New York (Hindi 2009)

New York is not typical Bollywood fare. There are a couple song numbers, but no big group dances. Rather, this is a story about the aftermath of 9/11 and how it affected the Muslim population of this country. Expecting a typical Bollywood romance, I was surprised by the framing of the story. The movie begins with the arrest and detention (under the Patriot Act) of a young Muslim youth who has come from India on a scholarship to study at New York State College. To escape unjust incarceration and probably torture, Omar agrees to work as an undercover agent by infiltrating a supposed terrorist inner cell. The twist is that his good friend and wife are the ones under suspicion. Omar is expected to win their trust after not having seen them for 7 years and to live in their house in an effort to uncover terrorist activity.

The movie explores the issue of terrorism, loss of dignity, racist policies towards Muslims, Muslim oppression and response to unjust police practices under the Patriot Act, and the waste of talent and human potential that goes on because of the policy. The four main actors were new to me, but all were quite good. Neil Nitin Mukesh plays Omar; Katrina Kaif plays Maya, his love interest; John Abraham plays Sam, the highly competent American Muslim who is detained for 9 months under suspicion of being a terrorist and who exits the detention center a changed person. Finally, Irrfan plays Agent Roshan, an undercover FBI agent.

I haven't seen a movie like this produced by an American company. Having seen it, I hope that I don't get on a list somewhere as a terrorist sympathizer. However, the movie did give a very human face to terrorists and explored some of the issues that could push a person towards it. I'm glad that this film was suggested to me and that I purchased it. I recommend it highly. By the way, the film is produced by Yash Raj Films - Yash Chopra; these productions are always very well cast, acted, directed, filmed, written, etc. I haven't yet been disappointed with films produced by this company. I identify it as a label of quality.