My Dear Kuttichathan

The character "Kuttichathan" is formed based on the specialties of a deity goblin popularly known as "Chathan" who is worshiped mainly in the south Indian state of Kerala. There are cruel magicians everywhere in the world. One of them is Karimbhootham (black magician), who enslaved an invisible spirit with his magic spells, whom he calls "Kuttichathan" ("Little Goblin" in English and "Chhota Chetan" in Hindi). Two boys and a girl befriend Kuttichathan by accident and release him from the grip of the magician. On the way, Kuttichathan meets Ashish, a member of the police, who is after Karimbhootham. They understand that this Chathan is friendly to kids and is a very good friend. Therefore, the girl promises to keep Kuttichathan in her house for two reasons: one, her father drinks too much, so she wants Chathan, who is a very good magician, to make him come to his senses, as after her mother died, there is no one to control him; second, Chathan, despite being a small boy, also drinks a lot. He could drink and finish off all that her father drinks, thereby changing her father's attitude. At the same time, the cruel magician wants the Kuttichathan to lay his hands on a treasure. Even though the magician is the owner of the Kuttichathan, he is burnt and killed by the Chathan in the climax. Chathan then turns into a bat and flies away. == Cast ==

• M. P. Ramnath/Master Aravind – Kuttichathan (voice of invisible Kuttichatan by Nedumudi Venu) • Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair – The Cruel Magician • Sonia – Laxmi • Master Suresh — Vijay • Master Arvind — Vinod • Master Mukesh • Dalip Tahil – Laxmi's father • Alummoodan • P. A. Latheef • Aman M. A. • Jagathy Sreekumar (Added Portion in 1998) • Sainuddin – Bartender • Rajan P. Dev – School Teacher • Jagadeesh – Cabaret Announcer • Kalabhavan Mani as Dakshinenthya Manthravaadhi (Added Portion in 1998) • Kallapetti Singaram — Rickshaw driver' • Indrans as traffic policeman (added portion in 1998) • Salim Kumar (Added Portion in 1998) • Nadirshah (Added Portion in 1998) ; Hindi version • Naseeruddin Shah as invisible voice of Chota Chetan • Urmila Matondkar – Miss Hawa Hawaii • Dalip Tahil – Laxmi's father • Satish Kaushik – Professor Chashmish • Shakti Kapoor – Baba Khondol, the cruel magician • Ravi Baswani – Raja • Harish Kumar – Mr. Anthony Gonsalves ; Tamil version • Prakash Raj – The Cruel Magician (Added Portion in 2010) • Santhanam — Scientist (Added Portion in 2010) • The film was introduced by cameo appearances from Prem Nazir, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, and Jeetendra in the opening sequence in all languages == Production ==

Development My Dear Kuttichathan was the first Indian film to be filmed in 3D. Jijo Punnoose, son of Navodaya Appachan made his directorial debut with this film. After Padayottam (1982), Jijo decided to direct a 3D film after getting inspired by an article in American Cinematographer shown to him by cinematographer Ramachandra Babu. Technology To understand the technology, Jijo travelled multiple trips to Burbank, California and bought sample reels of 3D films and held a preview in his studio. Sonia Bose and MD Ramnoth were cast as child artists. The latter portrayed the titular character. Ashok Kumar handled cinematography for the film, thus making him the first cinematographer in India to have shot a 3D film. T. K. Rajeev Kumar, who went on to become a famous director, started his career as an assistant director with this film. In the Hindi version shot in 1997, Shakti Kapoor plays the part of a magician (originally played by Alummoodan) who tries to catch Chetan, but gets trapped in a mirror. Prakash Raj did this role in its re-released Tamil version released in 2010. Satish Kaushik plays the part of Jagathi Sreekumar as a scientist who also tries to catch Chetan, but gets destroyed. This character was played as Santhanam in 2010 version. Filming Despite proper planning, the filming took around 90 days to complete, three times the schedule of a normal film. == Soundtrack ==

;1984 version ;2010 version Chutti Chathan This version had new songs composed by Sharreth including re-created version of "Chinna Kuzhandhaigale" (Aalipazham Perukka). The lyrics was written by Madhan Karky. • Kuttichathan Vanthenda – K. S. Chithra • Andhara Tharagai – Sajjla • Boom Boom Chathan – Sharreth & Chorus • Ulagame Odidaathe – Srinivas == Release ==

The film was released in 1984 along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. For the watching experience, special lenses had to be attached to the projectors in theatres. Box office The film was commercial success and highest grossing Malayalam film at that time, which collected ₹ 2.5 crore from box office and it's Hindi dubbed version Chota Chetan also collected ₹ 1.3 crore from box office. The film ran over 365 days in Trivandrum, 250 days in both Chennai and Mumbai and 150 days in both Bengaluru and Hyderabad box office. Re-releases The film was re-released in 1997 which was also highly successful at the box office; it had earned 60 times its initial investment. The Hindi version was re-released by Nitin Manmohan in 1997, with additional scenes which involved Urmila Matondkar and other Hindi actors. In 2010, Sri Thenandal Films re-released the Tamil version, titled Chutti Chathan in 2010, with added scenes starring Santhanam and Prakash Raj. == Legacy ==

The film inspired similar kinds of films in India. The optical illusion house set used in the song "Aalipazham Perukkaan" was built in Kishkinta Theme Park, near Tambaram, Chennai. Kuttichathan has also been cited as an inspiration for the feature films ARM (2024) and Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (2025). == References ==