"Kutty" - Tamil DVD
Blue Mountain Digital

Aspect ratio approx. 1.66:1 nonanamorphic, though it could be a little less
Sound 2 channel (says "stereo" on box, though I heard no stereo effects)
English subtitles

Video
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Framed at approximately 1.66:1, the video is pretty good. Colors are vibrant and never washed out, though the print used appears to be a cinema print. Bright whites are sometimes a little too bright, causing some clipping, and the overall image is slightly contrasty. Big reel change marks can be seen, and you can not miss them. Skin tones appear to be accurate and detail is not quite as good as a reference quality disc, though it is better than most Hindi DVDs. Very little edge enhancement was applied, and you would have to be looking for it to notice. Thankfully, digital noise reduction is applied sparingly. It is never pumped up to DEI levels. There are some small white specks on the print. Anamorphic enhancement, with windowboxing, would have been welcome.

Audio
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Labeled as "stereo" on the back, the 224kbps encoded 2 channel mono does the job. The soundtrack sounds like mono because in scenes where there should have been directionality, such as when cars drive past the camera, there was none. Dialogue is always clear, and Ilayaraja's score and songs are clear. I do not recall any hissing, popping, or distortion. Being an optical soundtrack, the frequency range isn't great. It doesn't sound as good as a digital soundtrack, of course, but the sound is good enough.

Extras
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Before the menu comes up, still screens for "Hey Ram," "Thenali," "Veerapandi Kotayile," and "Citizen" are displayed. English subtitles are included. These subtitles are well translated from the original Tamil, never being too literal or confusing. The songs and occasional English dialogues are also subtitled. If only Ayngaran would have BMD subtitle their DVDs. There are fourteen chapter stops.

Overall
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Qualitywise and contentwise, "Kutty" is a good disc. With better than average (for Indian standards) video, adequate audio, and a good film, I recommend it.

A review of the movie will follow.

Hey Dragun, could you give a synopsis of the movie? Thanks, Chaver.

Movie Synopsis/Review

A very young village girl named Kannamma, works as a servant for an upper-middle class Madras family of three. At first, life for Kannamma is good with this family. They feed her well and are friendly towards her. The young boy of the family, however, does not like her and is mean. Later on, the mother of the father of the family comes to the house to take care of the boy while the mother and father work (sorry if I have forgotten names), and she is a class-concious woman who mistreats Kannamma.

I hope I haven't given away too much of the plot. "Kutty" is about child labor. Directed by Janaki Viswanathan and co-scripted with her husband/producer Ramesh Arunachalam from a story by Sivasankari, the sadness in the little girl's life is well portrayed. At times, it borderlines on corniness, and there is some typical Tamil melodrama occasionally, but the film remains poignant. This is enhanced by the performance of Baby Shwetha as Kannamma, who truly makes you sympathize with her plight. This is an important, sad, beautiful film that everyone should see.

http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2001/nov/19kutty.htm

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001 ... 100224.htm

I rented this movie long ago, but now I am trying to find this DVD for sale without success. Does anyone know how I can get a copy?