Yesterday was a sad day for me. Michael Jackson or more popularly know as MJ, the king of pop is no more. During my growing up years, my first exposure to western music was through MJ. His music videos, hit tracks like Beat It, Black and White, the dancing talent all made him a powerhouse of talent. I guess its the same with millions of his fans worldwide. He was a cult icon. Although, the last few years his career may have been overshadowed by his personal affairs he still was someone who was adored by his fans. Starting his career at the age of six years when most people are still grasping the nitty gritties of life he was someone special.
It also begs some questions. I sometimes wonder why do people who have such amazing talent have a meteoric rise and then their fall is equally steep. Michael, we will miss you :(
Today I watched the movie "New York" starring John Abraham (Sam aka Sameer Sheikh), Katrina Kaif (Maya), Neil Nitin Mukesh (Omar) and Irrfan Khan (Roshan).
The story is about 3 friends and how their friendship is torn apart afer the 9/11 attacks. Of course it has a romantic angle as well.
9/11 attacks was a tragic day in our history and the subsequent events made things worse especially for ethnic minorities. This theme forms the background for the movie. The revelation in the movie is Katrina Kaif. She does finally learn how to emote apart from looking drop dead gorgeous :) . Of course it's not completely a flawless performance. Some of such scenes are when Maya confesses her love to Sam. It looked very superficial. The scenes I liked were the ones involving Omar and Roshan. Their humour against the serious story line not only gives comic relief but also brings an intense chemistry between the characters. The scene which nearly brought me to tears was when Sam is in detention and undergoes torture right from being stripped naked in a caged prison to being peed on by the cops. It was just too chilling and horrifying.
The characters which stand out strongly are Roshan who is an FBI officer (played brilliantly by Irrfan Khan) and Omar who comes to the United States to pursue his studies. Cinematography is good and captures the whole essence of New York. Music by Pritam as usual is good fare. My favourite is the slow song "Tum Ne Jo Haan kahan main wo sunta rahan" apart from "Hain Junoon". Kabir Khan who had earlier directed Kabul Express does extract some good peformances from his lead actors. The movie seems a sincere effort. You can see it in the climax when despite the tragedy, there is a ray of hope. I don't want to play spoil sport by revealing too much :)
(Image Source: http://www.topnews.in/light/files/michael-jackson.jpg)
(Image Source: http://movie.webindia123.com/movie/asp/movie.asp?m_id=348&movie=New+York&display=wallpaper)
