Some films grip you because of their story, while others rely on sheer energy to hold your attention. Balti, directed by debutant Unni Sivalingam, clearly belongs in the second category. On the surface, it has everything needed for a compelling rural action drama: a borderland setting, four inseparable friends, ruthless gangsters, and a sport that doubles as a way of life. And yet, as much as the film keeps throwing punches, it ends up weighed down by the same clichés that have defined this genre for years.
Director: Unni Sivalingam
Cast: Shane Nigam, Preethi Asrani, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Shiva Hariharan, Jeckson Johnson, Selvaraghavan, Alphonse Puthren, Poornima Indrajith
The film starts not with images but with a voice. Over a black screen, an aged Tamil folk singer tells his juniors about men cornered into becoming hunters. It is a striking way to set the stage for what follows, a tale of friendship, betrayal, and bloodshed. From there, we are pulled into the lives of four friends: Udhayan (Shane Nigam), Kumar (Shanthnu Bhagyaraj), Ramesh (Shiva Hariharan), and Mani (Jeckson Johnson). They spend their days loafing around Velampalayam, a dusty Kerala-Tamil Nadu border village, and their best hours ruling the kabaddi ground.
The opening stretches are lively, if not particularly fresh. We have seen this setup before in films where jobless young men slip into the orbit of crime, but the kabaddi backdrop adds a distinctive flavour. Udhayan, the impulsive raider, always strikes before he thinks. Kumar, greedy and restless, keeps chasing the quick win. Their bond, from playful teasing to standing shoulder to shoulder in matches, gives the first hour a spark that is hard to ignore.
It is not long before their lives cross paths with the larger forces in the borderland. On one side is Porthamarai Bhairavan (Selvaraghavan), a loan shark whose calm exterior conceals cruelty. In one disturbing scene, he humiliates a debtor by stripping him of dignity in front of his family, only to play the saviour moments later. Opposite him stands Soda Babu (Alphonse Puthren), a violent gangster carrying forward his father’s smuggling legacy under the guise of a soda factory. Then there is Gee Ma (Poornima Indrajith), a former sex worker turned moneylender, who thrives on exploiting working-class women. These three dominate the border, and soon the boys are pulled into their tug of war.
Up until the interval, Balti proceeds at breakneck speed. The kabaddi matches are shot with grit and urgency, a certain restaurant fight is a chaotic burst of energy, and the showdown at Soda Babu’s factory feels unusually raw with its long takes and minimal cuts. The story may be predictable, but the action is so well staged that it pulls you in. You feel the dust, the sweat, and the heat, and that physical intensity keeps the film alive even when the writing stumbles.
The second half, however, does not carry the same charge. Familiar beats take over, with humiliations piling up, betrayals arriving on cue, and family conflicts escalating into revenge. Rather than deepening what we know of the characters, these elements feel like boxes on a gangster drama checklist. The emotional pull suggested earlier fades, and much of what unfolds feels routine. This shortcoming is most evident in the handling of Gee Ma. On paper, she could have been a fascinating figure, carving power in a male-dominated world. However, her motives are barely explored, and her peculiar interest in Kumar never quite lands. She ends up feeling like a device to shuffle the story forward, which is disappointing because Poornima Indrajith plays her with real authority.
Still, the performances keep the film watchable. Shane Nigam anchors it with restraint and quiet charm, adding a natural agility that makes both kabaddi raids and action scenes convincing. Shanthnu Bhagyaraj is equally compelling as Kumar, a man whose greed pulls the group deeper into danger. He does well, though having him speak mostly in Malayalam feels out of place in a borderland story that cried out for linguistic authenticity. Selvaraghavan makes Bhairavan chilling with his calm menace, while Alphonse Puthren brings quirky touches to his gangster act. Preethi Asrani is serviceable in her part, though, like Poornima, her character is underused.
On the technical side, Balti is solid. The cinematography captures the grit of Velampalayam and the sweat of its players. Editing is sharpest in the action, where longer takes make the violence feel raw and immediate. Composer Sai Abhyankkar makes a strong debut, with a score that often gives the film more life than the writing. His blend of classical and modern tones adds texture to otherwise flat stretches.
By the time the climax arrives, a long and brutal stretch that begins in a lodge and spills into the streets, it is clear Balti has no intention of surprising you. It seeks to overwhelm with blood, sweat, and betrayal, not with unexpected twists. That in itself would be fine, but the film hardly earns the emotional weight of its violence. You watch the fights, admire the staging, but rarely feel the heartbreak behind the downfall. For those who enjoy rustic action dramas, the film has enough grit and swagger to pass the time. For everyone else, it will feel like a song sung many times before, this time louder, bloodier, but not necessarily better.