Citylights is a story we have seen many times before. However, the execution of the film by the National Award-winning director Hansal Mehta makes the film intensely gripping and thought-provoking.

The film is not meant for audience which wants usual Bollywood fare. Its climax, for example, may disappoint many but is likely to gain its own niche audience.

It’s a barren canvas of Mumbai’s underbelly and poverty and corruption. Things we’ve seen a thousand times before. Only this time they’re show in softer focus, more artful lighting. That’s the thing about lights. They can create a wonderful optical illusion. But it only lasts till you get up close and realise there’s nothing there.

When there are so many factors going against a movie, you expect the story to compensate things. Sadly it’s paper thin, and crumbles under the weight of the film’s mediocrity. You might argue that it’s unfair to compare City Lights to Metro Manila, and that this film was made only for those who aren’t familiar with the original film, but those people do deserve better, more polished material.

A legitimate inspiration, Vishesh Film’s Hansal Mehta directed ‘Citylights,’ repackages the 2013 Sundance premiered, British-Filipino Indie production ‘Metro Manila,’ written and directed by Sean Ellis. Set within an Indianised setting and rewritten to suit the milieu in Rajasthan and Mumbai, it loses most of its charm in the bargain.

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.

If you have watched the original try it to see how Manila could easily be Mumbai and if you haven’t, go get illuminated about the ground realities beneath your feet.