Saurabh Dwivedi of
India Today gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "The film lays bare the darkness beneath shining lights of the metropolis, with its gut-wrenching screenplay. Rajkummar Rao proves it yet again why Mahesh Bhatt thinks he is the future of Bollywood." Director
Suparn Verma, writing for
Rediff rated the film 4/5, and wrote, "What makes
City Lights memorable is how Hansal Mehta infuses his struggle into it. I have known Hansal for a better part of my life; we have seen both good days and bad. In this film, he gathers all his pain, pours it in a glass and makes Rajkummar drink it." Kusumita Das of
Deccan Chronicle also gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Given its premise, some might say it’s old wine in a new bottle. But this bottle’s certainly a keeper. Sweta Kaushal wrote in a
Hindustan Times 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." Renowned critic
Anupama Chopra, also writing for the
Hindustan Times, gave the film 3/5 stars, and wrote, "The moving story about the horrors an immigrant family endures in the big city, translates perfectly to India and director Hansal Mehta stays faithful to the original"
Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express rated the film 3/5 and wrote, "Mehta does well with generating dread and creating a couple of surprising curves, which almost overcomes some of the plot’s uneven arcs".
India Today critic Rohit Khilnani also gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and wrote, "
Citylights is a very important film, it gives us a reality check. Mumbai is known to be the city of dreams but it does have a big share of shattered dreams too." ==Box office==