Unlike other well documented forms of storytelling through song in Tamil Nadu - like the Katha Kalakshepam from Thanjavur - Kathaiyum Paattum is a more informal art performed, as experts say, "under the radar".
In the film Shabnam, there was the first multi-lingual film song with stanzas in Bengali, Marathi and Tamil, telling the audience that they were all part of India while poking gentle fun at the stereotypes it created.