Kamal Haasan suggested to retain the title Street Lights in Tamil: Shamdat Sainudeen

Mammootty’s thriller film Street Lights is getting ready to hit screens by the end of this month. The movie marks the directorial debut of noted cinematographer Shamdat Sainudeen. It is being made as a bilingual in Tamil and Malayalam. Both the versions have the same title and interestingly, ‘Ulaganayagan’ Kamal Haasan has got a role in that.

In a recent interview, director Shamdat revealed that it was Kamal Haasan who asked him to retain the title ‘Street Lights’ in Tamil as well. The two have worked together earlier in the 2016 flick Uttama Villain, for which Shamdat cranked the camera. Apparently, Shamdat was apprehensive about having an English title for the Tamil version because there is no tax exemption in the state if the title is not in Tamil. But Kamal assured him that the rules were going to change soon. He felt that an English title will help the film to stand apart.

Street Lights, scripted by debutant Fawaz Muhammed has Mammootty playing the role of an investigating officer. Shamdat calls the movie as an ‘entertaining thriller’ since he believes that the movie will appeal to all kinds of audience, especially the families. The movie will have equal dose of action, thrill, humour, romance and songs. Since the movie was shot separately in two languages, it has different set of actors for each version.

The Malayalam version stars Joy Mathew, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Hareesh Kanaran, Neena Kurup, Lijomol Jose, Sohan Seenulal, Indrans, Soubin Shahir and Sudhi Koppa among others. Veteran actor Pandiarajan, his son Prithvi Rajan, Manobala, Black Pandi, Stunt Silva, Motta Rajendran and some other noted supporting actors feature in the Tamil version. The movie doesn’t have a heroine as such, as it is a tale of many characters.

Newcomer Adarsh Abraham has composed the songs while Yakzan Pereira and Neha Nair are handling the background score. Director Shamdat’s brother Sadat Sainudeen has cranked the camera and Manoj is editing the film.

Mammootty himself is producing the film under his banner Play House Motion Picture Pvt Ltd. The movie will hit screens on January 26 as a Republic Day release. If reports are to be believed, the movie is also being dubbed in Telugu. All three versions are expected to hit screens simultaneously.