NEW YORK - Movie Review : An old wine in a Yash Raj bottle with nothing new or exceptional from Kabir. (Review by Bobby Sing)

More than the Yash Raj banner, it was Kabir Khan for whom, I was eager to see “New York”. Impressed by his unique style of direction in “Kabul Express”, I had my own expectations from the star studded movie based on the impact of terrorism and its innocent targets in America. But the movie is nowhere close to the director’s first attempt and has nothing new or exceptional to offer in terms of content and storyline.

To begin with, “New York” is not a fun filled, youthful movie as suggested by the catchy & colourful promos on air. Instead it’s a dark & intense thriller, dealing with a serious issue of global terrorism and its silent victims. The appealing romantic element associated with the three glamorous faces in the movie lasts for only a few minutes in the first half and then the story moves on to its original plot. So, the relief element with all the college scenes and love angle is only there initially and it all becomes pretty rough and grim later on.

The script department is the main culprit with nothing new to offer to the viewers. It’s the same story of three friends, Neil, Katrina & John, who had a good time in college, but had to part with each other, after their studies. Later, it is found that John, who had married Katrina, is now the leader of an underground terrorist group, which he had formed to fight for his dignity. John’s step towards terrorism was a result of his severe torture by the FBI, who detained him on the grounds of suspicion, just after the 9/11 incident. Taking a clue from their college days, Neil is spotted by an FBI officer, Irfan Khan, and sent to live with John & Katrina as an undercover agent in order to know their future targets.

Now how many times we have already seen the similar subject of an infiltrator being sent in a terrorist gang to know about their game plans. The moment you come to know the main subject of the movie, half your interest is gone. And you further lose more, with all those lengthy unwanted sequences where everyone is giving justifications for their choices made in life. In addition to this, there are many unanswered question left for the viewers to guess, such as what was Neil doing after his College, why was he driving a cab after having completed his studies, how did John become the leader of his high profile gang and many more. The characterization lacks the required depth and that’s the reason why the viewer is not able to feel the pain felt by John and Neil on the screen. The climax has its own loose ends too, where the bombs are being planted on a FBI Headquarters building openly without any security intervention. The dialogues given to John, Neil and Katrina towards the end are also quite underwritten and unimpressive, leading to a somehow weird and uninteresting climax.

At the performing level, the three key actors, John, Neil & Katrina have excelled themselves in “New York”. Especially Katrina, has taken many leaps ahead with her acting skills and expressions. Irfan Khan, is superb as usual and he seems to be enjoying every character he plays in his movies. Cinematography is competent as it captures both the big streets and the lousy backyards impressively. In the music region, there are only few songs incorporated on the screen, whereas you will find more in the original soundtrack of the movie. But no particular song stands out as a winner this time, from Preetam. On the other hand, background score by Julius Peckam, having a rock feel, does grab your attention in a few thrilling scenes.

The director, Kabir Khan, who showed great capabilities in his first venture, “Kabul Express”, stumbles this time with an ineffective script written on an old story plot. The good old Kabir is only visible in some particular sequences in the movie, like the one where John goes on to search for the brown bread and then kidnapped in a van. Otherwise, Kabir is not able to meet his own set standards of excellence in “New York”.

Moreover, I couldn’t understand the need of lifting an entire sequence from the 2006 Oscar winner movie “Crash” and using it in his most prestigious project having great expectations. The scene where Katrina is searched all over her body by a male cop, is straight away taken from the movie “Crash”, where the same sequence was used to show racism being practiced by the cops with the black.

In few words, “New York” is like an old wine presented in a glossy Yash Raj bottle. It is just an Ok movie with nothing new or exceptional from a brilliant director, Kabir Khan. Would love to see him, back in form again with his next.

Ratings : 2 / 5