Movie Review: New York

You must watch this movie for two reasons. First, it is the first real big Bollywood release after the strike and second, it is a thoughtful comment on terrorism that took place in America on 9/11 and its aftermath.

Everyone saw 9/11. The ‘face’ of terrorism was presented to the world – Islamic terrorists. But no one even once questioned – why 9/11 happened? What led to it? Bush suddenly became the hero of America. He was out to save Americans. All Muslims were portrayed as terrorists. They could be picked up for questioning without even a question asked. Since then many Muslims have disappeared. Are they alive?

Gitmo became a reality. Any Muslim could be frisked away just because he was a Muslim. And all Muslims were portrayed as terrorists. Bush gained a lot of sympathy. Americans supported his plan of sending forces to Afghanistan and Iraq. Txpayers money was wasted and lot of innocent soldiers’ lives was lost. Whose wars were Americans fighting?

Years of fighting produced no result. Americans slowly faced the grim reality of an incompetent leader Bush, who brought America to a brink of disaster. At the fag end of his term, he got a shoe on his face in Iraq. The world rejoiced. There was laughter all around. Americans were sitting on financial doom. Bush had left lot of challenges for Obama to face and a mess that will take many many years to clear.

If Bill Clinton had Lewinskygate among other scandals to be impeached, Bush had Islamicgate. He escaped impeachment by the skin of his teeth. Did he succeed in catching Osama Bin Laden, whom he boasted “to smoke him out”? Laden is not even officially a terrorist as officially it has not been established he was directly involved in 9/11 attacks?

Bush is the only President to leave office with the lowest credibility rankings. Can one man, no matter his posting, lie and fabricate truth and cheat his own people? What should Americans do now that he stands exposed? More importantly, what should Muslims do? The world saw 9/11 disaster and sympathized with Americans.

Now that Bush’s terror against Muslims comes across, what should the world do? Could Bush have done the same with Jews or other communities and got away as easily as with Muslims. This is the thinking point. Can America dictate to the world what it ‘perceives’ to be the truth. Is that actually the ‘truth’?

In this context Pakistani movie Khuda Ke Liye was a stark commentary on the happenings in America on innocent Muslins. And although nearly a decade late, New York (NY) becomes a Bollywood reality that is worth watching and pondering over.

Sam (John Abraham), Maya (Katrina Kaif) and Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) once college buddies in India meet again in New York. Now Sam and Maya are married. Omar still holds a torch for Maya. They have good time. And then things start taking a turn to change their lives for ever.

Enter FBI agent Roshan (Irfan Khan). He plants Omar in Sam’s home to uncover Sam’s terrorist links. Where should Omar’s loyalties lie? He is torn between the two. The tension that develops simply scorches us. The fun before interval becomes grim afterwards. So how can lives remain the same?

In a way, 9/11 has lost its significance. Lot has happened since then. NY is nearly a decade late but then it is the first Bollywood comment on 9/11 and makes for an interesting watch. How innocent Muslims are picked up for questioning and tortured and then they simply disappear. This is the stark reality. Their whereabouts are not found.

John portrays the tortured soul heartily. It is as if he undergoes the pain and turmoil intrinsically. He is ably complimented by Neil, who is torn between loyalty to friends and forced to work for FBI.

And Katrina has truly come into her own. With this movie, she no loner is an illusion, where many cribbed that she didn’t know to dance or emote and that she rode on Akshay Kumar hit bandwagon. She not only emotes, she dances and the ending belongs to her. She truly captivated our attention. Her accent gels in the movie. This movie is the coming of age for Katrina. It belongs to her. After NY, she will truly be the Bollywood queen, the numero uno.

And let’s not forget Irfan. He is an irreplaceable cog. He fits in so well with his role; it almost seems like hand in glove. The role seems like written keeping him in mind. It will be another feather in his already overloaded cap.

The cinematography is excellent. It should be as it is shot on foreign locales. Songs are fun especially Junoon that has picked up well with the youth. John, Neil and Irfan should have worked on their accents since they live in America and not in India. Dressing up American alone is not enough.

The story does not offer any solutions for the problem. That is not even required. It is enough that Bollywood has opened its eyes to the decimating of a community under the false garb of “terrorists”. The credit for this should go to the director.

It should make us think to look what lies beneath. Everything coming through the media is not the gospel truth. Are these politicians saving their own skins? How can they terrorize innocent people and communities? Can a superpower dictate to the world just because it is one?

Today it is Muslims, tomorrow you, day after them, and then… Think. Put a stop to this simmering fire. Stop the TORTURE. Stop it. We don’t need a superpower to dictate our lives to us. If they label others’ terrorists, so what are they when they have Gitmos with no questions asked?