Chhota Chetan

My Dear Kuttichathan poster for sale.

Featured here is an actual surviving original publicity poster of the 1998 Hindi film directed by Jijo Punnoose, which was produced by his father Navodaya Appachan.

Presented by Navodaya Studio, Chhota Chetan (1998) was a dubbed version of India’s first 3-D film, My Dear Kuttichathan (1984), which was originally made in Malayalam. To understand 3D technology, the film’s director Jijo Punnoose traveled to Burbank, California. Chris Condon, an expert in 3D technology was consulted, while David Schmier was hired as stereographer. Special camera lenses as well as other 3D equipment were imported from the US for the film.

Chhota Chetan (1998) was based on the story of a little goblin “Kuttichathan” who is released from the spell of an evil sorcerer by three children and ends up befriending them. Several scenes from the original Malayalam version of the film were retained and clubbed with new scenes shot with a Bollywood star cast comprising Urmila Matondkar, Dalip Tahil, Satish Kaushik and Shakti Kapoor for the film’s Hindi release.

Chhota Chetan (1998) was one of the first classic Bollywood movies to introduce DTS for a stereoscopic 3D feature film and was a huge success at the box office, making this poster, highly collectible!

Printed and circulated during the early release of the film (somewhere in the late 1990s), this My Dear Kuttichathan poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

A still photo is seen featuring the three kids along with the small goblin boy (Kuttichathan) running along a beach holding hands. Passport styled close up photos are seen arranged on the right of this 3D Bollywood movie poster, from the top to bottom. Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, who plays the evil magician is seen on the top, followed by Dalip Tahil and the child artist who played the little goblin character.

The poster capitalizes on the 3D aspect of the film with an announcement on the top that reads, “India’s first 3D.” The title of this Chhota Chetan poster is illustrated inside a bat with its wings outstretched. The artwork summarizes the climax of the film in which the little goblin turns into a bat and flies away.

The soundtrack album of My Dear Kuttichathan (1984) was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, while the dubbed Hindi version Chhota Chetan (1998) featured songs by Anu Malik.