Overview
A family's journey through hardship leads them into the dark underbelly of Mumbai.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- gritty
- tense
- serious movie night
- social realism double feature
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as an intensely gripping, thought-provoking social drama whose grounded performances and direction reveal the harsh realities beneath Mumbai's city-of-dreams image.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Deepak's family arrives in Mumbai seeking opportunity but encounters deception, precarious labor, and homelessness.
The Singh family leaves its garment shop in Rajasthan after debt closes the business and migrates to Mumbai.
Deepak's security work and financial vulnerability draw him into a plan to rob the agency.
Mumbai's image as a city of dreams is set against under-construction shelter, exploitative work, and family hardship.
Films like City Lights, and why
Salaam Bombay!
shared urban immigrant struggle, social realism, and emotionally devastating family drama
Kaminey
shared Hindi-language social realism, precarious urban lives, and moral pressure under poverty
Maqbool
shared grounded crime drama, working-class desperation, and bleak metropolitan atmosphere
The Bicycle Thieves
shared intimate family hardship, economic exploitation, and humanist realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Hansal Mehta
- Release Date
- 2014-05-30
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (35)
Cast
- Rajkummar Rao
- Manav Kaul
- Pramod Pathak
- Sadiya Siddiqui
- Patralekhaa
- Vinod Rawat
- Amarjeet Singh
- Khushboo Upadhyay
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is City Lights about?
- A debt-stricken Rajasthan shopkeeper and his family confront deception, exploitative work, and criminal temptation after migrating to Mumbai.
- What is City Lights like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of City Lights as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is City Lights violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in City Lights as mild.
- What did critics think of City Lights?
- Critics broadly praised the film as an intensely gripping, thought-provoking social drama whose grounded performances and direction reveal the harsh realities beneath Mumbai's city-of-dreams image.
- Which films are like City Lights?
- Films with a similar feel include Salaam Bombay!, Kaminey, Maqbool, and The Bicycle Thieves.
- How long is City Lights?
- City Lights runs 126 minutes.
- Where can I watch City Lights?
- In United States, City Lights is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store.
