City Lights

Citylights re-unites the director actor duo Hansal Mehta & Rajkumar Rao after a superb "Shahid" which won each of them the National Award this year.CityLights Citylights is an adaptation of 2013 Award winning movie "METRO MANILA" directed by Sean Elllis and Hansal Mehta does complete justice to the original. The story is credited to Sean Ellis the original writer of METRO MANILA; the adapted screenplay is by Ritesh Shah. Ritesh stays true to the original but adapts it to the Indian context of people from smaller towns who migrate to the city of dreams Mumbai expecting to make a better living. Just a piece of advice if you are looking at an entertaining movie then this is definitely not the right choice.

Citylights is the story of Deepak (Rajkumar Rao) and Rakhee (Patralekha) who come to Mumbai from Rajasthan to make a better living but become victim of the shrewd reality of city life. The story by Sean Ellis captures the pathos of a small town guy well in his story and Ritesh's screenplay captures the nuances well. At times the movie's pace becomes sluggish especially during song sequences which was unnecessary. Some of the sequences are very well written albeit I felt the climax was a bit hurried and could have been presented well.

It is the performances which make the movie memorable. Rajkumar Rao gives another brilliant performance. His portrayal of Deepak Singh is so realistic that you wonder whether he is really acting. The Dialect to the body language is all up to the mark. Another superb performance is of Manav Kaul who plays Vishnu a friend of Deepak with ulterior motives. After "Kai Po Che" Manav again shows his caliber, this is an actor to look forward to. Sadia Siddique as Vishnu's wife is good albeit her role is small. Patralekha as Rakhee does show a spark but gets overshadowed by Rajkumar and Manav.

Production Design by Rajat Poddar is realistic. Editing by Apoorva Asrani could have been sharp. Jeet Ganguli's music is good but does not gel with the narration rather it hampers the pace.

Hansal Mehta's forte is to get the human emotions bang on and he succeeds in this movie as well but fails a bit in giving it a Thriller edge and finesse in the narration which was the highlight in the original METRO MANILA.

After MURDER 3, here is another official remake from Vishesh Films, of a widely acclaimed gem titled METRO MANILA directed by Sean Ellis (made in Tagalog language) in the year 2013. And the end result is almost the same as I felt while watching MURDER 3, wherein also the original film remained far better and a must watch classic indeed, as compared to its weak Indian adaptation focusing more on the commercial elements.

So as the film is an adapted version, therefore we need to analyze it from two distinctive viewpoints as below:

As an individual film Watching it as a new Hindi film with some fine tracks already popular before the release, this has a mixed bag to offer, impressing the viewer only in parts. Surprisingly beginning with a sensual scene itself, it clearly gives you the message that this is not an 'Art House' kind of drama, but has got every essential ingredient of a Hindi film following the routine. So we have good well written songs, long emotional sequences, tense revolting scenes featuring the underdog and bedroom insertions too as usual.

CITYLIGHTS begins calmly focusing on the couple's poor state of living in the village and their decision to move to the city for a better future. The energy first comes in with the sequence of them being robbed on the very first day and then it all goes back to the same slow mood as per the theme. The pace returns with the dance-bar scene and when the male protagonist manages to find a job in a security firm along with a great song. So till intermission it manages to impress the viewer only partially and one expects for something explosive to come in the next half.

However sadly the post intermission film disappoints mostly due to its various downers such as a few deliberately added songs, a long avoidable (but well-acted) dramatic scene, a heist scheme mystery revealed too early, the missing logic in the proceedings, a lifeless background score, all seen before feel and a muddled unexciting climax with many sudden twists ruining the overall impact of its exceptional performances.

To put it straight, CITYLIGHTS have few outstanding acts, two great songs and a fine story base to play with. But what annoys you is the over-polished presentation of the subject wherein neither the poverty makes you feel for the couple nor the city comes out as a cruel part of the film like a major character.

Director Hansal Mehta made a masterpiece SHAHID (2013) when he didn't care about anything else and just followed his script, vision and dream. But when he tries to make a theme based commercial movie having a wide release, he again stumbles like DIL PE MAT LE YAAR (2000), with many uneven highs & lows in a project which could have been another potential trendsetter for sure.

Musically it would have been better if the director had used only one brilliant song "Soney Do" repeatedly in the film to make a larger impact. Though "Muskaranke Ki Vajah" is equally good but the song doesn't give you the expected emotional high when it gets played on the screen. The background music also could have added a lot with something innovative and DOP is not able to give the much desired dark feel to the subject as required.

Performances being the major merit of CITYLIGHTS, its really sad that the narration couldn't provide them the much needed support to shine brighter. After winning the National Award, Rajkumar Rao once again delivers a stunning act getting deep into the skin of his character & he is just 4 years old in the trade, unbelievably. Patralekhaa doesn't get much scope in the later part of the film, but she does leave a solid impression in her very first film boldly. The child artist remains the neglected one throughout but plays it well in her limited scenes and Manav Kaul makes a terrific entry as the supervisor. The supporting cast adds a decent value to the key scenes, like the owner of the firm loving silly jokes and Sadia Siddique does it well as Manav's wife.

In all, CITYLIGHTS manages to impress only partially and could have achieved a much higher status en-cashing the strong build up given by its good songs and the performers. But you can still watch it for the fabulous acts and a decent theme talking about the harsh poverty resulting in a crime in 8 out of the 10 cases in our society.

As an official remake Watching the film as the official remake of METRO MANILA directed by Sean Ellis, CITYLIGHTS is not able to give you the same feeling of empathy, suffering, love, drama and thrill, since it strangely makes many major changes in the treatment, which in fact was the real soul of the foreign film till its final scene. To give you the details, the major elements they have messed with, are its depiction of the metro city Mumbai - which doesn't become an essential character of the film as Manila becomes in the original, Background music - which has been beautifully done in the foreign gem with a minimum arrangement and exceptional use of sounds. And lastly the actual revelation of the truth, which all happens in the final 10 minutes of the film only, unlike the Indian version where everything is revealed much earlier, ruining the magical end.

Plus on a personal note, I couldn't understand why they deleted the most touching and emotional aspect of METRO MANILA, wherein the 8-9 years old daughter constantly complains about her toothache, but the couple doesn't have any money to take her to the dentist. So in case you like its basic theme then essentially watch the original at the earliest and do yourself a favour.

Great story line as well as star cast. Good screen play. Acting is really heart touching. Such a great movie to watch.

One of the best movies i have ever seen from Bollywood Cinema. Realty of a poor man and his struggle to get his family out of poverty. This movie simply touched my heart how well it portrayed the real life scenario's of a real person, so many difficulties and sacrifices he has to give just to achieve a roof over and three times food for his family. Even though it wasn't a typical khan movie this movie is a block buster in my list. Unfortunately it didn't get the praise it deserves. But still you should watch the movie and enjoy. Bot male and female actors have done there best. And for this they deserve an applause. Don't get deceive by the film cast just like a book by its cover. Watch and enjoy and than praise the cast.

Rajkumar Rao once again scores high in this film. Really gripping story and cinematography with a flavour of excellent acting makes this movie worth watching.