In a remote Malabar village, the enigmatic figure of Kummatty looms large in folklore. To the village’s children, he’s both a bogeyman and a magician. One day, Kummatty materialises with a wizard’s rod of bells, masks of bird and beast heads hanging from a pole on his shoulders, a haunting song on his lips, and eyes that seem to peer into another realm. Spellbound, the children follow Kummatty, enchanted by his songs and dances. As seasons shift, it’s time for Kummatty to depart. The children join him in a farewell dance, during which he transforms them into various animals, including a boy named Chindan, who becomes a dog. Chindan, missing the moment when Kummatty restores the others to human form, lives as a stray dog for a year. In the words of Aravindan, ‘Kummatty arrives like the seasons, representing Spring, when nature is in full bloom and vibrant.’
Restored by The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, Film Heritage Foundation and Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory, in association with General Pictures and the family of Govindan Aravindan.
