Film Review - CityLights

Sin City

Film: City Lights
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha
Directed by: Hansal Mehta
Duration: 2 hrs
Rating: * * * 1 / 2

Officially adapted from the Philippines-UK film Metro Manila, City Lights directed by Hansal Mehta for Mahesh Bhatt and co. is a cut above the rest. It is a grim tale of family that moves from the village to the city, not knowing what is in store for them. Even in real life, there are several universal tales about such families that have migrated assuming that the grass is green on the other side. Apart from the adaptation by Ritesh Shah, Hansal Mehta’s direction is most impressive.

Deepak (Rajkummar Rao) hails from Rajasthan and along with his wife (Patralekha) and little daughter they come to the big bad city of Mumbai. Right away, he gets conned by a real estate agent. No job, no money, life is far from being a bed of roses as they expected it to be.

The wife is forced to take up employment in a dance bar while he manages to get a job as a driver for a security agency whose job is to transport valuables for their clients. Manav Kaul plays his supervisor who wants to make Deepak a part of his baleful agenda.

The characters are very well etched – Deepak being a village bloke wants to live in peace honestly and to some extent is quite naïve as well. Without gloating too much, it conveys the harsh realities that people have to go through pushing them in a corner to take extreme measures.

The most jarring part of the screenplay is the background music and songs that pop up from time to time completely undermining the situation. Mehta has a better knack for telling a story through situations, not songs.

The cast plays an important role in City Lights – newcomer Patralekha puts up a good show, she conveys her vulnerability in the right measure and pulls through in the emotional scenes as well. Manav Kaul as the friend is first rate but ultimately the film belongs to Rajkummar Rao who is simply terrific. The film is yet another feather in his cap which is collecting them at a rapid pace. For his performance itself and as a film that has something to say, City Lights is worth a watch.

Published in The Navhind Times on 1st June 2014
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