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CityLights Hindi Movie Reviews
Ratings:2.5/5 Review By: Rajeev Masand Site:CNN IBN
Where 'Citylights' succeeds is in telling the story of ordinary people living below the poverty line people we seldom cast a second glance at people who sometimes have to resort to desperate measures just so they can keep their children alive. It's a good film, but not without its flaws. I'm going with two-and-a-half out of five.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Review By: Taran Adarsh Site:Bollywood Hungama
This one is *not* art house cinema or a 'festival film', as being understood by few. CITYLIGHTS reflects the times we live in. And Hansal encapsulates the rural migration, penury, exploitation and adversities in an overcrowded metropolis with utmost realism. The shocking finale is disheartening, while the gut-wrenching images of a once-happy family leave you distraught as you step out of the auditorium. On the whole, CITYLIGHTS is one of the most captivating movie experiences of late. An expertly-crafted heartbreaker, this tragic tale has a riveting plot, power-packed narrative, soulful music and arresting performances to haunt you much after the screening has concluded. A must watch!
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Ratings:3/5 Review By: Anupama Chopra Site: Star World
Rajkummar alters not just his posture and accent but his inner being. He becomes the naïve, bewildered and ultimately desperate family man whose generous spirit is slowly crushed by the grinding wheels of an indifferent city. It’s a wonderful performance in a strong film. Still Citylights is persuasive. It will work better for you if you haven’t seen the original. I’m going with three stars.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Review By: Srijana Mitra Das Site: Times Of India (TOI)
Citylights is based on Sean Ellis' acclaimed Metro Manila, but it also unlocks the doors to other movies in your mind. This is both a strength and drawback for this remarkable film. The second half thus gently meanders, shots becoming slightly repetitive and slow, making you agree when Vishnu tells Deepak in exasperated humour, "Aap itni dheemi gati ke film hain!" But the end gathers itself, providing a twist that both dazzles and covers darkness. Quite like city lights.
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Ratings:4/5 Review By: Suparn Verma Site: Rediff
Producers Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt and Fox Studios deserve kudos for backing such a raw, visceral film.What makes City Lights memorable is how Hansal Mehta infuses his struggle into it. I have known Hansal for a better part of my life; we have seen both good days and bad. In this film, he gathers all his pain, pours it in a glass and makes Rajkummar drink it. A hard, unrelenting film that doesn’t give in to over sentimentality, City Lights is just like the city of Mumbai. It beats you down and when you are broken, takes you in its arms and loves you.
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Ratings:-- Review By: Komal Nahta Site:Zee ETC Bollywood Business
Hansal Mehta’s direction is sensitive. He has narrated the subject with a touch of realism but, having said that, it must be added that both, the script and the narrative style, hold appeal for the city-based class audience mainly. On the whole, Citylights is a very class-appealing film with not much novelty value. It can hope to do well in select multiplexes of the big cities but not otherwise. Its mediocre investment is a point in its favour.
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Ratings:4/5 Review By: Saibal Chaterjee Site: NDTV
CityLights has its heart in the right place, and it is a heart that is backed by a ticking mind that is able to grasp the subtler shades of human behaviour without tripping on over-sentimentalism. CityLights isn’t a feel-good entertainer. It is a film that shocks, provokes and seeks to prick our collective complacency and apathy. That obviously adds up to infinitely more value than the price of a multiplex ticket.
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Ratings:3/5 Review By: Shubhra Gupta Site: Indian Express
Soul-destroying poverty can drive people into deep cesspits, and the struggle to stay alive can be heart-rending. Mehta does well with generating dread and creating a couple of surprising curves, which almost overcomes some of the plot’s uneven arcs. The songs nearly ruined the film for me, but ‘Citylights’ gives us pause. And an actor who makes us believe, all the way.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Review By: Rahul Desai Site: Mumbai Mirror
The practice of retelling their story within the realms of cultural relevance is most important, and this is where Citylights sets itself apart from its adapted peers. The original film, with its poetic voiceover and bookended flashbacks, has a more resounding climax; Citylights stutters with sentimentality, but eventually blacks out before its too late. Much like its conflicted protagonists.
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Ratings:2.5/5 Review By: Rohit Khilnani Site: India Today
City Lights is a very important film, it gives us a reality check. Mumbai is known to be the city of dreams but it does have a big share of shattered dreams too. It's a good one but from the team of Shahid and with Mahesh Bhatt backing the project, we expected more.
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Ratings:3.5/5 Review By: Mohar Basu Site: Koimoi
Citylights is fashioned as an old wine in a new bottle as director Hansal Mehta seamlessly beaded together a heart wrenching story with a crime drama. Keeping intact the milieu of Mumbai in the film, the pace and packaging is all done to perfection. Though I have my reservations about the half baked climax, which lacks both thrill and conviction, the film is true to the word overwhelming in every sense of the term. It will be crime to cinema to miss Rajkumar’s best work till date.
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