Aattakatha is a literary genre in Malayalam language consisting of the libretto used for the Indian classical dance drama kathakali. The word aatta-katha literally means "story for dancing and acting" (atu "to dance" + kathā "story"). The narrative framework of aattakatha consists quatrains in Sanskrit metres where the diction also is heavily Sanskritised; the dialogue part, however, is made up of padas, which can be set to raga (tune) and tala (rhythm) and have to be rendered by means of gestures and body movements by the actors while being sung by musicians from behind.