City of Joy (movie)

City of Joy is a 1992 French-British drama movie. It was directed by Roland Joffé. The screenplay is by Mark Medoff.

It is based on the novel by Dominique Lapierre. The story looks at the life in Indian slums.

Plot
Hasari Pal (Om Puri) is a rural farmer. He moves to Calcutta with his wife Kamla (Shabana Azmi) and three children. They seek a better life. They are cheated out of their rent money and thrown out on the streets. It is difficult for Hasari to find a job. The family refuses to give up. They find their place in the poverty-stricken city.

At the same time, Max Lowe (Patrick Swayze) arrives in Calcutta. He is a US surgeon. He is upset after the loss of a young patient.
He seeks spiritual enlightenment. He encounters misfortune as soon as he arrives. He is tricked by a young prostitute. He is roughed up by thugs. He loses his documents and valuables.

Hasari comes to Max's aid. He takes the injured doctor to the "City of Joy". This is a slum area populated with lepers and poor people. This becomes their new home. Max spends a lot of time there. He does not want to become too involved with the residents because he is afraid of becoming emotionally attached to them. An Irish woman, Joan (Pauline Collins), runs the local clinic. She persuades Max to help.

Max begins to fit in with his fellow slum-dwellers. He becomes more optimistic. Ther people around him have much worse lives. Their hope give new strengths to the depressed doctor.

Cast
 Patrick Swayze as Max Lowe
 Om Puri as  Hasari Pal
 Pauline Collins as Joan Bethel
 Vishal Slathia as Joey Barton
 Shabana Azmi as  Kamla H. Pal
 Anashua Majumdar as Selima
 Ayesha Dharker as  Amrita H. Pal
 Santu Chowdhury as Shambu H. Pal
 Imran Badsah Khan as Manooj H. Pal
 Shyamanand Jalan as Mr. Ghatak, the godfather
 Anjan Dutt as Dr Sunil
 Art Malik as Ashok Ghatak
 Nabil Shaban as Anouar
 Sanjay Pathak as Shoba
 Debatosh Ghosh as Ram Chande
 Sunita Sengupta as Pormina
 Loveleen Mishra as Shanta
 Pavan Malhotra as Ashish
Iftekhar as Hasari's father
 Chitra Sen as the angry woman
 Dipti Dave as a school girl

Reception
The movie was not a box office success. The film grossed $14.7 million in the United States.

The film received mixed reviews. It received a 56% 'rotten' rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes.

 References 

Other websites

 City of Joy at Rotten Tomatoes
 City of Joy at Box Office Mojo

Category:1992 movies
Category:1992 drama movies
Category:English-language movies
Category:British drama movies
Category:French drama movies
Category:Movies set in India
Category:Movies directed by Roland Joffé
Category:Movies composed by Ennio Morricone
Category:Movies based on books