Balti positions itself as a ‘sports action film,’ prominently featuring Kabaddi. Initially, debutant director Unni Sivalingam seems committed to this premise, offering several intensely competitive and well-filmed Kabaddi sequences. However, as the movie progresses, Kabaddi fades into the periphery, appearing only briefly in the film’s closing moments.
This shift occurs as the lives of the four central characters—Kabaddi players portrayed by Shane Nigam, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, Shiva Hariharan, and Jeckson Johnson—take an unexpected turn after their early successes. It feels as if Kabaddi merely serves as a marketing hook for what is predominantly a conventional action thriller, where these young men are inadvertently drawn into a perilous underworld of gangsters and loan sharks. Conveniently, their athletic prowess from the sport then justifies numerous fight scenes beyond the Kabaddi court.
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A still from ‘Balti’
While the film boasts frequent and prolonged action sequences that are impressively choreographed, they can only partially mask the cliché-heavy and predictable storyline. Director Unni Sivalingam clearly excels at staging large-scale action, yet his screenplay suffers from inconsistent writing and a lack of emotional depth. The narrative attempts to explore the evolving bond between the four friends—initially forged through their shared passion for Kabaddi—as they descend into a criminal underworld. Unfortunately, this central emotional arc fails to resonate with the audience.
Balti (Malayalam)
The film’s formula echoes that of another Shane Nigam vehicle, RDX (2023), with only superficial differences in setting, antagonists, and the protagonists’ interactions. Despite “Balti” potentially registering higher on a ‘violence scale,’ its overall impact feels diminished. Sai Abhyankkar’s highly anticipated musical score does enhance certain scenes, but it tends to become monotonous over time. The dual language narrative is well-suited to the film’s border town setting between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, allowing both languages to integrate smoothly.
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While Shane, Shanthnu, and the ensemble cast command significant screen time with their slick action sequences, Selvaraghavan and Alphonse Puthren stand out as formidable gangsters. Poornima Indrajith, however, is given a poorly developed character as the money lender ‘Gee Maa,’ whose motivations and influence within the border town remain ambiguous. Preethi Asrani, playing the female lead, largely remains on the sidelines throughout the story.
Ultimately, “Balti” relies heavily on its relentless, well-executed action sequences, which are just enough to prevent a fundamentally unoriginal plot from completely sinking.
Balti is currently running in theatres.