Veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has expressed strong support for Manjummel Boys director Chidambaram and his upcoming film Balan: The Boy after the two recently met in person. Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, RGV shared a photo with Chidambaram and praised the film after watching a short preview. “Me with #Chidambaram, the BLOCKBUSTER director of #ManjummelBoys. Just saw a small cut of his latest film #Balan and it’s BEYOND FANTASTIC. Just AMAZING,” the Satya filmmaker wrote. The praise comes at a time when expectations around Chidambaram’s next are already high, following the phenomenal success of Manjummel Boys.

Balan marks a notable collaboration, bringing together Chidambaram as director and Aavesham filmmaker Jithu Madhavan, who has penned the screenplay. The film is produced by KVN Productions in association with Thespian Films. Adding an intriguing layer of film history, Balan shares its title with the first Malayalam talkie ever made, released in 1938, and one of the earliest milestones of the industry.

An initial poster of Balan features a young boy walking with a stick, hinting at a grounded narrative. While the plot, cast and release date remain under wraps, industry chatter suggests the film could be a children’s film, with unconfirmed reports indicating a pivotal cameo by Tovino Thomas.

Chidambaram has also reunited with much of his Manjummel Boys technical team for the project, including cinematographer Shyju Khalid, composer Sushin Shyam, editor Vivek Harshan and production designer Ajayan Chalissery.