New York

In the United States in 2008, the FBI arrest Omar Aijaz (Neil Nitin Mukesh) after finding guns in the trunk of a taxi cab he owned. Omar, a young Muslim man originally from Delhi, is then taken into custody and interrogated by FBI Agent Roshan (Irrfan Khan), also a Muslim man originally from South Asia who has been living in the United States for twenty years. Omar then discovers that he was set up by the FBI in order to force him to spy on a former college friend, Samir Shaikh (John Abraham), whom he has not seen in seven years and who the FBI believes is a terrorist. In the process, Omar discovers that Sam has married Maya (Katrina Kaif), a mutual friend whom Omar had a crush on in university and finds out that Samir and Maya have a young son, Danyal (Aidan Wagner).Roshan orders Omar to tell him everything he knows about Samir.

The film then flashes back to September 1999, when Omar begins his studies at the New York State University. He is befriended by his international student counselor Maya and learns that though she was born and raised in New York, she is fluent in Hindi because of her mothers interest in Bollywood films. Omar also meets Sam, another Indian American who is also Muslim and fluent in Hindi due to the fact that his father is a professor of Indian studies. Over the next two years, all three become inseparable friends and gradually Omar falls in love with Maya. When Omar realises that she loves Sam, however, he distances himself from them both.

Their carefree days finally end with the onset of 9/11.After finishing his story, Omar agrees to help Roshan (rather reluctantly), if only to prove that both he and Sam are innocent. He reunites with Maya and Sam and stays in their house, all the while spying for the FBI. Omar learns that Maya is a civil rights activist who is helping one of Sams employees, Zilgai (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) overcome his experience as a former 9/11 detainee. Zilgai was eventually released due to lack of evidence and has been having difficulty adjusting back to normal life.

As time progresses, Omar feels satisfied that he can find nothing to warrant the FBIs suspicions and is ready to leave when a series of events forces him to reconsider. In the process, Omar learns from Sam that ten days after 9/11, Sam was arrested and detained for a period of nine months as a suspected terrorist, a charge which everyone, including the FBI and Roshan, now agree was incorrect. Though he was eventually released due to lack of evidence, the impact of being detained and tortured permanently changed Sam in ways which are difficult for those surrounding him to understand, leaving him with feelings of deep resentment towards the FBI. Omar thus finds that Sam ultimately resorted to plans for terrorism as a means of revenge.In addition, Maya is unable to help Zilgai resolve the trauma of being a detainee.

After a routine traffic stop escalates and an NYPD police officer gives Maya a very rough full-body search, Zilgai becomes agitated. He drops Maya at her home and eventually kills the police officer the same night. After being declared a fugitive, Zilgai leads the police on a long chase ultimately ending in his suicide.The climax of the film rests upon the attempts of Maya, Omar, and Roshan to prevent Sam from committing an act of terrorism by telling him that if he perpetuates towards terrorism, others will suffer as he has. Finally convinced, Sam surrenders and aborts his attempt to bomb the FBI building.

However, the moment he drops his cell-phone (which was originally intended as a detonator for the bomb) he is shot and killed by FBI snipers. The cell phone falls benign to the ground without activating anything. Maya, who was running toward Sam, is also killed by stray gunfire and Omar, bereft of speech, breaks down. Six months later, he is later comforted by Roshan who explains to him that; everybody was right in their place, but the timing was wrong. As for Sam, the path he chose killed him.

Everybody has moved on after 9/11, as its high time. Omar has adopted Danyal, and Roshan has received commendation for aiding in the anti-terrorism cause. They reconcile each other. The film ends with all three of them going out for pasta and a side note describing the after effects of 9/11.New York was well received by a number of critics.

Subhash K. Jha gave New York a rave review arguing that New York is what cinema in contemporary times should be, must be, though it seldom is and designates it an important film which cares about the prejudices that have taken over the world. Jha also states that, stereotypical portrayals of the cultural diaspora are fortunately rare in this piece of contemporary art which has plenty of heart, a heart that never overflows in an embarrassing torrent of emotions. Devansh Patel, film critic for Londons Hounslow Chronicle, gave New York five out of five stars stating that it is, the most thought provoking movie Yash Raj Films has ever come up with. Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four out of five stars, describing New York as, an extremely taut and highly emotive piece of political drama [.

] topical, meaningful, and entertaining, all at the same time. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it four out of five stars arguing that New York is one of the finest films produced by this premier production house, Yash Raj [.] the screenplay is its biggest star, without a doubt. Given the fact that New York isnt one of those routine masala fares, Kabir has injected songs only when required. Cinematography is striking.

Joginder Tuteja of the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) calls the film a must watch and gave it four out of four stars. He states: When a hardcore commercial flick gets a standing ovation and a huge round of applause at the end of the show, you know that there is something definitely right that the director has done. In this regard, Kabir Khan can take a bow because he has done exceedingly well in making a film that is not frivolous, has a message and still carries enough commercial ingredients to reach out to masses as well as classes. Mayank Shekhar of the Hindustan Times argues that comparing New York to Mark Pellington's Arlington Road would be grossly unfair. If anything, this is a much better movie than that 1999, part-spooky conspiracy theory.

The central theme itself is closer to Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Kay Liye , and you can sense how the superior execution here makes all the filmmaking difference. Additionally, Shekhar describes New York in NDTV as, an A-list film that gets a straight A. Sandhya Iyer of the Sakaal Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars arguing that New York manages to be gripping, thanks to an excellent screenplay. Most importantly, the story has the right mix of realism and drama one that Kabir Khan unfolds with quiet confidence. Mathures Paul of The Statesman states: Finally, here's a film that entertains and makes viewers think.

New York received mixed reviews from other critics. Rachel Saltz of The New York Times states: While Mr. Khan's depictions of American life occasionally seem silly and the plot has some crater-size holes, New York is continually fascinating. It benefits from the performance of Irrfan Khan, who adds layers of complexity to his character. Lisa Tsering of the Hollywood Reporter argues that although the film is a routine thriller with few surprises, it deserves attention because its topic, even eight years after Sept.

11, is one that many South Asian Americans still take very seriously. John Anderson of Variety suggests that New York has a certain amount of silliness early on but is a courageous movie in many ways, and a surprising one. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film two out of five stars and states: New York has its heart in the right place and its intentions are entirely honorable [.] but because the film is constructed from such a sloppy script, that point is lost under all the creative liberties and convenient short-cuts that the screenplay takes. New York is rated 35/100 on Metacritic, citing generally unfavorable reviews.