Documentary

This is a documentary that attempts to follow the footprints of Kolkali, the art of a foregone era. Kolkali — the stick dance — is a folk dance form believed to have been in existence for more than a millennium, and documenting an art for which no authentic past study exists makes this work all the more significant. Its backdrop is set in Payyanur, famous for a long tradition of Kolkali.

Made keeping in view the historical, academic and societal interests of Kolkali, the film stands as a reference point for the future — the art's emergence; its social, cultural, political and traditional impact; its lively practice and performance; inferences from doyens; its woman factor; its fight for existence; and new situational analysis are all sequentially positioned within it.

'Oru Deshathinte Kala' is meticulously edited into two versions: an exhaustive, elaborate account in the longer ninety-minute version, and a focused thirty-five-minute short carrying the most significant information on the art.