City of Life (2009)

A privileged young male Arab at odds with his cultural identity and his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous ... See full summary »

Director:

Ali F. Mostafa

Writers:

Jonny Brown (screenplay), Ali F. Mostafa (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Alexandra Maria Lara, Sonu Sood, Saoud Al Kaabi

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alexandra Maria Lara	...	Natalia Moldovan
Sonu Sood	...	Basu / Peter Patel
Saoud Al Kaabi	...	Faisal
Jason Flemyng	...	Guy Berger
Natalie Dormer	...	Olga
Yassin Alsalman	...	Khalfan (as Yassin 'The Narcisyst' Alsalman)
Ahmed Ahmed	...	Nasser
Javed Jaffrey	...	Mr. Khan (as Jaaved Jaaferi)
Susan George	...	Constance
Habib Ghuloom	...	Faisal's Father
Ahmed Abdullah	...	Rashid
Saleh Al Dhahiri	...	Abdul
Har Taimor	...	Abdul's Brother
Nitin Mirani	...	Kashmiri Cabbie
Abdulaziz Al Kaabi	...	Rich Friend 2 (as Abdal Aziz Al Kaabi)

Storyline

A privileged young male Arab at odds with his cultural identity and his less fortunate street smart friend; a disillusioned Indian taxi driver who bears an uncanny resemblance to a famous Bollywood star; and a former Romanian ballet dancer now working as a flight attendant and searching for love and companionship ... these individuals all live in Dubai and their lives are about to collide for better or for worse in a city where ambition, growth and opportunity are encouraged and dreams can still manifest. "City of Life" is an urban drama that tracks the various intersections of a multi-ethnic cast, examining how random interactions and their consequences can irrevocably impact another's life. As the name suggests, City of Life's inordinately humane kaleidoscope of converging experiences introduces a city that is in itself a living pulsating character. "City of Life" ultimately reveals how unexpected tragedy and loss can lead to hope and profound transformation as it explores and ...

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Plot Keywords:

taxi driver | dubai | arab | west | struggling actor | 

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Taglines:

Every day you can change another persons life without ever knowing it.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Natalia is from Bucharest. Alexandra Maria Lara, who played her, was born in Bucharest but her family fled Romania when she was a kid.

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Connections

References Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

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Soundtracks

Get Me Out
Performed by Jonas Desai
Produced by Reiner Erlings

User Reviews

Dubai a place for dreamers

Prior to viewing this film in the cinema in Dubai, I had already heard some good reviews of the film having a potential to enter mainstream cinema. Therefore last night I decided on viewing this film without expecting much.

The storytelling is basically similar to the likes of Babel and Crash, and the film style is "done that, did that". In spite of all the similarities I was impressed by production quality and cinematography. Film touches on lives of three people living in Dubai, and their experiences based on their dreams. Dubai has always been a city of dream rather than a city of life, where people come to fulfill their dream on making more money, buying a bigger better car and home, or simply living a lavish life. This has been well portrayed in the film.

The acting quality is excellent and the costumes, make-ups, and production designs are all well picked. But somehow watching this film in a cinema felt a bit awkward as it had a television production feel rather than cinema house quality. My overall experience just like everyone else was good.

I recommend you watch this film if you have never lived in Dubai, as it does speak out well about Dubai's lifestyle and the dreams people carry here. Dubai is simply a place for dreamers and its best lived short and sweet.

My score: 6 out of 10

Neeil Bhatia

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

United Arab Emirates

Language:

Arabic English Hindi

Release Date:

23 September 2010 (Kuwait)

Also Known As:

City of Life

Filming Locations:

Dubai International Airport, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$647,666

Company Credits

Production Co:

Afmfilms, FilmWorks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1