dsangari Review of New York

New York (2009)

Another infantile commentary on 'our times' by Bollywood...

[2/10 · 5 July 2009]

There have of course been many films on 9/11, ranging from exposes indicting the US government and from paranoid assaults on Islam and Muslims themselves, blaming their culture and religious beliefs for that tragic event. Not to be left behind, Mr. K Khan and Yashraj Studios decide to do their take on the whole phenomenon. The Film starts off on a college campus and shows John Abraham as the blue eyed boy/Casanova of the 'desi' circle, and Katrina Kaif as his sweetheart. Neil Nitin arrives on the scene as the good-boy 'newbie' and eventually becomes the heartbroken Cyrano. who for some reason despite his college education, ends up driving an NYC Taxi. One day he finds himself in the hands of the FBI as represented by who else but Irrfan Khan, who accuses him of transporting weapons for Jihadis. The plot boils down to a classic tale of 'Your friend has become a terrorist, infiltrate his gang and help us bring him down.' The film ends with the deaths of most of the main protagonists and some pertinent questions about the Patriot act and US foreign policy. My problem with this film is manifold. Firstly, while the film tries to raise some important issues, they are basically couched in the Indian middle classes' deep and undying devotion for Uncle Sam and its pop culture. for example the main cast is shown as this completely Americanized wannabe Desi bunch and virtually no attempt is made do give their characters a back story despite several mentions of their familial situations; instead, the film wastes all its time on crappy music numbers. Secondly, the film falls into the same trap of colour politics that has plagued the Indian psyche for decades. Dialogs like 'you look just like an American' or 'he is completely American' referring to Katrina and John give away a deep insecurity and desire to fit in. Model and skin bleach cream salesman Abraham and Yellow hued Mukesh (cast for his relatively pale skin), could barely carry off their American accents, let alone convincingly play American Desis! Simply no references to even American culture are included in key dialogs and situations. Kaif is equally unconvincing. Also notably, the actor used to portray John and Katrina's child is actually Caucasian!! How can an Indian couple have a white child??? The casting too betrays the Indian insecurity about the colour of their skin. Thirdly, the film which meanders through its plot with soppy sentimentality and childish logic, displays a scanty and embarrassing ignorance for the city whose name it proudly bears. As someone who has lived and worked in New York, I could pick out several holes regarding choice of locations that I won't go into here. Suffice to say Indian cinema should refrain from grappling with stories of injustice 7000 miles away when 820 million Indians live on 20 rupees a day and more people die of state and army brutality that terrorism annually! I think 'Khuda ke Liye' stated the subcontinents' discontent with US politics in a far more eloquent and sensitive way, with better music too...