''CityLights'' is a 2014 Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Hansal Mehta Hansal Mehta (born 29 April 1968) is an Indian filmmaker. He started his career with television show '' Khana Khazana'' (1993–2000) and later moved on to directing films like ''Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!!'' (2000), ''Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?'' (2002) an ...

starring

Rajkummar Rao Rajkummar Rao (born Raj Kumar Yadav; 31 August 1984) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films. He has appeared in more than 30 films since 2010, and is the recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, three ...

and actress Patralekha in the lead roles. It is a remake of the BAFTA nominated British film ''

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

'' (2013). The film was presented by

Fox Star Studios Star Studios (formerly known as Fox Star Studios) is an Indian motion picture production and distribution company. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney Star, part of the Disney International Operations segment of The Walt Disney Company. Th ...

in association with

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is ''Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film F ...

and

Mukesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...

. The story is about a poor farmer from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

coming to Mumbai in search of livelihood. The film released on 30 May 2014, and won rave reviews from most critics. In spite of releasing in just 350 screens, ''CityLights'' became a success due to its low cost of production and consistent collections at the box office.

Plot

Deepak Singh's (played by Rajkumar Rao) life as a former driver in the Indian Army in a village in Rajasthan who owns a garment store is tangled in the web of poverty, hope and despair. Deepak's family consists of his ever-supporting wife, Rakhi (played by Patralekha), and their little daughter, Mahi. They tag along his journey to Mumbai as he is unable to repay the money he owes for his store. With no contacts or addresses, except that of his friend Omkar, Deepak takes extreme measures to search for him when arriving to Mumbai. Deepak is tricked by two con-men who offer to sell him a flat for Rs 10,000 and decamp with the money. With no details on them, the Mumbai police refuse to file an F.I.R. His wife meets an escort working at a night bar who provides them space in a building under construction as temporary accommodation, and convinces her to work as a bar dancer until Deepak finds a job. Deepak gets hired as a driver for a privately owned security bureau with a monthly pay of Rs 15,000. Deepak's senior colleague, Vishnu (played by Manav Kaul) realizes that he is gullible, and does various favours for him in order to gain his trust. Vishnu later reveals a plans to loot a parcel being transported by the security agency. When Deepak vehemently opposes the idea of the theft, Vishnu blackmails him by revealing that he has hidden a box that he previously stole, in Deepak's house. Feeling cornered, Deepak agrees to the risky plan of stealing the keys for this box. However, Vishnu is attacked and killed in the course of the robbery. Meanwhile, Rakhi loses her job. Deepak finds the box stolen by his senior in his house and comes up with a plan to ensure Rakhi and Mahi's safe return to their village. The movie ends when his attempt to steal the keys from the agency cost him his life but through a shrewd tactic he is able to pass on Rakhi the imprint of the key for the stolen box. Rakhi and Mahi return to the village with Rakhi lost in memory of Deepak and their happy past.

Cast

as Deepak Singh * Patralekha as Rakhi Singh *

Manav Kaul Manav Kaul (born 19 December 1976) is an Indian theatre director, playwright, author, actor and filmmaker. He was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the films '' Tumhari Sulu'' (2017) and '' Saina'' (2021 ...

as Vishnu *

Sadiya Siddiqui Sadiya Siddiqui is an Indian film and television actress who rose to fame playing the role of Priya on the Zee Tv show ''Banegi Apni Baat''. She is also known for playing Nanda in Star Plus's '' Tu Sooraj Main Saanjh, Piyaji''. She won an ITA A ...

as Sudha *

Pramod Pathak Pramod means joy or happiness in Sanskrit and is one of the names of the Hindu god Ganesh. People with the name "Pramod": * Pramod Bhasin, Indian businessman * Pramod Chakravorty (1929–2004), Indian director and film producer * Pramod Dubey, In ...

as Boss Mhatre * Khushboo Upadhyay as Sonali *

Resh Lamba Resh is the twentieth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Rēsh , Hebrew Rēsh , Aramaic Rēsh , Syriac Rēsh ܪ, and Arabic . Its sound value is one of a number of rhotic consonants: usually or , but also or in Hebrew and N ...

as Waqar

Production

''CityLights'' marked actress Anwita Paul's debut, known by her screen name Patralekha. As Paul was in a relationship with the lead actor Rao, the production house did not disclose her name until the trailer was released. When press kept questioning about the lead actress, the filmmakers dismissed the question. While the film was originally set to be directed by Ajay Bahl, due to creative differences he was replaced by Hansal Mehta. In December 2013, it was announced that shooting would begin in

. The film was first scheduled to release on 1 May 2014, which was subsequently shifted to 30 May. On 5 May 26 minutes of footage was previewed at a Mumbai event.

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by

Jeet Gannguli Jeet Gannguli (, born Chandrajeet Ganguly, on 24 May 1977), is an Indian score composer of Bengali and Hindi movies. Early life and education Born in a Bengali Brahmin family, Gannguli was initiated into the world of music at the age of thr ...

with lyrics by Rashmi Singh. Rashmi Singh received Best Lyricist award at the

60th Filmfare Awards The 60th Filmfare Awards were held to honor the best films of 2014 from the Hindi-language film industry on 31 January 2015 at the Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai. The ceremony was hosted by Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt and Kapil Sharma. ''Queen'' led t ...

for her lyrics to the song "

Muskurane Muskurane () is a romantic Hindi song from the 2014 Bollywood film, '' CityLights''. Composed by Jeet Gannguli, the song is sung by Arijit Singh, with lyrics penned by Rashmi Singh. The music video of the track features actors Rajkummar Ra ...

." The

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

was composed by

Raju Singh Raju Singh (Full name: Rajinder Singh Panesar) is an Indian film score composer, session musician, singer and a guitarist. His first collaboration was with Malkit Singh of Hai Jamalo fame. Together with Adesh Srivastav they released an album c ...

Track listing

Critical reception

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...

reviews the cinematography of "Citylights" by

Dev Agarwal Dev Agarwal is an Indian cinematographer and director. He is best known for his work in the films like ''CityLights (2014 film), CityLights'' and ''Bollywood Diaries''. Dev directed the documentary film ''Moved by Love'' which was screened a ...

is wonderful. Shots of the family sleeping against a rubbish pile, a '3BHK' in a construction site, Deepak staring at an ocean of pure despair, a fallen cycle in a courtyard, stand out. The family's migration stays with you as a vivid new experience – but its city sojourn occasionally reminds you of familiar moments. Sweta Kaushal writes in a ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' review that Hansal Mehta's direction makes ''Citylights'' "intensely gripping and thought-provoking, the interplay of emotions and how the couple copes with city's hardships are the high points of the film."

Box office

The film collected against a similar production budget.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
''Citylights'': 2nd Week Box Office Collections
at Koimoi.com {{Hansal Mehta 2014 films Films scored by Jeet Ganguly 2014 drama films 2010s Hindi-language films Indian crime drama films Indian remakes of British films Films set in Mumbai Films shot in Rajasthan Fox Star Studios films Indian avant-garde and experimental films Films with screenplays by Ritesh Shah 2010s avant-garde and experimental films