Man Push Cart (2005)

A night in the life of a former Pakistani rock star who now sells coffee from his push cart on the streets of Manhattan.

Director:

Ramin Bahrani

Writer:

Ramin Bahrani

Stars:

Ahmad Razvi, Leticia Dolera, Charles Daniel Sandoval

8 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ahmad Razvi	...	Ahmad
Leticia Dolera	...	Noemi
Charles Daniel Sandoval	...	Mohammad
Ali Reza	...	Manish
Farooq 'Duke' Muhammad	...	Duke
Panicker Upendran	...	Noori (as Upendran K. Panicker)
Arun Lal	...	Father-in-Law
Razia Mujahid	...	Mother-in-Law
Hassan Razvi	...	Ahmad's son
Mustafa Razvi	...	Pakistani Driver
Altaf Houssein	...	Altaf
Bill Lewis	...	Final Customer
Abdelrahma Abdelaziz	...	Friend at Bar
Ronak Ricky Patel	...	Newstand Worker
Shaana Levy	...	Club Worker (as Shaana Diya)

Storyline

Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a Pakistani immigrant, struggles to drag his heavy cart along the streets of New York to his corner in Midtown Manhattan. And every morning, from inside his cart he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. He is the worker found on every street corner in every city. He is a man who wonders if he will ever escape his fate.

---

Plot Keywords:

pakistani | coffee | push cart | immigrant | manhattan new york city | 

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Urdu

Release Date:

10 May 2006 (France)

Also Known As:

Anthropos sprohnei karotsi

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Noruz Films (I),Flip Side Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Pakistani Rockstar Atif Aslam's three songs were included in the film. "Aadat" is the main track while portions of the songs "Ehsaas" and "Yakeen" are also introduced in the film. All are taken from the album Jal Pari.

---

Connections

Featured in Life Itself (2014)

User Reviews

Moving, beautiful, sharply observed insight into one man's daily struggle

Man Push Cart is a gem of independent film making. It is a beautiful, haunting portrayal of one man's life in an alien city. A thriving metropolis like New York is home to a myriad of stories. In the course of our daily lives, we only scratch the surfaces of many of these. This film delves deeper into one of them - the story of Ahmad, an immigrant bagel cart worker. There is some optimism, but equally, much disappointment. Moments of happiness, and many of sadness. Hollywood demands that the hero gets the girl, achieves success, and all is resolved in a "happy ending". This film is unashamedly and refreshingly un-Hollywood, and Ahmad's ultimate fulfilment is by no means guaranteed. Nevertheless, like Sisyphus, he will persevere. When the cameras stop rolling, and we leave the cinema, he will continue. It is this, together with superb lead actor Ahmad Razvi's own personal experiences as a push cart vendor, that make this film so convincing and compelling.

This is a film that stays with you. For those of us who live in large cities, this film is a moving insight into the world that goes on all around us, a world that we skim past every day and quickly forget. Man Push Cart is a sympathetic, but not sentimental, snapshot of this world, and one that is well worth experiencing.