RECASTING SELVES

Directed by Lalit Vachani

Set at CREST (the Centre for Research and Education for Social Transformation) in Kozhikode, the film documents the ‘soft skills’ training of Dalit and Adivasi post-graduate students in a nurturing campus environment as preparation for their employment in the new Indian economy. But how politicised or politically aware is the 'recast self'? Matters come to a climax when the CREST students research and select the theme of the semester ending play. Will they choose to do a play that exposes caste discrimination around Rohit Vemula's suicide? Or will they select one that expresses their fears about ‘Bengali’ migration to Kerala?