The makers of Shane Nigam’s 25th film Balti released a character introduction video featuring Premam filmmaker Alphonse Puthren as Soda Babu. The over one-minute video, unveiled on Sunday, portrays Alphonse’s character as a cold-blooded gangster. The sequence shows Soda Babu confronting an accomplice who voices concerns about the risks involved in an operation planned by him. In a sudden act of violence, Soda Babu kills the man by smashing a soda bottle on his skull and repeatedly stabbing him in the chest with the broken glass.

Billed as a sports action drama, Balti is written and directed by debutant Unni Sivalingam and centres on the world of kabaddi, with Shane playing Udhayan, a kabaddi player. The film has been shot in Malayalam and Tamil, across locations including Coimbatore, Palakkad, and Pollachi. It also features Preethi Asrani and Shanthnu Bhagyaraj in prominent roles, alongside several national and state-level kabaddi players.

Sai Abhyankkar, currently among the most sought-after composers in Tamil cinema, is making his Malayalam debut with Balti, handling both the film's music and background score. Produced by Santosh T Kuruvilla of STK Frames and Binu Alexander George, it is scheduled as an Onam release, though no specific date has been confirmed.