THAALAVATTAM | The Signature of Time

The village of Vellinezhi situated in Kerala, one of the southernmost states in India, is famed for two things. One, it’s captivating landscapes and two for being the native place to one of India’s finest percussion experts who played a crucial role in bringing Kerala’s indigenous instrument Chenda to global stage, Padma Shri Mattannoor Sankarankutty.
Padma Shri Mattannoor Sankarankutty’s life and never ending efforts to promote culture and tradition through his music and to preserve them by passing on the knowledge to the next generation is a sheer example of human will to preserve his roots and keep alive the devotion for music that has been persisting within his family for generations.
This documentary is an effort to explore the scope of traditional art forms in today’s contemporary society and to establish the connection of nature with human life through the natural rhythms hidden in sounds that we come across in our daily life.