Underplayed Gems

Balti (2025)

Balti poster
Original title
ബൾട്ടി
Country
India
Rated
15
Rating
6.5 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

An action drama set on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, the story follows characters caught in a volatile conflict. The film blends Malayalam and Tamil dialogues and focuses on a series of escalating confrontations.

tenseintenseaction-packedgrittyvisceralgroundedregional flavor

What happens

Balti is a 2025 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film written and directed by debutant Unni Sivalingam. Produced by STK Frames and Binu George Alexander Productions, the film stars Shane Nigam, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, and Preethi Asrani with Alphonse Puthren and Poornima Indrajith in supporting roles. As the film's setting was in the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, the dialogues were in Malayalam and Tamil languages. The film also marked Shanthanu's comeback in Malayalam cinema after 16 years. The film was officially announced in July 2024 under the tentative title Shane Nigam 25, as it is the actor's 25th film in a leading role, and the official title was announced in June 2025. Principal photography took place from December 2024 to March 2025 across Coimbatore, Palakkad and Pollachi. The film has music composed by Sai Abhyankkar in his feature film debut, with cinematography handled by Alex J. Pulickal and editing by Shivkumar V. Panicker. Balti was released theatrically on 26 September 2025 and received positive reviews from both critics and audiences, becoming an average success.The film’s action sequences received widespread praise, especially the climax lodge fight, which is considered one of the best fight sequences in Malayalam cinema. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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