I generally dont write reviews on movies I dont like, for the simple reason that I have already wasted 3 hours of my life on them, why waste 2 more writing a review. But there are times when you are left with an iffy feeling, and you have to write to purge your own self. I had been reading rave reviews in MS and other places raving New York, and today, I finally decided to rent a movie. Let me mince no words, it is a colossal waste of time. COLOSSAL, bold and underlined.
The story premise was quite decent. Omar(Neil Nitin Mukesh) is detained for possessing arms and the investigating FBI officer Roshan(Irfan Khan) wants him to prove his innocence by spying on his college friend Sam(John Abraham), who is now believed to be the head of a sleeper, or was it sleeping, terrorist cell, right in the heart of NY. Omar agrees to it believing in his friend’s innocence only to be proved wrong. Also in the picture is Sam’s wife Maya(Porcelain Katrina), whom Omar had a crush on, during his college days, but who is now married to Sam. What happens next is supposedly a seat gripping thriller, but in reality turned out to be a yawn inducing ham. Maybe the thriller part was supposed to be a sleeper cell too. The tension at the end is conspicuous by its absence. The climax left me looking at my watch wondering when it was gonna end.
The movie starts on a taut note, declaring its intentions outright by asking if humiliation, rather loss of self-respect and dignity justifies terrorism. This is supposedly the human face of the antagonised Muslim, who, post 9-11 is looked at with suspicion. Also, if you’re a Muslim-American, which takes precedence, you being a Muslim, or you being an American? A sobering, powerful and sensitive idea, which could have been delivered with a powerful impact, but has been rendered with a thud. When you have a message to deliver, you choose a messenger who has the capability of delivering it in the right way, so that it reaches the receptor properly. But Kabir chooses to deliver his message to the audience using John, Katrina(who despite the distance between NY and Mumbai, retain their non-acting skills) and Neil, the latter being the biggest disappointment. He starts promisingly, but later lapses into a perpetual "I love you so I wanna save you" expression. The only saving grace is Irfan, who can handle such roles in a blindfold, one hand tied behind his back.
There’s nothing much to write about the music, which I cant even remember now, just two hours post the movie. The cinematography was good, even to my untrained eye. The movie shows some soul in bits and pieces, such as Neil singing "Zindagi Khwaab hai", the initial scenes between Neil and Irfan, and to some extent the torture scenes post 9-11, when Sam is detained by the FBI. But why, oh why did the director have to show the FBI headquarters in New York, when its common knowledge that they are located in Washington D.C.? Also, why name the movie New York when you have shot most of it in Philadelphia? I do think it should have been maybe an hour shorter, and if the love track had been done away with it, we might have had something to reckon with.
Ultimately New York, to me, seemed like a mish-mash of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai(first half), Dil Se, (second half, specially the climax) and a lil bit of hangover from Fanaa thrown in. It could have been an interesting study in the psyche of religion and a country, and that’s the pity, and the waste. I should have seen Bolt instead. Do see New York if you like YRF fluff, otherwise, stay far far far away. despite Irfaan.