why not?
Mm.
All well, sir?
You're always where
the food is, no?
Why aren't you at home
marking these exams?
Yeah, well...
Ahmad and those guys
wanted me to protest,
but you know me.
I need lunch
before I can protest.
Presenting the militant academic.
Bobby Lincoln, this is my
teaching assistant, Sameer.
Watch out.
He knows Urdu.
Peace be upon you.
And you.
Peace be with you, brothers.
Ali, start your protest
so I can go home!
So, Bobby, I must ask you.
Why do you think they'd
be harassing my family?
I can't speak for the
American authorities,
but I think it's safe to assume
they consider you
a person of interest.
And they make these decisions
with what evidence?
So how do... how do I
become uninteresting?
Look, Changez,
the kidnapping of an
American citizen
is about as heavy
as it gets for them.
And I'm sure if you were willing
to go in and talk to them,
they'd probably be able
to help you.
You think I had something to do
with this kidnapping, Bobby?
I'm not the one you
have to convince.
Is that the first lie you've
told me today?
They've got Asif.
Some things are heating up.
- I know nothing.
- Give us their names!
I must warn you, Bobby,
I find it very difficult
to confess all
to a man I know so little about.
Fair enough.
What do you want to know?
Well, what drew you
to our part of the world?
Well, for one thing,
it's a hell of a lot
more interesting
than Paterson, New Jersey.
"Your nest is not atop the
dome of a royal palace.
"Your next is not atop
the dome of a royal palace.
"You are a royal falcon.
Build your nest
on a mountain peak. "
Wow.
Iqbal.
So now Lahore is your nest.
Been here seven years.
Your Urdu is quite good.
I've picked some up.
Looks like you picked up a
couple of weights too, huh?
You look quite solid
for a journalist.
Thank you.
Like somebody who could move
very quickly
in the event of an emergency.
I'm not anticipating any
emergencies, are you?
The future is very hard to predict.
Oh, not if you're an analyst
from Underwood Samson.
Yes. The Navy SEALs
of finance, eh?
You know, like the SEALs,
our special talent set us apart.
We were catapulted
into privilege.
I felt I was entering
in New York
exactly the same social class
my parents were falling out of
in Lahore.
Hey, Underwood's worth it.
I hear his brownstone's worth
$16 million.
Well, mozzarella stick,
when I'm CEO
and you're my butler,
you're gonna wear tails.
- Gentlemen.
- All right, all right.
So shall we, gentlemen?
- Thank you, good sir.
- You're welcome.
I hear he has a Monet
over the pisser
in the master bathroom.
Interesting piece, isn't it?
Hello, Mr. Underwood.
Thank you for having me.
Changez.
The artist is having her
first solo show very soon.
I advise getting in early.
Yes, it's impressive.
Oh, my God.
You've got to be kidding me.
Actually, Erica,
this discerning young man
was just admiring your work.
Oh.
You know him already.
My William Tell.
Yes.
He's very courageous.
Well, if my niece
is vouching for you,
I think Jim Cross
better watch out
for his corner office.
You drink, Changez?
- Yes, I do.
- Good!
I had a Pakistani once.
He didn't drink.
Oh, Jesus, Uncle Max...
What?
You got something
for this fellow?
Matter of fact, we do.
I was just about to talk to him
about our project
in the Philippines...
auto business.
Interested?
- Yes, definitely.
- Good.
Well, let me know
about Sunday
at the Greenwich house,
my darling.
Okay.
Bring your friend if you like.
Mm.
Can I borrow you
for a moment?
You clean up very nicely.
Thank you.
I'm sorry about being related
to that knucklehead
of an uncle.
Oh, go easy on him.
It's not easy to grow up
in the slums of Connecticut,
right?
No.
Erica, darling!
Oh!
You know,
I knew a Pakistani once,
and he saved me from small talk
at a Wall Street party.
Really?
Did he drink, though?
Because I hear they don't drink.
# I want you to be #
# I want you #
# So this is... #
Your father is a poet.
- Yes.
- I don't believe you.
- Why would I make that up?
- Unbelievable.
You know how often I dream
of having a family full of poets?
What?
No, I'm serious.
Is he published?
Yeah.
His laser-sharp words
and his inadequate salary
are well known
throughout the Punjab.
Wow.
Who was that guy jumping
in your painting?
My boyfriend, Chris.
Is he... is that your
current boyfriend?
He died 23 weeks ago.
We grew up together.
Wow.
I'm sorry.
My friends keep saying,
you know, "Turn the page. "
"Lift the black veil. "
And it's just...
I wish it was that easy.
People back home have
this thing called iddat.
It's like, um... it's like the period
that a woman is allowed
to mourn her husband.
But she's only allowed
to mourn him
for four months
and ten days.
And then it's over?
Mm-hmm.
Right.
That'd be nice.
It's okay to turn the corner.
You're already two months
into overtime.
I don't mean to be flippant.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's good.
It helps.
# I want you to be #
# I want you #
# Come on now,
so sure #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
# I want you to be #
No, no.
Blues originated in West Africa.
Okay, you can say it as
many times as you like...
The blues originated
in West Africa.
Actually, I don't really know
what I'm talking about.
Look at this.
Okay, so all these pictures of me...
you've got to have
a little crush on me.
You have a very
healthy self-esteem.
That's good to see.
You know what this says to me?
This is saying,
"Changez, throw a burka on me
"and confiscate
my college degree
and take me home to Mama. "
Would I have to wear a burka?
You look so serious.
Oh, my God.
Get out.
- What?
- Don't do that.
Don't make fun of me.
- "Do I have to wear a burka?"
How am I making fun of you?
What?
You know...
After you told me stories
about Lahore,
I kept hearing your voice
afterwards.
You know, I don't recognize
my own voice anymore.
It sounds all tinny and fake,
like someone who doesn't
come from anywhere.
You sound real to me.
Oh, God...
I feel like I'm cheating.
Should we stop?
Oh, I want to.
I want to, but I can't.
Pretend I'm him.
Oh, Manila, Manila.
Hide your virgins
and your extra layers
of middle management,
'cause we're not here
to play.
- Welcome.
- Good morning.
Changez Khan from New York.
We had one goal:
to figure out
how much profit
this company
could really throw off.
How do you squeeze
more productivity
out of a company that pays
its workers 5 bucks a day?
I think the fat is there.
Let me get this straight.
You're saying that they
can effectively lose
1/4 of their workforce?
- 1/3.
- 1/3 is a big chunk.
I'd feel more comfortable
shooting for a 15% reduction.
May I?
Please.
Okay, so this entire sector
is devoted to fixing mistakes
that they make
on the assembly line.
I say, let's get in a team
from Japan
and fix the line.
Then we can get the
current error rate of 11%
down to industry standard,
which is 4% to 5%.
Then this entire crew
becomes completely superfluous.
Boy, that's brutal.
That's too aggressive.
That line is already
at capacity.
I want to put together
a team of consultants...
the best, ex-Toyota maybe.
I want them here soon...
like tomorrow.
Done.
You have a gift for this,
a very lucrative gift.
Please.
I have a theory about those
who have the gift.
They're outsiders.
You and I have a lot more
in common than you think.
I was the first in my family
to go to college.
My father was a car salesman.
He would come visit me at Harvard
with his cheap haircut
and his Payless shoes,
and it would make me hungry,
hungry to be the best.
You're hungry like that too.
So...
Where do you see yourself
in the next ten years?
I'd like to be a managing director
at Underwood Samson by 30.
Why not 27?
The first step to becoming
a managing director
is to be made an associate.
We'll start laying down
the groundwork
as soon as we get home.
Until then,
consider this a down payment.
You're a long way
from Lahore, kid.
Let's eat.
Um, I... I don't know
which tower it hit,
but it hit directly in the middle
of one of the World
Trade Center towers.
Sean, what kind of plane?
Was it a small plane, a jet?
It was a jet.
It looked a two-engine jet,
you know, maybe a 737.
We are talking about
a large passenger jet.
A large passenger commercial jet,
that's right.
And where were...
Oh, my God!
- Oh...
- Oh, my God.
That looks like
a second plane.
Now it's obvious,
I think...
Right now, we can recap
and tell you
that two planes have hit
the towers.
It looks like there's
a lot of smoke.
We're still trying
to get information.
Police are telling us,
if you're in the area,
please get out of the area ASAP.
Stay with us as we get
more information.
There was a huge explosion.
I can't really see very well
right now,
so what I'm trying to do
is just head out...
head over to the
Hudson River, so...
In that moment, I should have
felt sorrow or anger,
but all I felt was awe.
What audacity.
The ruthlessness of the act
was surpassed
only by its genius,
that David had struck Goliath.
I'm sorry if my reaction
to the attacks
has offended you, Bobby.
I hope you see that
I'm not celebrating
the death of 3,000 innocents,
just as you would not celebrate
the death of 100,000
in Baghdad or Kabul,
for that matter.
But before conscience kicks in,
have you never felt a split
second of pleasure
at arrogance brought low?
And you ask me why they're
harassing your family?
Let's just cut the bullshit, okay?
You believe in violence
as a tool for social change.
You teach a course
in violent revolution
at Lahore University.
Your lectures are full
of anti-American rhetoric.
We will wipe the blood of the
invaders from our swords!
If that weren't enough,
you were spotted at an
Asal Mujahideen meeting
with Mustafa Fazil,
a known cell leader.
I think I can help.
I knew you would.
What are you doing?
Last night, Anse Rainier
was kidnapped,
and this morning,
your class was canceled.
If you're just an innocent
bystander, Changez,
why were you hiding?
Only guilty people hide.
Your candor is appreciated, Bobby,
but your conclusions are wrong.
See, all this rhetoric such as,
"We will wipe the blood
of the invaders from our sword,"
this is like undercooked meat.
It's satisfying
when times are lean,
but if you gorge yourself on it,
you will get sick.
Now, I may be an opponent
of American interference in Pakistan
but so are many of your
own generals.
Classes on revolution
are taught at Duke.
Are all those professors
planning on blowing up
federal buildings?
I did attend a meeting
at the Jamia Madrasah.
A madrasah is a place
of learning, Bobby,
and I'm a teacher.
My work takes me
to all kinds of places,
just as your work
has brought you here.
My thinking
is that knowledge is power,
not just religious knowledge but...
You say guilty people hide.
So do people who feel hunted.
I missed my lectures for
a much more direct reason.
What the hell is this?
They entered my home
and attacked my family.
Who did this?
A calamity!
Bandy!
Who did this to you?
Three agency bastards
showed up.
We have to get you
to a hospital.
Changez, they attack your uncle.
They follow Ammi around
in the Sabzi Mandi.
Why this massive campaign
against you?
Ammi, this is all going to stop, okay?
I promise you.
Why do you have to keep giving
these firebrand lectures?
And where are you going now?
Stay out of it.
- Keep an eye on him.
- I'll be there.
A few days after my
house was raided...
my uncle's shoulder shattered
and his ribs broken...
my office was ransacked.
These are the people
who tore my office apart.
But that shouldn't surprise you,
should it, Bobby?
You were there.
I recognized you
from your column.
So you're a spook.
Shit.
Fuck.
Is there someplace private
we can talk?
Bobby!
Bobby!
What the hell?
Lincoln!
Bobby!
Get me another frequency.
Bobby, I want you
to exfil out of there now.
What the hell are you doing?
Fuck!
We got surveillance on the roof?
- Yes.
- Cover the fucking roof!
Did you go to them,
or did they come to you?
Look, Changez...
Don't insult me.
You want to have a dialogue?
Let's have a dialogue.
Did you go to them,
or did they come to you?
They came to me.
How does that happen?
How do you go from
writing so passionately
against intervention
in this region to this?
You want to know
how it happened?
I'll tell you.
In 2001,
while you were busy
getting rich in New York City,
I was in Takhar Province,
Afghanistan.
A friend introduced me
to Ahmad Shah Massoud.
I spent a week interviewing him.
He was opening
schools for girls,
talking about democracy,
resisting the Taliban.
I know he had blood
on his hands,
but he stood for something,
meant something to people,
and that's why I thought
we didn't need to be there.
Massoud never got the chance
to read my book.
Six months after it came out,
he was killed by a bomb
hidden in a video camera.
Two days after that,
the same guys that killed him
took down the towers.
And that's when I realized
I'd been wrong.
We did need to be here.
So I picked a side.
Look.
You obviously knew who I was
coming into this, so...
So what?
Are we still having
a conversation?
Are you still a writer?
You may be a spook.
But if anyone can
help me, it's you.
You picked a side after 9/11.
I didn't have to.
It was picked for me.
All unattended bags
will be removed
by airport police
and immediately seized
and destroyed.
Please do not leave
bags unattended.
Note to self:
don't fuck with the
United States military.
U.S. citizen or foreign national?
Foreign national.
Could I see your passport, please?
- Step over here, sir.
- Sorry, is there a problem?
- He's an employee of mine...
- Follow me, please.
Don't worry about it, man.
I'll catch up with you guys.
Come on.
Let's go.
He's not what they're looking for.
Stand right there.
I'll take your belongings.
I need you to remove
all of your outerwear
and place it on that chair.
So you want me to strip?
Remove your outerwear.
Who did you stay with?
Were you by yourself?
And if not,
who did you travel with?
Arms out.
Face this way.
Arms out to your side.
Arms down.
Step over here.
Remove your underwear,
bend over,
place your hands right here,
and spread your legs.
Put your clothes on.
So what happened?
They actually made you strip?
Let's say they were very thorough.
This whole city's
in a state of panic.
60 bomb scares yesterday.
I just found that my college
roommate's father
was in the second tower
when it fell.
It's just a nightmare.
Guess people circle the wagons
after something like this.
Apparently they close
the borders too.
Could you blame them?
Lunatics hijacked planes
from two different states,
killing thousands of people,
not to mention themselves.
It's beyond human comprehension.
How does that happen?
How does it happen like that?
What makes you think
I'd know?
Nothing.
You...
Sorry, Changez.
All I'm saying is,
before I'd start
a full F-16, tank-ass war
against the entire Muslim world,
I'd give the CIA,
INTERPOL, whoever,
a chance to track these
motherfuckers down.
We got hit first.
It's Pearl Harbor
all over again.
It's common fucking sense.
I'm not saying you're wrong,
but what nation-state
attacked us?
Nation-state, my ass!
You're splitting hairs.
- Am I?
- Yeah.
They believe God told them
to blow us up.
It's in their book.
It's in their book?
Yeah.
Whatever it's called.
I watched as American patriotism
took on different forms.
American flags.
God bless America.
Aha!
You want?
For some people,
it provided comfort;
for others, a profit.
Hey, give me flag too.
Go!
$10, $10.
And for the vulnerable,
it became a shield.
American-led military attacks
continue tonight
against targets throughout Afghanistan.
Even as the first emergency...
I'm famished.
We ordered two lassis.
It's bad times, man.
Seven more attacks
in the last week.
Is this the line for chai?
You hear about Sodhi
in Arizona?
They shot him
right on the street.
It's really bad for the Sikhs.
Sikhs are in trouble.
Any beard or turban is a target.
Not a problem for you, eh?
Suited, booted.
Good for you.
No plastic here.
- Give him his tea.
- No, no, please.
Don't embarrass me.
You are like my brother.
Thanks.
I might have been suited
and booted,
but I felt just as vulnerable
as they did.
There was only one place
I felt safe...
With her.
You want to learn
how to say "love"?
Yeah.
There's not just one way
of saying it.
- There's, like, two or three.
- Okay, okay.
Okay, so there's ishq.
Ishq.
Ishq.
Ishq.
Mm.
Well done.
And then there's pyaar.
Pyaar.
That's quite good.
Yeah?
- You're good at this.
- Pyaar.
You said this word before
to someone?
Ishq.
Pyaar.
This isn't your first time, is it?
Mohabbat.
Mohabbat.
I can't believe
they're not there.
It's crazy.
It was a time of uncertainty.
For me, the only things certain
were love and profit.
It wasn't long before the
economic laws of nature
reasserted themselves.
Small companies were again
swallowed up by big ones.
Those that didn't grow would die.
Some stakeholders are obviously
you people right here.
That's why need to revisit...
For the 25 years that
I've worked here,
per union rules,
we only take those requests
in writing.
See, with due respect,
that is exactly the kind
of bureaucratic mind-set
we're trying to challenge here.
I am not a bureaucrat.
We don't have to like each other.
We just have to get the job done.
Now, pull out the union contracts.
We might need to cancel
some of them.
- He's young.
- I've worked here 25 years.
What the hell am I supposed to do?
Hi, stranger.
When are you coming back?
I miss you.
Fuck you, Osama.
A tiny slice of violence
had wormed its way into my life,
and I didn't know
how to remove it.
What was soft inside me
fell away.
What was hard became harder.
Talk to me, Bobby.
What's going on?
I need more time.
You're exposed, and the clock
is ticking on Rainier.
Turn your target now,
or we're taking him to Peshawar
to put the screws on him.
Okay.
What did Massoud do
to members of his force
that collaborated
with the Taliban?
He slit their throats.
Yes, he did.
Do you want that
to happen to me, Bobby?
Is there something
you're not telling me?
Juniad, look at that.
Careful.
Watch out.
Brother...
Khan, sir, let's go down.
Hurry.
Each moment is precious,
Bobby.
Come.
It's time to go inside.
Where is the security guard?
Hello?
I'm talking to you, Ma.
Hello?
Keep the candles safely.
Trouble could break out anytime.
The sweets go in the kitchen,
the soft drinks too.
Ma, you're being stubborn.
I'll make one phone call
to the caterers.
They will handle everything, okay?
Baita, with the shortages,
the prices have doubled up.
We just can't afford it.
No, what we can't afford
is for you to collapse,
okay, because you're trying
to organize
your daughter's wedding
singlehandedly.
Just let me do it.
It's done.
My prince.
Out of my sight.
One thing.
Don't tell Abu.
Okay, I won't.
Okay, talk later.
Love you, baita.
Uh-huh.
Okay.
God be with you.
Hello!
Enough already!
- Just... just look at me.
- Hello?
Just look at... okay, fine.
Fine, fine, fine.
You're unbelievable.
Do you know that?
I'm worried about my mom here.
She's going nuts
because of the wedding.
A wedding gets her closer
to grandchildren.
That's what she wants, right?
Yeah, I guess.
I made your mom and dad
something for the wedding.
That's why you wanted the photos?
Your ma is so gorgeous.
Mm.
You're gorgeous.
Thank you.
Mm.
Do you ever think about kids?
Um...
I did before,
but the world's a little scarier now,
so I'm not as sure
as I used to be.
My parents never said it
out loud,
but I know they want
two things in life.
They want security
in their old age,
and they want grandchildren.
And you want to
give that to them.
Yeah.
They're my parents.
You have a sense of filial duty.
Yeah, I guess
I'm old-fashioned like that.
It's nice.
So does that mean
you're persuadable?
I don't know.
Hey.
Erica?
Hey, what is it?
What's wrong?
Erica...
Ah.
I can't believe I'm talking
about having kids
with another man.
Honey, it was just talking.
It was just fooling around.
And I'm not another man.
No, no, no.
No, no.
You are another man.
You are.
Chris... he didn't have any family.
Not like you.
I was his family, okay?
I was his family,
and I'm forgetting him.
Oh, God.
You know, I had been...
I'd been drinking,
and Chris asked me
if I was okay to drive,
and I said yes.
I killed him.
Oh, God.
Sometimes I just wish
I could take a break
from being myself.
Me too.
Following the Parliament
attack in New Delhi,
the troops are gathering
at the border.
The fear of war between
India and Pakistan...
Nuclear powers,
grows every day.
How many weddings have
a bomb shelter contingency plan?
The world couldn't wait
one more week
before exploding itself?
Hello. Let's stick to
happier subjects.
How's the groom?
He's an actor, so...
A working actor
but an actor nonetheless.
Poor Abu keeps his
heart medication close at hand.
You know, if the war
doesn't kill him...
The wedding costs will.
Move on.
They never stop girls.
Pakistan was born into
violence 50 years ago.
We knew how to cope.
As the tensions became worse,
the biryanis became
more delicious,
the bootleggers
more frequent,
and the celebrations
more raucous.
Here comes the groom!
Really?
Girls, be on time to dress her
for the wedding tomorrow, huh?
Did you make this?
Show me your ring.
What are you thinking about?
Just how much you must love
all this attention, no?
Not about your girlfriend?
Your turn next, Nasreen, hmm?
Find me a guy now.
Lovely girl, and from a good family.
But you can't consider her
because you're an ocean away.
Luckily, Abu, they have women
in New York too, you know.
I'm sure they do.
What exactly do you do
at the Underwood?
It's Underwood Samson.
We help companies to figure out
how much they're worth,
and then we make suggestions
so that they can increase their value.
Hmm.
So...
I'm a fruit seller.
You don't buy my guavas.
- You don't sell me guavas.
- No.
I pay you to tell me,
"The price of the guava
is 8 rupees. "
Yes, but I can also help you
to increase the value
of your whole fruit stand.
With redundancies.
So two fruit sellers become one,
and the money is saved.
Terrific.
I don't see the point.
I'll send you back
to your village!
Sorry, sir.
In the tent, the supervisor
will fire him.
That young man
drops one plate,
and his livelihood is gone.
I should talk to the supervisor.
No, no, no, no, no.
Come here.
Your empathy is aroused
because of this one man
whose face you can see.
But with one line
of your pen,
thousands of people
lose their livelihoods.
Abu, you know what?
A lot of people...
middle-class people,
shareholders...
they all benefit
from what I do.
You tell yourself
what you want to.
You see your mother's handiwork?
If I told you the amount
your Ammi had to work with,
you wouldn't believe me.
What is it?
- Nothing.
- What, nothing?
Nothing?
Never choke on a true word, son.
Well, she had some assistance.
What do you mean?
I mean that this job of mine
that you don't see the point of
actually helped to create
this celebration, all right?
- Excuse me.
- No, no, Abu.
I'm just trying to tell you
that this work of mine
can be useful to us.
You've made your point very well.
Thank you.
# You say things
to burn the heart... #
# You speak of a nest
now broken... #
# You inflict such suffering... #
# Yet say I must smile... #
My wisest ally, and I'd cut
him to the quick.
Only his pride.
Please, Changez,
don't let yours get in the way
of doing the right thing.
What would you have me do?
Help us find Rainier.
Changez...
Work with us.
The agency has discretionary funds
for this kind of thing.
We can protect your family,
relocate them.
Bobby, you promised
to listen to me, didn't you?
Did you not hear
a word I just said?
There are some things
that money cannot fix.
When I returned
to America,
I found that the life
I was building
had begun to slip out of reach.
Should get this guy a razor.
Yeah, hi, Erica, it's me.
Can you pick up, please?
I haven't heard from you
in a few days now.
And I don't know what kind of
magical artistic masterpieces
you're cooking up,
but I miss you.
Hi.
Hi, sweetie.
Ah, that is the sound
I wanted to hear!
Okay, listen.
Hear me out.
I know you're on a deadline.
My show's in three days.
Look, I'm so under
the gun right now.
I just... I can't talk.
- Okay, but dinner.
Just dinner.
I haven't even told you
about the wedding.
They loved your present.
Please don't make me feel guilty.
Okay, your work
is important to you.
Okay, but I don't get to choose
when to take time off; you do.
So, like, one hour
is all I'm asking for.
I had a Pakistani once,
and he was very supportive.
Hey.
Hey yourself, werewolf.
Not sure what's going on
with the beard situation,
but it's starting to freak
some people out around here.
I don't understand.
But Dr. Phil has a mustache.
What? It reminds me
of where I come from.
Jerk chicken reminds me
of where I come from,
but I'm not smearing it
all over my face.
Maybe you should.
You have a message.
Happy Eid, son.
Happy Eid.
The house is no fun without you.
There's no power either.
We'll eat in the dark tonight.
Thinking of you, baita.
Abu also.
Much love.
Happy Eid.
Quite a beard.
That's getting to be some
very serious mullah action.
I want you to get me
two glasses of the crystal...
So we've got to evaluate
a prestige publisher
in Istanbul for a conglomerate.
And guess what.
You are the chosen one.
Thank you.
The directors agreed with me.
We're upping you.
You are the youngest associate
in the history of Underwood Samson.
Although, I do believe
appearances are important.
Success requires...
some adjustment
in that department.
Underwood, Samson,
and The Mighty Khan.
Oh, no partners.
Just Khan. I'm a dictator,
remember?
Mm.
Motherfucker.
Next time you want to see me,
call my secretary, okay?
Up yours.
I'm not going to take
medication!
No more medication.
There's a crazy Arab guy
in midtown Manhattan.
Long-distance killer!
Why he get all credit?
Yeah, 53rd and Lexington.
Homegrown!
We are homegrown bombers!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- We're homegrown bombers!
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
- We are homegrown bomb...
Bomb your children!
You bastard!
Hey!
He's crazy.
Hey!
Hold up!
You in the black coat,
stop right there.
- I didn't do...
- Hands on the car.
- I didn't do anything.
- Put your hands on the car.
The guy you're looking for
is back there.
Yeah, we'll get him.
- I work on the 53rd floor...
- Hands down.
Of that building,
Underwood Samson.
Why don't you just check?
Why don't you just...
- Officer, please.
- Spread your legs!
You got any weapons on you?
Don't do this, man.
Ain't doing nothing
but my job, little man.
Ow, man!
Uh-uh!
Get your hands off me!
Uh!
Wait right here.
I'm Special Agent Ford.
This is Special Agent Jackson.
This is inexcusable.
I'd like to see my lawyer, please.
Are you refusing to talk
to us?
No, you picked up
the wrong guy,
and I'm sick of this shit.
I want to see my lawyer.
You ever been to the Philippines?
I work at Underwood Samson.
I was inspecting a company there
as a financial analyst.
You ever had any combat
training in Afghanistan?
Of course I've never had
combat training,
and I've never set foot
in Afghanistan!
Don't get upset.
I am upset. I'm upset
about my treatment.
I'm not a fucking terrorist.
Have you ever been a member
of a terrorist organization?
Okay, you know what?
I'm sick of having to try
and prove a negative,
so why don't you either
charge me with something
or let me go?
How do you feel about the
United States of America?
Agent Ford,
I love the United States of America.
Hey, baby, I can't wait to see you
at my opening tonight.
And the gallery's on the corner
of Crosby and Prince.
Okay, I'll see you.
Hey, Marina!
Hi, sugar.
I'm alone.
I'm very, very alone.
I want to forget.
Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder:
never accept a parcel or bag
from a third party
for any reason.
I want to forget.
Never leave your baggage
unattended.
- Hors d'oeuvres?
- Oh, no, I'm vegan.
I had a Pakistani once...
I'm glad... I'm glad
you're enjoying it.
Good to see you.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Hi.
- Good to see you.
Ah.
- This is amazing.
- Thank you.
Changez?
Changez!
I'm so happy you're here.
I don't recognize my
own voice anymore.
What have you done?
It's... what do you mean?
This is us.
It's about us.
From you too now?
You're the one goddamn person
I trusted in this city,
and now I get this shit,
this fucking shit
from you too now?
Hmm?
- I don't...
I thought... I thought...
I thought you'd be proud of me.
- Why would I be proud?
What?
Proud of being your own
little pet artistic project?
Can we please take this outside?
- No, what?
Was that the idea?
Huh?
How chic! How chic!
"I'm gonna date a Pakistani
after 9/11,
and it's gonna be great
for my bohemian street cred. "
Is that the idea?
- That's completely unfair.
"I fucked the 20th hijacker"?
Huh?
I'm like the ultimate downtown
status symbol right now.
Is that it? You're just
gonna walk away?
That's all you got to say
for yourself?
I mean, are your feelings so pure?
Would you have
been interested in me
if my uncle wasn't your CEO
or if my mother lived in Queens
instead of Park and 85th?
- Are you kidding me?
You're a sick girl.
It was never about that for me!
You might not believe this,
but that is an expression of love.
- You know what it is?
That... that is defamation.
I want it taken down.
Changez, please.
Please, just take a breath.
I can't believe
you're reacting this way.
How do you want me to react?
Please take a breath.
How could you do that?
Stop attacking me!
Stop attacking me
for one minute!
Please stop attacking me!
Please!
Please stop attacking me!
You could do it because
you're reckless.
You're reckless enough
to drive drunk
with the person
you supposedly love
sitting in the passenger seat.
Oh...
Oh, I didn't know...
I didn't know you could
be capable of such cruelty.
Well...
The holding company acquired
Basak Yayimci Publishing
nine years ago.
It used to be a classy press,
but it's hemorrhaging money,
and we need to stop the bleeding.
Nazmi Kemal will not
be happy to see us.
For 42 years,
I've made books.
And through this press,
the greatest Middle Eastern writers
have given their stories to the world.
And you've come here
to render me obsolete.
I have great respect for
the work of publishers.
I've valued half a dozen or so
over the last ten years.
Are you qualified to value me?
Well, no one can put a value
on what you've accomplished here.
My father is a poet.
He's well known in the Punjab.
His greatest friend is his publisher.
You are a keeper of our culture
in this part of the world.
Your father is a poet?
I think you should be ashamed
of yourself,
doing what you're doing here.
Right.
If you'll excuse us,
we need to use your office.
The accounts you asked for.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Last two years.
Right.
Take these figures,
discount it to the net
present value.
What's the ROA?
Zero.
I'll call London.
Changez.
Look what I found.
Part of an anthology
of contemporary poets
from the Punjab.
Your father is Ajmal Khan, correct?
I didn't realize he'd been
translated into Turkish.
That's for you.
Thank you very much.
Would you care to join
me for lunch?
Sure.
Have you heard
of the Janissaries?
No.
They were Christian boys
captured by the Ottomans
to be soldiers in the
mighty Muslim army.
When they came of age,
they were sent to kill
their former families
and destroy
their former homes.
How old were you when
you went to America?
I was 18.
Ah.
Much older.
The Janissaries were always
taken in childhood.
And when they became men,
they were devoted
to their new caretakers
to serve their adopted empire.
I'm not devoted to the empire.
Mm.
I apologize for my demeanor.
I'm working through some
personal matters at the moment.
A woman.
Young men don't make
good mercenaries.
They need a cause to fight.
May I?
Mm.
When you determine
where you stand,
the color will return
to your world.
I'm not so hopeful about
the color returning to mine.
Hey.
Good news.
London gave us the green light
to terminate Nazmi Kemal
and shutter the offices here.
They want us to take care of it
because we're here in person.
So do you want the honors
or should I?
I'll do it.
In the morning?
Good.
Get back to me
as soon as you're done.
Get some rest.
- Okay.
I imagined
those Janissary boys, uprooted,
landing in new homes
with new fathers...
some of them good fathers...
their loyalties terribly divided.
You're deluding yourself that
you have this role here.
You don't.
You don't.
Go home, Bobby.
Go home?
Go home?
Do you have any fucking idea
what happens to your family
if I go home?
Huh?
Once they snatch you
and drop your ass in a cell
in Peshawar...
Seven more students arrested.
We must protest.
Brothers, please listen!
Everyone, listen to me!
Hussain, do what you must,
but do it peacefully.
Remember, no violence.
- Sir, observing situation.
Stand by.
Copy that.
You know, my capacity
for evaluation
hasn't diminished, Bobby.
You know what I see before me?
I see a man with hash
under his fingernails
who likely smokes it alone.
I see the odd white man
who lives in the old quarter
and only ventures out
to buy local food
and local girls...
Who's been here so long
his own blood family
have forgotten him.
And there's nobody here
to replace them.
You're playing a dangerous game,
Changez.
- I'm sorry.
I'm just...
I'm telling you something
that it took me a long time
to realize.
Some truths take their time.
I was just coming to see you.
Interesting message you left me.
You're not letting him go?
What the hell does that mean?
It means that I'm not
gonna fire Nazmi Kemal.
And, in fact, I'm not gonna do
any more evaluations.
I'm quitting the firm, Jim.
You accepted the position
of associate
less than three months ago.
You leave now,
you'll be giving up all hope
of ever doing this kind of work
again anywhere.
You'd be committing
professional suicide.
I know I've let you down, Jim,
and I'm deeply sorry for that.
But I have to tell you
that I'm through.
You're telling me?
You don't tell me!
Can we be civil, Jim?
You think you're the only person
who's experienced
injustice firsthand?
Throw a rock out there
anywhere in this city,
and it'll land on the grave
of someone
who's seen worse than you.
Now, maybe you're having
some kind of a breakdown.
I will see to it that you
will get some rest
after this is done.
But you will treat
my commitment to you
with the respect
that it deserves!
And to myself as well.
I have a commitment to myself.
Do you want to be an insurance
salesman, Changez,
with a mortgage
and a migraine?
Is that the life you envision
for yourself?
As opposed to what?
I have to live in truth.
You taught me, Jim.
You put your fucking shoes on,
and you go down to that office,
and you do the job
you were hired to do!
It's not my job anymore.
# Hear me out, O, Lord... #
# It was you, true Lord, who said... #
# Man, you are king of the world... #
What's he gonna do?
About time.
Fidel.
Is this about me beating you
in basketball?
You're gonna be a great analyst,
Wainwright.
What are you gonna be?
Yes, I read the perspectives,
and more importantly...
# A fine king You made,
O Lord... #
# Who endures life's blows
with grace... #
# I don't want this kingdom, Lord... #
# All I want is a grain of respect... #
# Hear me out, O Lord #
# Heed my plea,
and I'll heed Yours... #
# Curse me if I break this vow... #
# If this pact displeases You... #
# Then let me find
another God... #
- Hey.
- Hi.
Ah, you're...
you're moving.
Yeah.
I should have told you
what I'd been working on.
I wanted to let you in
more than I did.
It's just, everything
about falling in love with you,
Changez, it hurt so much.
- It's okay.
I understand.
I'm sorry about what I said.
Oh.
You're going back to Pakistan?
I have no job, no visa.
I have to leave the country
within two weeks.
You want to come?
Yes.
But my iddat isn't over yet.
You haven't eaten in two days.
Good to see you, Mr. Khan.
And you, Professor Rainier.
We've experienced an exodus
of foreign professors
from Lahore in the past
several months.
I need an answer quickly.
So two months ago,
I was sitting in my office
on the 53rd floor of a
Manhattan skyscraper.
I was living my dream...
the American dream.
So now I'm back.
What I'd like your help with is,
is there a Pakistani dream?
One that doesn't involve emigrating.
It seems we...
we put out our begging bowl
to other countries.
We do exactly
what they tell us to do,
and then we despise them for it.
After a while, we start
to despise ourselves for it.
I know I did.
If we wish to be self-reliant...
We need to talk about taxes.
So you were talking
about options.
What are the options
for Pakistan right now?
Would you like to join us
at one of our meetings?
If you look at the stats,
we don't actually tax
our population.
So let's start
on the national level,
and we'll break it down to personal.
The only way the government...
- Khan.
I'd like to introduce Mustafa Fazil.
This is Professor Changez Khan.
Talk to me, Bobby.
What's going on?
It's called progress.
It takes time.
Time's up, pal.
I've got to get you out of here.
I don't need a second American
kidnapped today.
Students, cooperate
with the police or else!
Free the students!
Out, America, out!
- Sir, are you all right?
- Yeah...
The students are fired up.
It's explosive.
If you come busting in here now,
you're gonna blow everything.
He's gonna lead us to Fazil.
I know it.
If you don't have a location
on Rainier,
we're wasting time;
I'm coming in.
I need you to go out there
and keep them calm for me.
They don't listen to me.
And your family is really
worried about you.
Tell them I'm fine.
Phone them.
Stay low.
Cooper, no.
Coop?
We're going in!
Everything okay?
What's going on?
It's okay.
We need to talk...
Alone.
Are the police cooperating?
Don't count on it.
Go! Go!
Go!
Go, go, go!
We need to talk about Anse Rainier.
Okay, let's talk about him.
Have you seen all the rumors
in the newspapers?
Do you know what the students
are saying about him?
Look, Changez,
an extraction team
is on their way here.
If you don't give me something...
Call it off!
Bobby, what do you think
is going to happen
when they get here?
Do you think all these young men
are just gonna stand idly by?
all: Out, police, out!
Out, police, out!
Huh?
You need to ask yourself
if you think
all those lives are worth
risking to save one.
Who is Anse Rainier?
He's an academic.
He teaches English to orphans
on his day off.
The guy doesn't have
a violent bone in his body.
He read my galleys
for the Massoud book.
He's a friend, a mentor,
like Jim Cross was to you.
If that's true, Bobby,
you should think very carefully
about who your friends are.
The only way the government...
Salaam.
So you were in America when
they attacked Afghanistan.
Yes.
How did you feel
when you saw the bombs dropping
on your brothers and sisters?
I felt angry.
Yeah, Americans speak of equality,
then take 100 Muslim lives
to avenge 1 life of their own.
They speak of democracy,
then support kings and dictators.
Changez...
You have an office
in the faculty building.
Yes, I do.
Changez...
Many Muslims can
sympathize passively.
A mujahid acts.
There are items,
tools of resistance,
that we would like to store
in your office.
Yeah.
A wise and effective mujahid
appears to the enemy
as a negotiable man.
He hides behind masks.
Wear this mask for us, Changez.
I'm asking you
to join the fight.
I was his for the taking.
I had seen firsthand
the arrogant America
he described,
the blindness,
the hypocrisy, the xenophobia.
My anger had congealed,
hardened by injustice
and disappointment.
Of course I would fight.
Of course I would bleed the enemy.
But then he used that word...
Our only hope as a people
are the fundamental truths
given to us in the Q'uran.
We do that by focusing
on the fundamentals.
With due respect...
These young men were engaged
in their own valuation,
just like Underwood Samson,
moving human beings in and out
of binary columns:
worker, liability, American, Pakistani,
martyr, infidel, alive, dead.
I was tired of the reduction.
I was tired of deciding
from a distant perch
the fate of people
I did not know.
Yes, I'm a Pakistani.
Yes, I'm a Muslim.
Yes, I'm an opponent of
your country's assault on mine.
But that's not all I am.
We're both more
than these things, Bobby.
And I've never taken up arms,
and I never will,
so please, tell them
to leave my family alone.
Hey!
Hand me those petrol bombs!
Wait a minute.
What's going on?
Where are you going?
Rainier's fate is not in my hands.
Stop all this!
Changez.
Hey, Changez!
Wait!
Police dogs!
Servants of America!
- Listen!
- I've said all I had to say.
I heard you back there.
I did.
I'm tired of taking sides too.
I just want to bring
my friend home.
When you picked a side
after 9/11,
you said they came to you.
So who invited you
to join the fight?
It was your friend, wasn't it?
Professor Rainier
was in Afghanistan in 2001.
I remember him talking about it.
Just tell me the truth!
You know the truth!
Rainier brought me in.
He was a case officer.
No, wait!
Wait, Changez.
Wait.
We can stop this right now,
you and me.
If that extraction team
comes in here,
all hell's gonna break loose,
and you know it.
Do you have any idea
what it means
for me to help the CIA
in my own country?
Please, Changez.
Try to see the man.
He has a wife... her name's Alissa...
and two small girls,
Sophie and Molly.
Let me call them, please.
Let me call them and tell them
that he's safe.
I can't.
I can't.
Sir, the cops are roughing up
the students.
Only you can control them!
I'll be right there.
I'm coming!
Then do it for your students,
for their future,
because you and I both agree
they deserve one.
There's a butcher's shop
near Sheranwala Gate.
I've heard a student
talk about it.
There's a back room.
You can only get to it
through the freezer.
I heard Asal Mujahideen
sometimes use it.
Now call them off.
Thank you.
You did the right thing.
I'm calling it in.
Don't move.
Get out!
The police!
Stay calm!
No one go outside!
Junaid, calm them down.
Don't worry, sir.
Sameer, go outside.
Calm them.
Amreh, hello?
Amreh, I know where Rainier is.
You're cutting out.
What?
Bobby, can you hear me?
At Sheranwala... hello?
Bobby, can you...
Police have been warned
and will assist.
At Sheran... hello?
Fuck.
Brothers, listen to me, please!
Everything's okay.
Sit down.
Did you call them off?
Who were you texting?
My sister.
Show me your phone, Changez.
What?
Show me your phone.
Why?
Put your hands on the counter.
What are you doing?
He has a gun!
He has a gun!
What a fucker!
Move!
Get it?
What are you doing?
Put your fucking hands
on the counter now.
Get back!
Fool!
He has a gun!
What the fuck are
you doing, Bobby?
You texted your sister, huh?
Yes, I did.
- Yeah?
- Yes.
Then what the fuck is this?
Why, Changez?
Why?
Kept us nice and busy
while you gave your pals
a head start, didn't you?
Huh?
You're making a mistake
that's gonna get us both killed.
Just give me your phone.
Get back!
Let's go, real slow.
Back!
Step back!
Step back!
Professor Khan is in danger!
You're gonna get us
both killed, Bobby.
all: Professor! Professor!
Step back!
Step back!
We're with you, brother!
Move!
Ah!
Sameer!
Sameer!
Step back!
Step back!
Just secure Bobby and
get the hell back here.
Go, go, go!
We got you, Bobby!
Go, go, go, go, go, go!
Come on!
What the fuck happened?
He gave us away.
I caught him texting when
I went to get my phone.
That's why they killed Anse.
- When?
- Ah!
15 minutes ago.
- No, we found Rainier.
- I know. I know.
A butcher shop at Sheranwala Gate.
What are you talking about?
We found Rainier in a
morgue in Karachi.
We got word 20 minutes ago,
but he was dumped there
this morning.
This morning?
Shit.
Local intelligence verified
that Changez rejected Fazil.
We misread him.
Shit.
Sameer's parents wish me
to address you.
They understand
our strong emotion.
Emotions give us courage.
I have another message
from his family.
If our innocent, smiling Sameer
could hear it...
He would fully agree.
They ask us not to cry
for their son.
Too many tears have flowed
into the river.
They ask us not to take revenge
in their son's name.
Too much blood has
flowed into that river.
They ask us not to curse fate.
Allah holds our son
in His embrace.
Wipe your tears!
And pray for a future
free of dictators and tyrants...
Free of all invaders.
Come, bring your loved ones.
Go tell the majestic sun
to preserve its precious rays.
We'll teach the core of our own
beings to glow with its light.
Would you please listen
to the whole story,
not just bits and pieces?
Do I have your word?
You do.
Looks can be deceiving.
I am a lover of America.