Street Lights Malayalam Movie Review

I happened to read an interview of cinematographer-turner-director Shamdat Sainudeen wherein he says he wanted his debut movie to be a low budget movie with fresh faces which he himself wanted to produce. He further tells that by chance, Mammootty heard his story and got interested in doing it and also agreed to produce the movie. That's how Street Lights is happening.

Even with the presence of a big star, the screenplay hasn't tried to give a macho and larger than life image to his hero except in a couple of shots to appease the hardcore fans of Mammootty. Street Lights is not an outright thriller but its a watchable investigation movie that goes through the ups and downs. Finally the film end up in a safe territory as a passable and watchable one.

A few SPOILERS are part of the upcoming paragraph. So those who are yet to watch the movie please skip reading this paragraph. Scripted by Fawas Mohammed, Street Lights is the story of an unofficial investigation carried out by Police Officer James and his team. Other characters are introduced in the proceedings that all gets connected in the end. Meaning the subplots are narratted along with the main plot and finally everything gets related in some way or the other.

Not all the characters in the subplot have been presented convincingly. This is one notable drawback. Shoubin and Lijomol's characters who occupy a lion's share in the movie without any relevance in the plot is an example. But the boy living in the slum was just the opposite of this. His story and relations as the subplot had its share of importance when it came to the main story.

I wouldn't say Street Lights is thrilling right from the word go till the end. It does deviate from the scheme of things at few places but eventually end up to be an engaging movie. Another area that has worked out is the comedy. Humor not loud and crappy ones were decently presented by Dharmajan Hareesh combination. Even Shoubin whose character was an unnecessary one added into the subplot was part of some lighthearted moments that were nice.

Mammootty looked handsome. That's becoming a cliched statement these days as every kid in the block knows that he is one whose age is in the reverse gear. About the performance, though he has donned the role of a cop numerous times, James was fairly an easy character for him with no scenes demanding anything challenging. A few shots and action sequences were added to satisfy the actor's fans but never did the writing glorified the character of James.

Every other character have been given ample scenes such that the film is never a one actor dominated one. Dharmajan and Hareesh were able to create a few laughs in their trademark fashion despite their characters having a dark shade. Shoubin Shahir was funny enough even though he was repeating what he has already done before.

Lijomol plays a prominent female character and she was okay. Joy Mathew was not a major player but his character had its share of importance in the story. Stunt Silva who has handled the action sequences of the film played the antagonist role. Tamil actor Rajendran, Adhish Praveen and director Jude Anthony Joseph are also part of the cast.

Camera is cranked by director's elder brother Sadat Sainudeen and it was nicely done. Background score was a major factor in the movie and helped in elevating the mood of each and every situation being shown on the big screen.

Overall this two hour long film following a nonlinear narration manages to hold on your attention in parts only. The flow is steady though it is not completely gripping as one would have expected. A few thrills, some comedies, sentiments, couple of stunt sequences and a twist happening at the tail end of the movie aided the film to reach the average zone.

Rating - 2.5 / 5