There are films where you need to know the complete story of a character to feel close to them and root for them. There are films where not knowing the complete story of a character makes you feel disconnected, and you end up feeling nothing about the entire film. In "Balan", his third film after "Jaan-e-Man" and "Manjummel Boys", Chidambaram has pulled off the unusual. His characters come with incomplete stories — in fact, they tell and embody multiple stories and identities — yet, you feel so invested in what happens to them because their faces tell you everything you need to know. They are landscapes in and of themselves. Isn't that what visual storytelling is supposed to do?
One of the most oft-repeated lines in "Balan" is, 'Something feels off about him/her.' Something indeed feels off about the mother and the boy — it wouldn't make sense to mention their character names because, as I said earlier, they live under different identities. Malayalam cinema has discovered two wonderful actors in Farzana Palathingal and Adhisheshan K.R. as characters who had to survive a traumatic past (details of which are better left unspoiled). All we know is that they have survived by creating and telling stories. In a way, they are living in their own movies, except that nobody is filming them. Of course, there is an invisible camera (Shyju Khalid doesn't disappoint, as usual) capturing their moments written by Jithu Madhavan ("Romancham", "Aavesham") and directed by Chidambaram, and witnessed by us!
"Balan" is, essentially, a coming-of-age drama in a suspense thriller's coat. It also comes with a strong neo-realist flavour. Think Vittorio de Sica's "The Bicycle Thief" or Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Mamma Roma (1962), but the suspense thriller versions of them. (Just to be clear, "Balan" has no connection to them except in terms of themes. Chidambaram, Jithu, Shyju, and their entire team are, in a way, operating like the mother and the boy. They, too, know how much to tell us, how much to show us, and when to reveal what they want to reveal. The story has enough convenient (in a good way) opportunities that make logical sense whenever the mother makes a certain choice that would help make a significant contribution to the next story that she and her son would become part of. They are living multiple 'lives' in the course of what seems like a short span, but I'm guessing each new 'life' spans maybe several months or years. There is one episode with a tough, shotgun-yielding grandmother that's among the film's strongest moments.
These stories, where we meet a different character (one of them played by Tovino Thomas in an extended guest role), share a common emotion: good or bad, everyone needs somebody, either to fill the gaps in their own lonely existence, or to facilitate their resurgence (as in the case of a character played exceptionally by Beena Antony). The identity-shifting aspect alone allows enough space for "Balan" to conjure surprises that should excite those who prefer their films to step outside the box. This is nothing like Chidambaram’s previous work. Like Rahul Sadasivan ("Bramayugam", "Bhoothakaalam") and Dinjith Ayyathan ("Eko", "Kishkindha Kaandam"), he has become that director whose filmmaking comes with that special touch that makes them stand apart from the rest among the contemporaries.
And speaking of directors-turned-actors, "Balan" features surprisingly stellar turns from three, albeit not in full-length roles — Anand Ekarshi ("Aattam"), Jean Paul Lal ("Driving Licence"), and Girish AD ("Premalu"). Their presence fittingly complements most of the heavy lifting done by both Farzana and Adhisheshan. I fear that, given the nature of this film and its storytelling, even mentioning a single characteristic of these actors' performances, especially of the two main leads, could be a potential spoiler. All I'm going to say is that Farzana has that unique quality we have seen in some of the yesteryear legends like Smita Patil, Shobana, or Shabana Azmi. Given the unfamiliarity and her way of emoting, she feels like a breath of fresh air in an age where most female-centric performances are beginning to look the same (the filmmakers are to blame, I guess). The same goes for Adhisheshan and the actor who plays his older version (Muhammed Zinan, is it?).
"Balan" is not an entirely perfect film, though. There are places where multiple characters are seen with greying hair, even though it's mentioned several times that only 5-6 years have passed. This comes across as a bit jarring. And the Tovino portions seemed a bit longer than necessary. Perhaps there's a point about how one character begins to feel frustrated by a prolonged promise made by another. However, these are more than made up for by an rewarding ending that, while putting a smile on our faces, also comes with the suggestion that what we are witnessing could also be another 'story' imagined by a certain character. Anyway, "Balan" is undoubtedly one of the year's finest films. I'll probably find new layers after a second viewing. Yes, this is one of those films — a hat-trick win for Chidambaram.
Film: Balan
Director: Chidambaram
Cast: Farzana Palathingal, Adhisheshan K.R., Muhammed Zinan, Jean Paul Lal, Girish AD, Tovino Thomas, Beena Antony, Anand Ekarshi
Rating: 4/5
