<p><em>CitylightsHindi (U/A) ¬¬¬¬<br /><br />Director: Hansal Mehta<br /><br />Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha, Manav Kaul<br /><br /></em></p>.<p><em>When Charlie Chaplin released a film called City Lights in 1931, he managed, as he had so effortlessly done in several other films, to inject a degree of satire and pathos in it. <br /><br />Eight decades have gone by, but the lure of an urban setting, which many from rural pastures mistake for affluence, or at least a better life, keeps burning up the moths attracted to it. And not often has it been told in as nuanced a way as Hansal Mehta's latest offering, whose name only takes away the little space between the two words in Chaplin's film. <br /><br />Rajkummar Rao teams up with the director who fetched him a National Award, and is ably supported by débutante Patralekha and character actor Manav Kaul, besides others, to deliver a film that does not pretend. It even begins by squarely acknowledging its roots: director Sean Ellis' British-Filipino offering Metro Manila.<br /><br />The story of former Army driver Deepak coming to the city with his wife and little girl in search of a better life, having been dispossessed of his cloth shop in his hometown due to rising debt, rings true for a growing number of people. As does his realisation that everything, including common sense, comes at a price. <br /><br />Then, just as things seem to ease up for the trio, in jumps intrigue, lure and a host of other emotions that take a further, irreversible toll on the family, despite a little respite and redemption. <br /><br />There are scenes that make you squirm with discomfort, but the inconvenient truth is not force-fed. Instead, Citylights manages to deliver scenes that seem natural enough to have been lifted straight out of lower-middle-class Indian households — a rarity that comes as a breath of fresh air. <br /><br />Equally refreshing is the use of music and sounds. There are no item songs, thankfully. Instead, a singular refrain acts as a sort of leitmotif for our protagonists' lives. <br /><br />The film takes time to build the characters, and the actors make the most of this by displaying talent that a lot of their peers should learn from. And that's why the slow pace of the film never manages to bog the audience down. <br /><br />Mehta should take credit for several other aspects of the film, having served up a dish that is a marked departure from the “masala” fare running at most multiplexes now. See this film to embrace reality, not to escape it. </em></p>
<p><em>CitylightsHindi (U/A) ¬¬¬¬<br /><br />Director: Hansal Mehta<br /><br />Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha, Manav Kaul<br /><br /></em></p>.<p><em>When Charlie Chaplin released a film called City Lights in 1931, he managed, as he had so effortlessly done in several other films, to inject a degree of satire and pathos in it. <br /><br />Eight decades have gone by, but the lure of an urban setting, which many from rural pastures mistake for affluence, or at least a better life, keeps burning up the moths attracted to it. And not often has it been told in as nuanced a way as Hansal Mehta's latest offering, whose name only takes away the little space between the two words in Chaplin's film. <br /><br />Rajkummar Rao teams up with the director who fetched him a National Award, and is ably supported by débutante Patralekha and character actor Manav Kaul, besides others, to deliver a film that does not pretend. It even begins by squarely acknowledging its roots: director Sean Ellis' British-Filipino offering Metro Manila.<br /><br />The story of former Army driver Deepak coming to the city with his wife and little girl in search of a better life, having been dispossessed of his cloth shop in his hometown due to rising debt, rings true for a growing number of people. As does his realisation that everything, including common sense, comes at a price. <br /><br />Then, just as things seem to ease up for the trio, in jumps intrigue, lure and a host of other emotions that take a further, irreversible toll on the family, despite a little respite and redemption. <br /><br />There are scenes that make you squirm with discomfort, but the inconvenient truth is not force-fed. Instead, Citylights manages to deliver scenes that seem natural enough to have been lifted straight out of lower-middle-class Indian households — a rarity that comes as a breath of fresh air. <br /><br />Equally refreshing is the use of music and sounds. There are no item songs, thankfully. Instead, a singular refrain acts as a sort of leitmotif for our protagonists' lives. <br /><br />The film takes time to build the characters, and the actors make the most of this by displaying talent that a lot of their peers should learn from. And that's why the slow pace of the film never manages to bog the audience down. <br /><br />Mehta should take credit for several other aspects of the film, having served up a dish that is a marked departure from the “masala” fare running at most multiplexes now. See this film to embrace reality, not to escape it. </em></p>
