Balan - The Boy

Directed by Chidambaram, this Malayalam film follows a teenage boy searching for his missing mother. His childhood was turbulent and her disappearance stands at the centre of that turbulence, so his search is as much about the truth of his own past as about finding her. Chidambaram became known through Jan-e-Man and Manjummel Boys, both ensemble works set across a single night or a single incident. This film concentrates on one person's point of view and builds a more inward structure. The leads are unknown young performers, with Tovino Thomas in the supporting cast. How much room the comic vein of the director's earlier films occupies here is the main question around it. Who it's for: those following the new generation of Malayalam cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting the pace of Chidambaram's earlier films; this one stands in a heavier register.