New York

With some time passing since 9/11, we now have the option of having a contrary viewpoint. It's a real shame that a film like this only makes it to the Festival once and doesn't get wider distribution. Nothing is black and white and the glorious American democracy has many cracks within it. One such crack is the modern witch-hunts and mindless executions as part of the "greater good," but it is generally dismissed because bad timing was to blame, for example...right? The other side is not perfect either. However, it was more than appropriate to illustrate another generally valid point about violence begetting only more violence. It is thus not the end that justifies the means, but rather the East catching up with the West, and audiences can finally choose their own points of view better. I'm honestly thrilled that the main cast was so heavily populated with popular young faces, and it felt so natural to walk with them through their journey from carefree years at school to tangles with terrorism. This was greatly helped by the great sets, wherein it was realized that it was necessary to distinguish between two time horizons, even though the difference was less than a whole decade. With this film, John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh have conquered another difficult rung on their way to the top. (13/10/2010)