Hollywood has highlighted it, so haveothers. But the Hindi film industry has barely touched upon 9/11 as a theme,with Kabir Khan's 'New York' coming eight years after the tragic incidentin the US.

" 'New York' is belated...it has beennearly eight years since the incident happened. The Mumbai film industry is very late in reacting tothis kind of a storyline...The topicality of such a theme is lost because ofthe delay," film historian Gautam Kaul.

"India is a little late on this.Hollywood (the US) and other countries have already made movies on 9/11. Indianfilmmakers did pass a thought that they should do it but did not because it wastoo sensitive for them to handle," he said.

"Everyone here got a shock after the26/11 attacks and it triggered reactions. Everything became very sensitive thenon, which is exactly what happened to the world after 9/11 and they (Indianfilmmakers) realised that this is one story to be told," he added.

Starring John Abraham, Katrina Kaif, NeilNitin Mukesh and Irrfan Khan, 'New York' can be called Bollywood's rarefull-fledged attempt at dealing with the subject.

Commenting on the lack of Bollywood filmson the theme, Bhatt said: "The images of the twin towers being attacked bythe planes have kind of become the defining images of the 21st century butIndian filmmakers don't deal with social realities.

"They like to lock themselves up onlyin light matters like that of the heart. A matter of political turmoil is not aBollywood filmmakers' cup of tea," he said.

The film is about a Muslim (Shah Rukh Khan)who suffers from Asperger syndrome, a form of autism which impacts socialinteraction abilities and he is arrested as a suspected terrorist in post-9/11Los Angeles after the authorities mistake his disability for suspiciousbehaviour.

Also starring Kajol, the film is scheduled for 2010 release, almost adecade after the 9/11 tragedy. The box office performance of 'New York' couldbe a pointer to how well the subject will be received.