Days after Manjummel Boys-fame Chidambaram's upcoming directorial venture, Balan: The Boy, was announced to be featured at the Marche du Film section of the Cannes Film Festival 2026, the makers of the film have confirmed that the film will release theatrically on June 19.
While the complete details about the film's plot haven't been revealed, the makers describe the film as a story that touches upon themes of identity and survival, with the bond between a mother and son at its core.
Chidambaram has written the script for Balan: The Boy along with Jithu Madhavan, the director of Romancham (2022) and Aavesham (2024). Sushin Shyam is on board as the music composer, continuing his collaboration with Chidambaram after Manjummel Boys (2024). The crew of Balan: The Boy includes Shyju Khalid as the cinematographer, Vivek Harshan as the editor, Ajayan Chalissery as the production designer.
Venkat K Narayana produces Balan: The Boy under his KVN Productions banner, along with Shailaja Desai Fenn who is backing under her Thespian Films banner.
For Chidambaram, the previously mentioned themes are a return to familiar grounds, with his previous film, Manjummel Boys (2024), being a survival drama in itself. The 2024 film, which was Chidambaram's debut, is a fictionalised retelling of the real incident, which saw a man getting stuck in a cave called Hell's Kitchen (popularly called Guna cave, after the Kamal Haasan film), became a critical and commercial hit. After collecting more the Rs 240 crores, the film is one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of all time.
