The Big Apple. Everyone's welcome to take a bite.
Not for Ahmad Razvi, a Pakistani immigrant who's the protagonist of .
'Man Push Cart', an obscure indie production which has bagged a couple of awards already.
Ahmad's a bagel cart worker, who pushes his cart through the streets of NYC for several blocks in the wee hours of the morning. The film begins very much like "Taxi Driver", but is shot 'documentary' style. Ahmad's trying to make ends meet through difficult circumstances. His wife expired a year back and his son stays at his in-laws home, with their patience running out as each day goes by. Ahmads in need of some home so that he can stop being a freeloader from the very people who would have been his family had his wife not deceased.
What makes it even difficult for Ahmad is that a customer recognises his past. Being a victim of the myriad ways of fate, Ahmad tries his best to forget his days back home in Pakistan, where he was a successful singer. Catching glimpses of his wife and son under the tin cart he now spends his life in...the past offers little solace to the customer who now steps into his life. I wouldn't want to give out the ending, but it's a refreshing change from the usual hollywood tripe.
From the beautiful and refreshing views of NY, the thousands of people who flock the business capital with many a hope and dream, 'Man Push Cart' takes a step back and offers a view from the other side of the fence. The ego clashes, the apathy from daily co-workers and customers is shot in detail. This is not a movie that makes you delve into the realm of fantasyland. It's brutal, it's honest, and is a sympathetic view of Ahmads claustrophobic life.
After watching the film, I thought of the same person living life in Dubai, in the same circumstances.
Hot dogs and bagels in a tin cart?
What was I thinking.
