Seetha packs her bags for Kolkata with a purpose that feels almost archaeological. She isn't chasing a degree so much as she is chasing a sound - the drone of the ektara, the gravel in a Baul singer's voice, a tradition that has survived centuries of Bengal's shifting soil. That premise alone is enough to make Chiram one of the more intriguing Malayalam releases of the year, and it arrives in theatres next week.
Release Date & Where to Watch
Chiram opens on October 9, 2026, a Friday slot that gives it a clear runway before the year-end awards chatter begins. For now, the makers have confirmed a theatrical release, which feels like the right call for a film built on travel, landscape and music. Nothing suggests a streaming date yet, so if you want to see it early, the big screen is your only option. As always, keep an eye on official channels for theatre listings across Kerala and beyond - Malayalam cinema has been expanding its footprint in metros and Gulf markets, and a Kolkata-set story with this cast could well travel further than usual.
Cast & Crew
Director Sindhu Paradayil leads the project, and the cast assembled around her suggests a film more interested in performance than spectacle. Anoop Menon headlines, bringing the kind of screen presence that has anchored everything from mainstream thrillers to quieter, dialogue-driven dramas; he remains one of the most dependable actors working in Malayalam cinema today. Opposite him is Aiswarya Mithun Koroth, stepping into what looks like the emotional centre of the film as Seetha.
The supporting ensemble is where things get genuinely interesting. Srikant Murali adds weight and warmth, the sort of actor who can shift a scene's temperature with a single look. Shelly Kishore has long been one of the industry's most underrated performers, and her presence here signals that Chiram takes its quieter moments seriously. Geethi Sangeetha rounds out the principal cast, and given the film's focus on traditional music and culture, one suspects her role carries more than a little of the story's soul.
Beyond the confirmed credits, the film's technical team hasn't been widely detailed yet. For a movie about Baul music, though, the sound design and score will be everything - expect that to become a talking point once early screenings begin.
Story & What to Expect
The official synopsis is spare, and deliberately so: Seetha, a young Malayali research student, travels to Visva-Bharati University in Kolkata to study traditional Baul music and culture. That's the setup. What follows, if the genre tags are any indication, is a blend of romance and drama - the kind of film where the research is really a pretext for self-discovery.
Visva-Bharati is not a casual backdrop. Founded by Rabindranath Tagore in Santiniketan, it has long been a magnet for students drawn to art, music and philosophy, and it sits at the intersection of Bengali intellectual life and rural folk tradition. Placing a Malayali woman at its centre creates an immediate cultural triangulation: a South Indian outsider navigating Bengal, learning from Baul practitioners whose music sits outside institutional frameworks even as she studies it inside one.
Expect the film to lean into that tension. Baul philosophy - its wandering minstrels, its rejection of orthodoxy, its emphasis on the body as a site of the divine - lends itself naturally to a story about a young woman questioning the life mapped out for her. The romance element, presumably involving Anoop Menon's character, will likely emerge from that same space of intellectual and emotional porousness.
What we shouldn't expect is a rushed narrative. Films of this pedigree tend to move at their own tempo, trading plot mechanics for texture. If Paradayil gets the balance right, Chiram could sit comfortably alongside recent Malayalam dramas that trusted audiences to be patient.
Why It's Worth Watching
First, the setting. Malayalam cinema has given us stories rooted in Kerala's backwaters, its high ranges, its Gulf diaspora. A film that plants itself in Santiniketan and listens to Baul music is doing something different, and different is worth paying attention to.
Second, the cast. Anoop Menon's recent choices have skewed toward character work rather than marquee heroism, and Shelly Kishore's involvement almost guarantees at least one performance that lingers after the credits. Aiswarya Mithun Koroth, carrying the film's weight as Seetha, has a genuine opportunity here.
Third, the moment. October is a crowded month for releases, but a thoughtful romantic drama about music, migration and scholarship occupies a niche nothing else is filling. If Chiram delivers even half of what its premise promises, it'll be the kind of film people recommend to friends with the phrase "just trust me."
No rating exists yet - the film hasn't screened publicly - so ignore any numbers floating around online. Go in curious. That's what Seetha does.
