Muhammed Zinaan is a Class 11 student from Fort Kochi with no background in cinema. Today, at 16, he is the face audiences associate with Chidambaram's widely acclaimed hit Balan: The Boy, having played the teenage Balan in the film. It is the kind of debut most newcomers only dream of, and Muhammed is still coming to terms with how quickly it happened.
In the film, he plays the older version of a boy who spends much of his childhood on the move with his fiercely protective mother, constantly assuming new identities as they attempt to outrun a troubled past. When circumstances separate them, Balan is forced into a desperate search that forms the emotional core of the latter half.
It began, fittingly for his generation, with a scroll through Instagram. "I came across Ganu (Ganapathi) chettan's casting call on Instagram. The casting call was for children ages 13 and 14. I sent them a photograph and a video," he recalls. A call came that same afternoon asking him to visit the production house, where he was handed a script to study.
For someone with no family connections to cinema, the opportunity felt almost unreal. "Ganu chettan told me to take my time and properly study the dialogues before performing. Because of that, I felt quite relaxed," he says. Chidambaram was not present at that first round. A second audition followed, after which the director asked Muhammed not to cut his hair, a small but telling instruction that preceded the moment he was formally signed on. "That's when I realised I had been selected," he says. "I've wanted to act since I was a child. I wasn't sure whether I would actually get selected, so when it happened, I was thrilled."
What followed was an unusual crash course in cinema. Actor Chandu Salimkumar, who was part of the film's direction team, handed him a list of roughly 20 films to watch before shooting began; among them were seminal films like Capernaum, City of God and Children of Heaven. "Many of those films featured children around my age. I learnt a lot by watching their performances. I observed their expressions, emotions and acting styles, and tried to understand how they approached their roles," Muhammed explains. Language posed its own challenge, since Balan also speaks Tulu on screen. Muhammed credits Basil Alchalakkal, director of the Kannada film Toby, with helping him through it.
The transition from eager newcomer to performer was eased considerably by Chidambaram, who spent time breaking down scenes and guiding Muhammed through the emotional arc of teenage Balan. "Whenever there was a scene, Chidu sir would explain it to me in detail and tell me exactly what he wanted. If I made a mistake, he would patiently ask for another take and motivate me. He helped me throughout the shoot," he says.
One of the trickier parts of stepping into the role was ensuring continuity with Adhisheshan's younger version of the character. Muhammed says it felt natural because of the time the two spent together beforehand. "I call him Piku. When I went to sign the agreement, I got to see Adhisheshan performing. There was also an acting workshop, and Piku was there with me. We spent a lot of time together. Watching him perform made me feel more comfortable," he recounts.
The toughest scenes to crack, he admits, were the police station sequences opposite Jean Paul Lal, who plays Pavithran, an obsessive cop whose path repeatedly intersects with Balan's. "I wasn't sure how I was going to perform them. The interactions with Jean chettan's character were particularly challenging." One of the film's most ambitious stretches was the pre-climax sequence, the bulk of which was shot using a specially constructed rig over two days. The sequence unfolds at a pivotal moment in Balan's journey, when a life-altering revelation changes the course of his search for his mother. Looking back, Muhammed remembers it as one of the highlights of the shoot. "It was a great experience. The running portions were physically demanding, but I managed to do them," he says.
Among the many things he takes away from the film, Muhammed counts his experience working with Tovino Thomas, who plays Abbas, a small-time outlaw who forms an unlikely bond with Balan, as one of the most special. "Tovi chettan was wonderful. This was the first time I was seeing him perform in a character like that, and I thought he was amazing. He was a great company on set and so good to work with. He gave me several suggestions and helped me a lot whenever I had a scene with him," he remembers fondly.
For much of the shoot, Muhammed was piecing together the story one scene at a time. "I was being given the scenes I would be performing on each day. I understood the whole story and the depth of it only after watching the film in theatres," he reflects. Considering the emotional journey Balan undergoes in the latter half, the admission makes his debut all the more impressive.
Away from the sets, Muhammed remains very much the film-loving teenager he always was. "I'm a guy who loves films in general, and I try to see every good film that comes out in theatres," he says. Not long ago, he was just another schoolboy spending his Sundays at the movies. Today, audiences recognise him as teenage Balan. The journey from one reality to the other was unexpectedly swift, but it has given Muhammed a start that many actors spend years chasing.
