Kummatty

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Kummatty
File:Kummatti.JPG
Directed byG. Aravindan
Produced byK. Ravindran Nair
Written byG. Aravindan
StarringRamunni
Master Ashok
Vilasini Reema
Music byM. G. Radhakrishnan
G. Aravindan
CinematographyShaji N. Karun
Release date
  • 12 July 1979 (1979-07-12)
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Kummatty (English: The Bogeyman) is a 1979 Malayalam film written and directed by G. Aravindan. Ramunni, Master Ashok and Vilasini Reema form the cast.[1]

Plot[edit]

The film is a Pied Piper-like figment of Malabar's folklore about a partly mythic and partly real magician called Kummatty (bogeyman). Kummatty materialises from nature one day to mingle with and weave a spell of carefree abandon around the children of the village. Kummatty travels from place to place and entertains children with dancing, singing and performing magic. At one such performance at a village, Kummatty starts to mingle with and weave a spell of carefree abandon around the children of the village. He turns a group of children into animals. But one boy, who was changed into a dog, is chased away and misses the moment Kummatty changed the children back to their human form. The dog-boy has to wait a year until Kummatty returns to the village to get back his human form. All ends well and Kummatty melts back into nature.

Cast[edit]

Soundtrack[edit]

The music was composed by M. G. Radhakrishnan and Kavalam Narayana Panicker and the lyrics were written by Kavalam Narayana Panicker.[2][3]

No. Song Singers Lyrics Length (m:ss)
1 "Aandiyambalam" Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker
2 "Aarambatheerambathu" Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker
3 "Aarambhathu" Kavalam Narayana Panicker
4 "Karukare Kaarmukil" Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker
5 "Karukare Kaarmukil" (Fast) Chorus Kavalam Narayana Panicker
6 "Maanathe Macholam" Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker
7 "Maanathe Macholam" Chorus Kavalam Narayana Panicker
8 "Muthassikkadhayile" K. S. Chithra, Manju, Asha, Usha Kavalam Narayana Panicker
9 "Muthassikkadhayile" (Version 1) Kavalam Narayana Panicker
10 "Naadan Paattu" Kavalam Narayana Panicker
11 "Odiyodikkali" Kavalam Narayana Panicker, Chorus Kavalam Narayana Panicker
12 "Paandeedem" Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker

Awards[edit]

Legacy[edit]

In 2012, filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia included the film in his personal top ten (for The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time poll), writing: "G. Aravindan – the most interesting Indian filmmaker ever. Sadly none of his work is in distribution."[4]

2021 Restoration[edit]

In July 19,2021 The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project, a program created by filmmaker Martin Scorsese in 2007, the Film Heritage Foundation and Italy-based Cineteca di Bologna collaborated to restore the film which had lost its rich color palette over the years with Scorsese notably saying: “Aravindan was a visionary director and Kummatty is considered among his greatest work. The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project will share this film with the wider audience it deserves, making it a true cinematic discovery." The film was restored at the L’Immagine Ritrovata lab in Bologna, Italy, and had its world restoration premiere at the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival later that month.[5][6]

References[edit]

  1. https://dff.nic.in/images/Documents/142_IPCatalogue1979-80.pdf
  2. "Kummaatti". www.malayalachalachithram.com. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. "Kummaatti". malayalasangeetham.info. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. "BFI". www.bfi.org.uk.
  5. "The Hindu".
  6. "World Cinema Program".

External links[edit]