Summary of this article
Balan: The Boy secures Cannes market screening before multilingual theatrical release worldwide.
Chidambaram reunites with composer Sushin Shyam after Manjummel Boys’ massive commercial success.
Emotional drama explores identity, survival and complex mother-son relationships through grounded storytelling.
After the massive success of Manjummel Boys, filmmaker Chidambaram is returning with another emotionally driven story. His upcoming film Balan: The Boy has officially locked its theatrical release, adding fresh momentum to a project that has already begun attracting international attention ahead of its Cannes market screening.
Described as a layered emotional drama, Balan: The Boy is expected to explore themes of identity, belonging and survival through an intimate mother-son relationship. While the makers have not revealed major plot details yet, the film’s emotional tone and grounded storytelling have already sparked curiosity among audiences.
Balan: The Boy heads to Cannes before theatrical release
The announcement arrives shortly after the makers confirmed that Balan: The Boy will be screened at the Marché du Film section of the Cannes Film Festival 2026. The prestigious market screening places the project on a major global platform before its commercial release.
The film has also generated interest because of the creative team behind it. Chidambaram has co-written the screenplay with Jithu Madhavan, best known for Romancham and Aavesham. Composer Sushin Shyam reunites with Chidambaram after their successful collaboration on Manjummel Boys.
Chidambaram reunites with familiar collaborators
The technical crew includes cinematographer Shyju Khalid, editor Vivek Harshan and production designer Ajayan Chalissery. The project is produced by Venkat K Narayana under KVN Productions along with Shailaja Desai Fenn of Thespian Films.
For Chidambaram, expectations are naturally high after Manjummel Boys became one of Malayalam cinema’s biggest commercial successes, reportedly collecting over Rs 240 crore worldwide.
The makers have now confirmed that Balan: The Boy will release in cinemas on June 19, 2026, across Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages.
