Balan: The Boy Review

Malayalam film director, Chidambaram, stunned movie lovers, cinephiles, et al., with the survival thriller film, Manjummel Boys, in 2024. Rightly so, it went on to become the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. After winning a lot of accolades from audiences across states for his work as a director with, Manjummel Boys, he made, Balan: The Boy, a mystery survival thriller. After generating enough curiosity with the trailer, the makers released the film in theatres today. Did the director, Chidambaram, come up with yet another stunningly engaging film? Did the production house, KVN Productions, deliver a successful film, after going through a rough patch in recent times? How did the lead actors, Adhisheshan and Farzana Palathingal, perform in the film? Let’s figure it out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

No matter what happens to me when you’re at school or how late I arrive, I will definitely come to collect you. Just wait for me at the drop point after your school bus drops you off, says a mother (Farzana Palathingal) to her son (Adhisheshan). What happens when the mother fails to come one day to pick her son up? Why did she not come to pick her son up? What is the mystery behind the mother and son? Why were both of them always on the run and kept changing their identities? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Farzana Palathingal, in an enigmatic role is first-rate. She portrayed every emotion brilliantly without a single wrong note. It is very complex to portray vulnerability and yet appear terrifying. But, she did a superb job with her performance in a role with multiple shades. Adhisheshan, in the role of young Balan, performed brilliantly every time he appeared on screen. Muhammad Zinaan in the role of grown-up Balan, appeared confident and did a commendable job with his performance.

Dolly June, is the show stealer. In the role of an eccentric elderly woman, she delivered a first-rate performance and generated quite a few laughs-out-loud moments. Tovino Thomas, in an overtly dragged role, performed well his character lacked any significance apart from dragging the film for about thirty minutes. Jean Paul Lal, in the role of a crooked cop, delivered a very good performance. Like most of the Malayalam films, Balan: The Boy, has nothing much to complain about in terms of actors’ performances.

Technicalities:

Sushin Shyam’s background score was superb. He elevated the suspense in a very intriguing manner with his score. Shyju Khalid came up with very superior cinematography. His visuals were first-rate throughout the film. The editing by Vivek Harshan, is excellent in the first half but could have been much better in the second half. Let’s discuss more about the writer, Jithu Madhavan and the director, Chidambaram’s work in detail in the analysis section.

Positives:

1.⁠ ⁠First Half
2.⁠ ⁠Decent Twist At Pre-Climax
3.⁠ ⁠Farzana Palathingal Performance

Negatives:

1.⁠ ⁠Second Half
2.⁠ ⁠Over Stretched Tovino Thomas’ Portion

Analysis:

While most filmmakers across India, chase box-office success and star actors and actresses, to deliver big successful films, a majority of Malayalam filmmakers, chase stories. They prefer to tell stories most realistically and use the psyche behind human emotions to thrill audiences with original ideas. After the tremendous success of, Manjummel Boys, many star actors expressed their interest in working with the director, Chidambaram. But, he does not get carried away with all the limelight. Instead of agreeing to do a film with a star actor, he chose to tell a story yet again with actors who fit into his story. The decision to narrate a story that he believed in, worked out like a charm throughout the first half of, Balan: The Boy. The screenplay, the performances, the suspense, the fun quotient, the thrill and everything else worked out brilliantly in the first half. However, to our disappointment, the film lost its track in the second half until the obvious ‘twist’ during the pre-climax.

It is a story of an enigmatic mother who can go to any extent to protect her son it is also about a son who can go to any extent while searching for his missing mother. ‘You both can stay at my place. I’ll treat you two as my daughter and grandson’, ‘I like you very much and would like to marry you. If you agree to marry me, I’ll take care of you very well and treat your son as my own’, etc. – the mother gets such requests from multiple people, but whenever someone tries to get close to her and her son, she escapes from that place and finds another place to live. And, she says to her son the following – ‘It is you and me, against the world. We don’t need anyone else’. What exactly is she scared of? Why doesn’t she believe in people? The screenplay director used to build the suspense around the above-mentioned two questions, is simply brilliant. Right from the very opening scene, the director succeeded in pulling the audience into the world of the mother and son and making them root for the mother and son to get away from any situation unharmed. All through the first half, there were quite a few moments that thrilled us and made us sit on the edge of our seats. And, it is not all about thrills. The first half of the film provides a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, when the mother and her son, end up at an eccentric elderly woman’s place, to be the caretaker. With loads of thrills and fun and an interesting sequence, the first half of the film ends on a very satisfying note and lets the audience wonder why the film is named, Balan: The Boy, when it is all about a mother and her determination to protect her son at any cost?

The director tries to answer why the film is named ‘Balan: The Boy’, in the second half. Unfortunately, it is where the film failed to live up to the expectations. Until the pre-climax twist, the entire drama in the second half unfolds in a boring manner without creating any excitement. There were a lot of characters and subplots introduced but none of them worked out. Especially, the track on Tovino Thomas, was overstretched and tested the patience. With the way the proceedings are unfolding, we almost get to know that there will be a twist at the end it looked like the director and the writer banked heavily on the twist to pull off the second half of the film. However, the twist lacked the wow factor. With a bit of experience in watching films in the thriller genre, one can easily guess the twist. The brilliant first half, deserves a gripping second half and a better twist. A bit more care in developing the screenplay in the second half, could have truly made the film memorable.

Overall, Balan: The Boy, promised a lot in the first half and failed to deliver on the promise in the second half. It certainly deserves a watch for a superb first half, very good performances and a decent twist at the pre-climax

Bottomline – Thrilling ‘Survival’

Rating – 2.75/5