Mention the three box office hits in a row and Chidambaram acknowledges with a smile. As his new film, Balan: The Boy, continues to draw people to theatres and garner pan-Indian recognition, the director looks at it differently. “We feel lucky to be discussed at a time when there is so much content to consume. This level of appreciation was not expected. The fact that it has communicated with the people the way we intended has brought immense satisfaction,” says the filmmaker.

He has proven with Balan his belief that the strength of Malayalam cinema lies in its “stories, the drama and performances”. Written by Jithu Madhavan, the director of two huge hits in Malayalam- Romancham and Aavesham, the film is about a mother (Farzana Palathingal), a murder convict, and her young son (Adisheshan KR), both of whom are shown as living in the prison when the movie begins. Once they step out of jail, it becomes a story of their survival. The mother chooses to be on the move with her boy, taking on new identities at each juncture, so as to avoid forming any kind of attachment with anyone.

After a memorable debut with Jan.E.Man and a blockbuster second movie, Manjummel Boys, Chidambaram was getting ready to step into Hindi cinema with a big project. It was while waiting for that film to take off that he chanced upon Jithu’s story. “What struck me the most was the setting. Eventhough Jithu was busy with his next project [in Tamil with Suriya], he sat down with me to work on the screenplay. We held several discussions, analysing every aspect of the plot. Shyju ikka [cinematographer Shyju Khalid] would also join us often. The foundation of the film is Jithu’s story – he had traced the boy’s journey so well leading towards the climax. I added a few scenes, which were needed for the flow of the story. Basically we sat down to find a common voice and ended up having around a dozen drafts before locking the final script.”

But, the film was not without its challenges. “Since it is my third film, I believe I have some hold over the craft. But, even though the story of Balan looks simple, it was important to extract the right amount of emotion from the characters. The film had to be emotional, entertaining and engaging. If there was just melodrama the film would have never worked,” he says.

Chidambaram adds that he allowed the narrative to take its time. “That pace was needed to build the tension towards the interval. I wanted the audience to empathise with the mother and son and for that I chose to unravel the layers one by one.”

Produced by Bengaluru-based production and distribution company KVN Productions, the film was showcased at the film market at Cannes Festival 2026.

Before the movie went on the floors, he had interacted with police officers at various women’s prisons in Kerala. “Even though there aren’t many scenes of the mother in the jail, it was important to understand the lives of women prisoners. That is why we met the police officers who interact with them on a daily basis. We saw in person the steps they take to avoid untoward incidents. Like, for instance, the top officer tastes the food served every day. Apparently there can be problems if the rice is not cooked properly or there is not enough salt in a dish!”

Besides Shyju, Balan’s crew boasts the best hands in Indian cinema – Vivek Harshan (editor), Ajayan Challissery (production designer), Sushin Shyam (composer) etc among others. “I was in good hands. Since we all are friends, communication was easy. All of them have done a lot of movies and it is that experience they brought to the table.”

With Sushin’s engaging tracks and background score being discussed a lot, Chidambaram says that having someone like him makes the filmmaking process smooth and easy. Talking about the melody, ‘Thakkol’, he says that they approached writer-lyricist Anwar Ali with a request to write a poem. “We wanted it to sound like a children’s poem and that’s how the song was born,” he adds.

Since the mother and son take on multiple identities at different times at different places, the film was shot across Kerala, covering some 10 districts. Many of the standout locations are in Wayanad, especially the bus stop at Kunduvadi tribal hamlet near Chekady, within the forest area, where the boy waits for his mother. The production design team constructed the structure and did not demolish it after the shoot upon the residents’ request. However, due to its virality at the hands of vloggers the Forest Department might demolish it with visitors flocking to see it in large numbers, thus upsetting the fragile ecosystem.

Chidambaram mentions that the police station and Tovino Thomas’ home were constructed from scratch. “My favourite is Tovino’s home. We shot it on a private island and so we were the only people there. Evenings were amazing, with those mesmerising sunsets. Even though the entire area smelt of fish, I loved that location.”

Ganapathi, actor and Chidambaram’s brother, was in charge of casting. It is now known that it was after screening hundreds of new faces that they found Farzana, a model in Mumbai. Adisheshan, who is in Class II, was chosen after auditioning children from across the State. The gun-toting, wheelchair-bound grandmother (Dolly June) was a social media find, thanks to the videos posted by her grandson. “Jithu and I suggested Tovino. Ganapathy picked directors Girish AD and Anand Ekarshi. As for Jean [Paul Lal], it was my decision since I knew he could pull off the character having known him for so many years.”

He adds that working with child actors had its challenges. “It was important that they remained focussed. Also, it was not possible for them to shoot for long hours. Although he is very young, Adisheshan understood enough about his character and the techniques to make him give the right emotions worked.”

Any favourite scene? “How the grown-up boy (Muhammad Zinaan) runs at the climax. I checked some of the best runs in world cinema before shooting it. The idea was to make it interesting.”

Meanwhile, he made his acting debut early this year in Oru Durooha Sahacharyathil directed by Ratheesh Balakrishna Poduval. “Ratheesh chettan called me with the role while I was travelling; Balan was not finalised yet then. It is only after joining the set that I understood the length of the role. Thankfully I was in a comfortable space. Chackochan [Kunchacko Boban] helped a lot. I was quite apprehensive how it would turn out,” he says.

Is he open to do more roles? “If something good comes up I might take it up,” he says.