There is something really which did strike me a lot about this movie : New York. Shot against the back drop of Islamic Terrorism with 9/11 attacks as the poster this movie moves you right from the start to the very end. Agreed this was my first movie in the last 3 odd months and that forced long break ( perhaps the first in the last 7 years for me ) might result in a bit exaggerated opinion but make no mistake New York tells us a lot about life in general post that event for Muslims across the world and brown skin people in particular.
In the best Bollywood tradition, this is a triangle: Omar (Neil Mukesh) loves
Maya (Katrina) who loves Sam (John Abraham). They watch the planes crash into the towers in shock and horror—Omar goes his way, the other two get hitched. Years later, the FBI in the shape of Roshan (Irrfan) surfaces in the threesome’s lives, with a shocking revelation: one of them is the kingpin of a sleeper terrorist organization, and the other has to turn into an FBI informer.
New York opens around 7 years after the 9/11 attacks with Omar being wrongly held captive by the FBI. At this point enters Agent Roshan an FBI age
nt, who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of these friends upside down. Roshan asks Omar to spy on his old-time friend Sam who the FBI suspects to be a terrorist. In contrast, Sameer himself narrates his distressing past to Omar of how he was illegally detained and brutally tortured by the FBI for 9 months, immediately after 9/11 and victimized for being a Muslim suspect in New York.
The ensuing chemistry between the characters keeps you riveted till the movie takes an twist at the interval point. The terrorism theme comes into picture predominantly in the second half. And that's were the movie struggles just a little bit. The pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of
the first half and there are some predictable things in store.
John's recall of his past is superb and just sets you for an exciting second half. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. Beautifully done. But unfortunately the movie tends to gets lengthy before it reaches a powerful, brilliantly executed climax.
Excellent performance by John... No doubt it is his career best. Katrina did well to justify her presence. The shot i
n which she confesses to Neil that she knows John's activity is great. Neil Nitin Mukesh comes good after his lurid performance in Aa Dekhe Jaara... Irrfan Khan the pasta hating, America loving cop is amazing. He adds zing to some of the finest moments in the movie. Top Notch performance.
On the whole the movie raises some pertinent questions about the people affected by 9/11. Surely we are not always what we want to be. Many a times it is the circumstances we are in or perhaps we have been in past does decide the track of our life and people around. Life is not fair and this has been told in a very matured fashion. It is easy to point fingers at the investigating people and raise decibels of Human Rights but we need to understand how many innocent people suffer when event like 9/11 happens. The movie walks the fine line and does not blame individuals nor any country or religion. Rather it blames the circumstances and that to me was a good way to end the movie.
As the last frame closes amidst the maple leaves, you are reminded that this is a movie from the Yash Raj stable and as always it has caught my imagination...
Well Done Kabir.... Take a Bow. ..I reserve the last word for you
In the best Bollywood tradition, this is a triangle: Omar (Neil Mukesh) loves
Maya (Katrina) who loves Sam (John Abraham). They watch the planes crash into the towers in shock and horror—Omar goes his way, the other two get hitched. Years later, the FBI in the shape of Roshan (Irrfan) surfaces in the threesome’s lives, with a shocking revelation: one of them is the kingpin of a sleeper terrorist organization, and the other has to turn into an FBI informer.New York opens around 7 years after the 9/11 attacks with Omar being wrongly held captive by the FBI. At this point enters Agent Roshan an FBI age
nt, who sets the ball rolling for a series of tumultuous events that turn the lives of these friends upside down. Roshan asks Omar to spy on his old-time friend Sam who the FBI suspects to be a terrorist. In contrast, Sameer himself narrates his distressing past to Omar of how he was illegally detained and brutally tortured by the FBI for 9 months, immediately after 9/11 and victimized for being a Muslim suspect in New York.The ensuing chemistry between the characters keeps you riveted till the movie takes an twist at the interval point. The terrorism theme comes into picture predominantly in the second half. And that's were the movie struggles just a little bit. The pace of the second half somehow doesn’t match up that of
the first half and there are some predictable things in store.John's recall of his past is superb and just sets you for an exciting second half. The whole frisking episode of Katrina Kaif by a cop on the road late at night and the sequences that follow it linger on your mind for long. Beautifully done. But unfortunately the movie tends to gets lengthy before it reaches a powerful, brilliantly executed climax.
Excellent performance by John... No doubt it is his career best. Katrina did well to justify her presence. The shot i
n which she confesses to Neil that she knows John's activity is great. Neil Nitin Mukesh comes good after his lurid performance in Aa Dekhe Jaara... Irrfan Khan the pasta hating, America loving cop is amazing. He adds zing to some of the finest moments in the movie. Top Notch performance.On the whole the movie raises some pertinent questions about the people affected by 9/11. Surely we are not always what we want to be. Many a times it is the circumstances we are in or perhaps we have been in past does decide the track of our life and people around. Life is not fair and this has been told in a very matured fashion. It is easy to point fingers at the investigating people and raise decibels of Human Rights but we need to understand how many innocent people suffer when event like 9/11 happens. The movie walks the fine line and does not blame individuals nor any country or religion. Rather it blames the circumstances and that to me was a good way to end the movie.
As the last frame closes amidst the maple leaves, you are reminded that this is a movie from the Yash Raj stable and as always it has caught my imagination...
Well Done Kabir.... Take a Bow. ..I reserve the last word for you
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