Rahul Riji Nair’s animated short film ‘Kingara Kavyam’ recreates a folklore

Kingara Kavyam, an animated short film that merges folklore and magical realism, creatively reimagines a rooted, culture-specific story of Kappiri and Kunjala to narrate a story of feudalism, oppression and resilience in medieval Kochi.

The story of Kappiri, a slave from Africa, has existed in the oral and folklore history of Kochi and finds mention in Cochin: Fame and Fables, MK Das’ authoritative book on Kochi.

The lyrical, animated film made by Rahul Riji Nair is a striking example of how animation can be creatively used to discuss socio-economic power systems.

Rahul says the idea of an animation film on the Kappiri Muthappan myth that exists in Kochi came to his mind during the COVID-related lockdown in 2020 when he, like many others, wondered what would happen to cinema when people were confined to their homes. Speaking over the phone, Rahul says that he was also keen on expanding his repertoire and that was when he decided to make an animation film.

“I consider myself as a storyteller and I want to expand to study different media; animation was one such area,” he explains.

The award-winning indie director of films such as Ottamuri Velicham and Kalla Nottam taught himself the process of animation through YouTube tutorials and talks. “I had read the story of Kappiri and it had stayed in my mind. While we have read about slavery in the US and Europe, not much has been written about slavery in our neighbourhood,” says Rahul.

After developing the story and the script in April 2020, he began scouting around for a producer and studio for the animation. “I realised that the budget for even a short animation film was almost twice that of a feature film and so I needed a producer. In 2023, I found what I was looking for in Carmond Infinity, a Kochi-based animation studio,” he adds.

He says it was a synergy that worked to the film’s advantage. “I benefitted from their talent and process of making an animation film while my filmmaking and narrative experience were of help to them.” They began making the film in December 2023 and completed it in December 2025.

Kappiri reaches Kochi after he is sold to a wealthy feudal master who ill treats him and works him like a beast for oil pressing and tilling the land. Kunjala, a woman from a marginalised community, empathises with his plight and tries to help him cope. A flowering romance between Kappiri and Kunjala is nipped in the bud when Kappiri is sold to a Dutch merchant.

However, the story arc embraces present-day Kochi when “reincarnations” of Kappiri and Kunjala meet in a homestay run by her and the two form an instant connection, hinting that love and destiny can transcend time, geography and history.

Rahul states that the short is “an exploration of love and resilience woven into Kerala’s turbulent history....”.

Freed from the constraints of reality, Rahul uses visual clues and symbols to depict the exploitation, anguish and resilience of the characters. Kingara Kavyam portrays the inequality and inhumane conditions of those times when the marginalised were silenced with harsh punitive action that was socially sanctioned.

The animated format has also helped him to give a realistic touch to the scenes while depicting the bare-chested Kunjala. “Nudity in a feature film may not have been so easily accepted but the animated scenes ensured that we were able to depict the costumes quite accurately without raising eyebrows and for a wide audience. In those times, women in Kerala, irrespective of caste, did not use an upper garment and we were able to stick to that fact,” he explains.

A fantasy sequence when Kujala and Kappiri dream of a life without chains has been shown with a poetic touch with a Dutch song playing in the background. Rahul says with a laugh that the song in Dutch was in the collection of music director Sidhartha Pradeep.

“To keep it rooted to the local culture and visual heritage, we studied murals of Kerala for that dream-like sequence,” says Rahul. And so the colours, costumes, hair styles and background adheres to that style with Kappiri and Kujala getting a mural-like makeover.

The attention to detail is also evident in the Dutch-era coins that are given to buy Kappiri from his Malayali owner. Rahul and his team extensively studied the coins of that era and took photographs of the same to give the coins an authentic touch.

Kingara Kavyam is one of the eight films selected for the South Asia Competition at the second edition of AniMela, the international festival dedicated to animation, VFX, gaming, comics and XR, to be held in Mumbai from February 19 to 26. The film will have its world premiere at the festival.

Buoyed by the reception to the short film, Rahul says he is all set to make a full-length animation film in Malayalam. “The story and script is ready. I am on the lookout for a producer,” says the director.