Derby Movie Review: A man descending in a helicopter dressed as Mahabali during an Onam celebration should feel grand, or at least amusing. Instead, it lands as pure confusion, and that moment quietly defines Derby. The film operates on the belief that scale and noise can substitute for storytelling, piling on festivals, fights, songs, and half-formed romance without ever asking why any of it matters. What could have been a messy but spirited campus drama becomes a draining collage of disconnected events, escalating in volume rather than impact until exhaustion takes over.
Directed by Sajil Mampad and written by Suhru, Suhra Ameer, and Suhail, the film attempts to capture a few years of campus life. What unfolds instead feels scattered and aimless. There is no narrative rhythm, no emotional build, and no sense of progression. Scenes arrive and pass without consequence, leaving behind the impression of fragments rather than a story.
The campus itself feels oddly detached from reality. Academics are entirely absent, replaced by an endless loop of celebrations, freshers day, arts day, food festivals, Onam events, trips, and even film shoots. Without a grounding sense of place, the setting resembles an exaggerated fantasy of college life. The Mahabali helicopter sequence only amplifies that disconnect, raising more questions than excitement.
The tone is established early. During freshers day, a “dancing queen” performs a belly dance in a bizarre outfit, a moment that feels unintentionally comical. From there, the film rarely regains control. The narrative, if it can be called that, follows a group of friends who fight seniors and later fight juniors when roles reverse. Conflicts emerge from trivial triggers, with no emotional weight or motivation to sustain them. Even the antagonists are thinly written, reduced to caricatures defined by exaggerated cruelty.
Familiar tropes surface throughout, including the best friend secretly in love with the hero while he pursues someone else, a formula popularised by Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Here, it feels mechanical rather than organic, with little emotional development to make it resonate.
The performances offer occasional sparks but lack consistency. Adam Sabiq, known for portraying young Mammootty in Ozler, carries the presence of a campus lead, but the writing limits him. Al Ameen, who showed promise in Prakambanam alongside Sagar Surya, is largely misused, with humour that often feels forced. Sagar Surya appears late, almost as an afterthought, his role closer to a cameo than a fully realised character. Among the supporting cast, Harish Sivaraman and Rish N K deliver relatively stronger impressions, while Johnny Antony’s principal remains firmly within stereotype.
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One of the film’s most exhausting aspects is its reliance on music. Gopi Sundar’s soundtrack is used excessively, with songs appearing at nearly every turn. Instead of enhancing the narrative, they interrupt it. With close to ten tracks and little lasting impact, the film often feels less like a story and more like a sequence of musical interludes. At times, it seems as though the core narrative would barely fill half an hour without them.
This overuse creates a tiring viewing experience. Momentum builds briefly, only to be stalled again by another song. The fatigue becomes visible, not just on screen but in the audience, as engagement steadily drops.
Technically, the film is vibrant, filled with striking colours that attempt to create energy. However, this visual loudness cannot compensate for the lack of substance. The editing further contributes to the problem, with an overextended runtime that suggests little has been trimmed.
A late attempt to introduce emotional depth through an accident spanning timelines arrives too late to matter. Without prior investment in the characters, these moments fail to resonate.
What remains is a film that confuses chaos with energy, a mix of fights, romance, and spectacle assembled without cohesion. There is no clear direction, no emotional anchor, and no meaningful progression.
By the time it ends, the dominant feeling is not anger or disappointment, but relief. Derby tries to be everything at once, and ends up being nothing in particular.
Rating: 1.5/5
