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Analysing Characterization 
Through Kummatty &
Color Of Paradise 

This work explores how two filmmakers: G. Aravindan and Majid Majidi, construct deeply layered protagonists using direct and indirect modes of characterization. It examines the narrative and visual decisions that bring Kummatty and Mohammad to life onscreen.

Project Type

Comparative Film Analysis Presentation

Date

February 2025

Course

Narrative Cinema | Semester 6

"Characterization is an accident that flows out of action and dialogue" - Jack Woodford

What Sparked This?

This assignment was part of our semester 6 film studies course, where we explored how narrative and visual language shape character development in a team of 3. The project asked us to analyze the mechanisms of characterization in films. We chose Kummatty and Color of Paradise because both blur realism with mythology or spirituality, and their protagonists are constructed in deeply poetic, layered ways.

What We Explored

In this analysis, we asked: How do filmmakers shape character beyond dialogue, through framing, movement, space, and silence?

We analyzed G. Aravindan’s Kummatty and Majid Majidi’s Color of Paradise, focusing on how both directors build their central characters using archetypes, symbolism, environmental interaction, and visual narrative devices. We found that Kummatty’s title character is constructed through folklore, indirect myth-making, and visual distance, while Mohammad is characterized by an immersive sensory world, crafted through natural sound and tactile visuals. Both characters reveal how cinematic characterization can transcend exposition, and function as narrative, theme, and mood.

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My Key Takeaways

  • Learned how visual framing and mise-en-scène can silently reveal character psychology

  • Deepened my understanding of archetypes and round characters in non-Western cinema

  • Reflected on how environments, folklore, and sensory worlds function as character-building tools

  • This project helped me see that sometimes, what isn’t said about a character speaks the loudest

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