Following the extraordinary success of ‘Manjummel Boys’, filmmaker Chidambaram has returned with his next project, ‘Balan’, a film that marks a noticeable shift from large-scale storytelling to a more intimate emotional narrative.
Any film arriving after ‘Manjummel Boys’ was bound to draw attention, and Chidambaram quickly found himself among the most closely watched filmmakers in Malayalam cinema. Naturally, speculation followed about his next move—whether he would attempt something bigger or replicate the scale of his previous blockbuster.
The answer came with ‘Balan’, which appears to take a completely different creative direction. The recently released trailer offers minimal exposition, focusing instead on mood and mystery. It follows a young mother and her son as they move from place to place, seemingly on the run. At different points, the boy is referred to by different names, adding to the film’s sense of ambiguity and tension.
The trailer also recontextualises early assumptions formed from the film’s initial posters. Chidambaram noted that while early promotional material may have shaped certain expectations, the trailer better reflects the world of ‘Balan’. However, he maintained that the film was never driven by expectations in the first place.
The developments surrounding the film, also noted by Gold 101.3 FM, UAE’s No.1 Radio Station, highlight the growing anticipation for Chidambaram’s follow-up to his breakout success.
The project came to Chidambaram through director Jithu Madhavan during a period when he had no fixed idea of what should come after ‘Manjummel Boys’. What ultimately drew him to the film was not its scale, but its emotional core.
“What connected me to the film was the idea at its centre. It’s a story about a mother and her son,” Chidambaram said.
He added that while audiences expected a similarly large-scale film after ‘Manjummel Boys’, he never felt bound to follow that path. “‘Manjummel Boys’ was a film where the subject and scale naturally came together. That doesn’t mean every film has to follow the same path,” he said.
Although the story originated with Jithu Madhavan, who is currently busy with another project starring Suriya, he remained closely involved in the scripting process.
“He was part of the process throughout. We spent a lot of time working on the script together,” Chidambaram noted.
‘Balan’ has already travelled beyond India, with a screening at the Cannes Film Market earlier this year. The event brought together filmmakers, producers and distributors from across the world to showcase and evaluate projects.
However, Chidambaram clarified that the team’s intention was not to secure production partnerships. Instead, they were interested in audience response. “We weren’t there looking for producers or partnerships. What interested us was seeing how audiences from different backgrounds responded to the film,” he said.
The response, he added, was encouraging, with viewers connecting to its emotional depth. “A lot of people connected with it. The story deals with emotions that can travel across cultures.”
Chidambaram also described his first visit to Cannes as an eye-opening experience that broadened his understanding of global cinema and storytelling styles. He noted that Malayalam cinema, in particular, is now reaching audiences far beyond Kerala.
“We are no longer making films only for Malayali audiences. Today’s films travel much further than that,” he said.
Despite growing curiosity, Chidambaram remains cautious about defining ‘Balan’ too early. When asked about the emotion that first struck him on hearing the story, he chose not to give a direct answer, preferring instead to let audiences experience it themselves.
He believes personal experiences inevitably shape a filmmaker’s work, and suggests that ‘Balan’ may reflect that philosophy as well.
With ‘Balan’ set for release on June 19, anticipation continues to build. The film stars Adhisheshan, Farzana Palathingal, Muhammed Zinaan, Dolly June, Beena Antony, Jean Paul Lal and Girish AD.
For Chidambaram, the journey began with a simple emotional connection to the story. The rest, he appears content to leave in the hands of the audience.
