Terrorism, with candyfloss -- New York
Earnest performances New York
New York
Genre: Drama
Director: Kabir Khan
Cast: John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Katrina Kaif, Irrfan
Storyline: To infiltrate a terrorist network, an FBI officer recruits the terrorist’s best friend.
Bottomline: Yash Raj grammar ruins the statement
Recently, Shekhar Kapur had asked Hollywood screenwriter David Scarpa if Danny Boyle’s independent film, Slumdog Millionaire, would’ve gone on to win 10 Oscars had it been green-lit by a studio. Scarpa said something that didn’t seem to make much sense then.
He said, “There are some films that are best made by independent producers because studios would only ruin the material.” Scarpa wouldn’t have found a better example than New York.
Kabir Khan seems lost, trying to strike a balance between the political film he wants to make and the big-budget candyfloss-laden multi-star-vehicle his producers are known to manufacture with melodramatic music, slow-motion shots, picture perfect people, colourful costumes and stars instead of actors.
Just how would you capture the 9/11 moment when the second plane crashes into the World Trade Centre?
In Kabir Khan’s New York, American extras stare at the TV like they are watching America lose to Brazil in the FIFA world cup. Just a tad disappointed, not shocked or outraged as they stand rooted to the ground lazily and of all people, poor Katrina is entrusted with shouldering the responsibility of showcasing the shock and horror of that moment. Come on now, really?
How seriously can you take a film where John Abraham plays a terrorist who hasn’t done any damage yet but somehow he happens to head a dangerous terrorist cell after going around asking: “I want the best brown bread in Brooklyn.”
It’s quite laughable when you think John’s probably just fallen prey to a brilliant sales promotion gimmick employed by a bread salesman wrongly detained in Guantanamo Bay — asking fellow inmates to go buy brown bread in Brooklyn if they want their revenge.
Katrina Kaif is a documentary filmmaker who’s trying to get justice for wrongly detained Asians, in spite of knowing fully well that they are involved in terrorist activities. How sweet!
To their credit, John, Katrina and even, Neil Nitin Mukesh turn in an earnest performance to the best of their ability. We can’t expect them to do better given how ridiculous it all gets deeper and deeper into the film that tries to hit different notes — from the campy Main Hoon Na and the comically poignant Kal Ho Na Ho in the beginning to the betrayal of Gangster to the sensitivity of Crash to simmering tension of The Departed in the middle to even that horrendously sappy Fanaa by the end.
Only Irrfan and the hassled FBI chief seem to be the voice of reason in this Bollywood melodrama and if not for them, New York would have been a full-blown multi-million-dollar mess.
There’s nothing wrong with the premise or the plot or the set of characters. It’s just that the Yash Raj culture of filming drama and the grammar employed to depict pathos is so outdated that it does not allow you to take the film seriously even for a moment.
The plot of New York screams for gritty, realistic, edgy, racy, indie treatment and unpredictable actors who could shock you with their politically incorrect actions but what we get is the same old Bollywood fare where the hero even while playing a terrorist, will never do anything that qualifies him to be one.
If you want to see what wasted potential looks like, take a ticket to New York. No, wait it’s actually Philadelphia. Or whatever. Who cares?
SUDHISH KAMATH
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