MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING...!!!

The feeling that you get after watching New York is something of a mix-somewhere you know you have watched a decent movie but you just can't stop thinking about what it possibly could have been. It has happened with several movies and film-makers before...movies which had potential to be called path-breaking, give us a gripping tale yet somehow, somewhere the director compromises and you are left with a movie which is not even a shadow of what it could have been. And New York could have been so much more.

Granted, Kabir Khan manages to weave an intriguing tale of friendship and betrayal revolving around terrorism but unfortunately he only manages to touch the surface of a screenplay brewing with unbridled potential and perhaps that is at the same time New York's biggest strength and weakness! This could have been an edge of the seat thriller dealing with issues which are as real as they can get. Instead, New York is an above average commercial entertainer which has its moments but nearly not enough of them.

Kabir Khan is also not helped by his choice of actors who have clearly been given roles which is beyond the scope of their acting abilities. Its not really due to the lack of trying, for it can be seen that all of them have tried hard to give as convincing a performance as possible-but somehow their characters are far more complex than the actors can handle. A better star cast could have helped the movie.

So we have Omar(Neil Nitin Mukesh),a newly entered Indian student at the New York State University. He soon becomes fast friends with the beautiful Maya(Katrina Kaif looking gorgeous) and the University ka stud, Sameer(John Abraham).His heart beats silently for Maya as his new friends introduce him to the beauty of the American Dream. Unfortunately for Neil though, Maya and Sameer are already in love with each other. Upon discovery of this Omar silently exits their life on the very same fateful day of the World Trade Center Attacks. This portion of the movie is breezy at best, pointless at several points and irritating at others. Suffice it to say we have seen better portrayal of camaraderie among Campus friends.

But all this is easily forgiven in the next hour of the movie as Kabir Khan delves into the WTC and its aftermath.8 years from that fateful day, Omar reenters Sameer's and Maya's life, who are now married and have a child. Only difference is that Omar is now working under the instructions of the FBI officer Roshan(Irrfan Khan)who suspects that the campus hero is now running a sleeper terrorist cell.

The drama in this 1 hour of the movie is gripping and engaging as Kabir Khan keeps the plot moving at a rapid pace,moving from one junction to another, a thriller finely tuned to its audience needs, giving them just enough to keep their appetite whetted but never letting them guess completely what's coming next. We know there is more to than what just appears to be on the surface but we just don't know how much more. Its riveting stuff and at this point,New York's laborious first 30 minutes seems ages ago, almost part of another movie as Kabir Khan keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. The movie soon peaks in a brilliantly executed Intermission sequence. It's one of those sequences which leave you flabbergasted,your mouth open, your eyes stunned and you can't wait for the intermission to get over. By this point New York had reached where few Bollywood thrillers ever have.

The movie starts after the intermission where it had left off, showing how several innocent Muslims were illegally detained and brutally tortured as suspects of the 9/11 terrorist attack. It is after this though that the problems seep in. Once Kabir Khan has established the conflicts of ideals and set up the movie for an enthralling final hour, it almost seems as if he doesn't know quite what to do with it. He loses track, not really knowing how to give that rousing final act and the movie spirals downwards, cutting from on dramatic sequence to another but never reaching where it intends to. The climax itself, though well executed and undoubtedly the best part of the last hour, somehow never really satisfies you. Kabir Khan tries to do a Rakyesh Mehra and make a Rang De Basanti but only manages a Delhi-6.

The music is essentially good and fortunately enough there are no lip-syn ch moments though the songs are not really necessary as part of the narrative. Aditya Chopra's writing is a huge thumbs up in the first hour but is also to be blamed for the film's final disappointment. As I said, it almost seems as if once they had set the movie up for that grand finish, Adiya Chopra was at a loss for ideas to give that final punch.

Katrina Kaif looks gorgeous and tries real hard to impress us with her acting here. The effort can be seen but unfortunately it doesn't work. Saddled with a character which has several more layers than she can handle, she puts in a valiant effort but still is a miserable failure. Half the scenes in the 2nd half are ruined thanks to her presence and is a clear example of how bad acting can ruin the best of scenes.

The same can be said of Neil Nitin Mukesh. The effort is there and he even succeeds to an extent but you can't help but wish that there was a better actor there to play his part. Not that he is bad. He gets the maximum screen presence and in first half he puts in a pretty decent show, but it is in the 2nd half where he falters. The emotional scenes never work with him and that's where he has got to improve.

Irrfan Khan is a brilliant actor is a fact no one can doubt so there isn't much left to say. It isn't really his movie and yet in many ways he is the best part about it.

John Abraham though is a different kettle of fish. Here is an actor who is often undermined for his performances, almost labelled a non-actor but in New York he comes of age. It's a bravura performance deserving all the plaudits it can gather. Given the most complex character of the movie, John Abraham does a stupendous job, convincing us at once that he is a family man and then slowly, as the layers peel off and the mask is unveiled, he seeps into it and catches the angst of Sameer with elan. John Abraham can't act is now just a myth. He may not win any awards for this, but when the best performances of the year will be mentioned you can be sure that John Abraham's name will definitely come up.

Final Verdict: I would recommend New York for three different reasons. 1st-the movie in itself is not a bad one and scores on more than one front. It definitely can be viewed as a well made thriller. 2ND-The Issue that the movie highlights is an ever present one and should not be ignored. In that regard, Kabeer Khan does well to make an entertaining movie and at the same time relaying an important message. 3rd-To watch John Abraham grow as an actor and finally come of age. John Abraham the actor has finally arrived.

Its just that I somehow can't get over the feeling that this movie had the potential to be so much more. It will be regarded as one of the finer movies of the year no doubt but somewhere, in the midst of trying to create a commercial thriller with an underlying message, the makers really lost the chance to make a movie that could have been remembered for ages. Pity really! For it really is much ado about nothing!

RATING: ***