All three stories have their strong points, but there are times when Oberoi cannot resist the temptation to spell everything out. That takes some of the edge off from what is otherwise a rare and honest portrait of the lives of urban dwellers.

These overlapping stories about Mumbai city display a variety of emotions…

Watch it for some gritty stories narrated very realistically by all actors, especially the three leads.

What Island City achieves is far more important than where it trips up. As a tonally tricky, slyly subversive mood piece, it finds itself in a very small group of Hindi films. It’s also an intriguing new entry in the long tradition of films that explore the spiritual heartache of living in Mumbai.

All three stories are about authoritarianism, the individual rebellions against it and the happy and not-so-happy consequences of these unheralded, unknown mini mutinies. While this core idea is strong, the representation of it and the cinematic tonality is inconsistent, varying from tale to tale.

The 111-minute movie has been beautifully shot by Sylvester Fonseca, set in vividly captured locations, and perfectly performed by its ensemble cast, but the screw-loose narrative needed some tightening to have been truly effective. Oberoi sometimes takes too long to set up and spell out obvious moments and scenes.