{"id":663,"date":"2009-07-22T21:28:00","date_gmt":"2009-07-22T21:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/2009\/07\/review-new-york-2.html"},"modified":"2011-06-07T00:53:03","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T00:53:03","slug":"review-new-york-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/2009\/07\/review-new-york-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Review : New York"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/amodini\/3748607532\/\" title=\"new-york-hindi-movie-wallpaper01 by amodini, on Flickr\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2563\/3748607532_7a32f8282c_o.jpg?resize=400%2C282\" width=\"400\" height=\"282\" alt=\"new-york-hindi-movie-wallpaper01\" \/><\/a><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/03\/movie-rating-guide.html\"><strong>Rating<\/strong><\/a><strong> : Average (3\/5)<br \/><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/03\/best-hindi-movies-by-genre.html\"><strong>Genre<\/strong><\/a><strong> : Drama<br \/><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/03\/best-hindi-movies-by-year.html\"><strong>Year<\/strong><\/a><strong> : <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/search\/label\/2009\"><strong>2009<\/strong><\/a><strong><br \/>Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes<br \/><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/03\/directors-to-watch-out-for.html\"><strong>Director<\/strong><\/a><strong> : Kabir Khan<br \/>Cast : Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfan Khan<br \/><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2008\/03\/new-ratings-for-kid-safe-viewing.html\"><strong>Kid rating<\/strong><\/a><strong> : PG-13<\/p>\n<p><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2009\/07\/review-new-york.html\"><strong><em>NEW YORK : GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT DOESN&#8217;T STAND IT&#8217;S GROUND <\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After the recent months of the film strike and the sudden paucity of desi films, one would think we would be flooded with Movies of high caliber. Well, it appears that I am dreaming of Utopia, where we would be treated to one smashing, Vishal Bharadwaj-directed film a week. The Real World is not remotely like it; hence films like &#8220;New York\u201d. Now don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 it\u2019s not all bad. Actually it\u2019s much better than bad, although reading the Rediff review, I was expecting a Grade A disaster (which it is not).<\/p>\n<p>Samir (John), Omar (Neil) and Maya (Katrina) are college friends in the US. While Samir and Maya are Americans , Omar has come from India to study in the States. The three although different in temperament become \u201cbest buddies\u201d. After college, and unrequited love, Omar drifts apart from the duo. Years later when he meets Samir and Maya under false pretenses, Omar must decide whether to betray his friends or save innocent lives . . .<\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=amosmovrev-20&amp;o=1&amp;p=8&amp;l=as1&amp;asins=B002HI6LGK&amp;fc1=000000&amp;IS2=1&amp;lt1=_blank&amp;m=amazon&amp;lc1=0000FF&amp;bc1=000000&amp;bg1=FFFFFF&amp;f=ifr\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\" align=\"left\" hspace=\"10\"><\/iframe><br \/>\u201cNew York\u201d is peopled with pretty folk. There\u2019s well-muscled John Abraham, beautiful Katrina Kaif and that innocent cherub of a bad actor, Neil Nitin mukesh. And that\u2019s one of my grouses with it \u2013 it\u2019s too pretty to be taken seriously. The \u201ctheme\u201d so to speak, is \u201cserious\u201d and \u201cweighty\u201d \u2013 that of terrorism and the innocent people who were tortured because of it, post-9\/11. A good theme and a potentially interesting film. However, if you were really serious about your craft and product would you cast Abraham, Kaif and Mukesh, all non-actors, in the lead roles ?<\/p>\n<p>I must admit here that I don\u2019t particularly dislike seeing Abraham on screen \u2013 quite the contrary in fact. And Kaif and Mukesh are easy on the eyes as well. Oh, but to watch them eke out an emotion is sheer torture. Neil Nitin Mukesh who\u2019s first film \u201cJohnny Gaddar\u201d was a tremendous (and very fortunate) debut, is actually forced to emote here, and while he passed muster in his first film, he doesn\u2019t quite cut it here. Probably because some scenes actually require a certain amount of skill; for example the scene where he finds out that the woman of his dreams loves someone else. And John, although he improves from film to film, doesn\u2019t have the acting chops to do this role. Ah, and Kaif \u2013 the less said about her acting the better. I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll say it again; the woman is stunning to look at, but an actress she\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<p>Irrfan Khan, probably the most versatile actor in the film, plays a policeman (yet again!) this time of the FBI, seeking to defend the outrages committed by his adopted country. He is the lynch-pin, the connection between the desi Omar and the American FBI agent, and it his character that must be true to his convictions. Unfortunately, as much as I\u2019d like to believe him, his conviction appears shaky, and he does not stand his ground.<\/p>\n<p>Which is sort of the problem with the film; good intentions, but whither that conviction ?<\/p>\n<p>Direction is intermittently good; there are scenes which are handled oh-so-delicately and then there are times, when the shot is so rough around the edges, it makes you cringe. I am undecided on this director\u2019s skill as of now \u2013 is what he got right a fluke, or is he really a \u201cgood\u201d director who strayed ? You gather then that directorial skill doesn\u2019t exactly shine through here.<\/p>\n<p>Story-wise, this film does come up as unusual, but it has some very gaping plot-holes. There is Maya, an educated woman who believes that her man will go the straight and narrow path, just because he hasn\u2019t (yet) told her about his (nefarious) activities. Really ? Spin a good yarn someone ! Then there is the abrupt career jump that Omar makes \u2013 one day he\u2019s a 9-to-5 office person, the next he\u2019s oh-so-excited to be starting in on Sam\u2019s building cleaning business. Whoa ! It is (scripted ?) stuff like this which makes me regard the film with just that much less credulity.<\/p>\n<p>The film is to quite a degree saved by it\u2019s melodious music. While the \u201cHai Junoon\u201d song is passable, \u201cMere saath chal zara\u201d and \u201cTune jo na kaha\u201d are outstanding.<\/p>\n<p>Kidwise : This film contains violence and scenes depicting torture. Younger children might find it hard to grasp some concepts.<\/p>\n<p>If you liked this film, you might also like :<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/12\/review-hazaar-chaurasi-ki-ma.html\">Hazaar chaurasi ki ma<\/a><br \/>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2005\/06\/review-hazaron-khwaishen-aisi.html\">Hazaron khwaishen aisi<\/a><br \/>&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/hindimoviereviews.blogspot.com\/2006\/08\/review-yun-hota-to-kya-hota.html\">Yun hota to kya hota ?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rating : Average (3\/5)Genre : DramaYear : 2009Running time : 2 hours 10 minutesDirector : Kabir KhanCast : Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfan KhanKid rating : PG-13 NEW YORK : GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT DOESN&#8217;T STAND IT&#8217;S GROUND &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/2009\/07\/review-new-york-2.html\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_17000648_17000648":"","facebook_10233691416821117_190635594420624":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[70,76,14,28,32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-70","category-bollywood","category-drama","category-rating-pg13","category-watchable"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false,"sow-carousel-default":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"amodini","author_link":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/author\/admin"},"uagb_comment_info":2,"uagb_excerpt":"Rating : Average (3\/5)Genre : DramaYear : 2009Running time : 2 hours 10 minutesDirector : Kabir KhanCast : Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfan KhanKid rating : PG-13 NEW YORK : GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT DOESN&#8217;T STAND IT&#8217;S GROUND &hellip; Continue reading &rarr;","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p45CAb-aH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1321,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions\/1321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fridaynirvana.com\/film\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}