Lalit Vachani
2021The Boy in the Branch
Lalit Vachani
Set at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, India, this is a film about the indoctrination of young Hindu boys by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (the RSS), India's foremost Hindu fundamentalist organization. Juxtaposing the activities of two different RSS 'shakhas' or branches, the film documents the stories and the games, the rituals and the play that socialize the young RSS recruit.
The Boy in the Branch
In Search of Gandhi
Lalit Vachani
What kind of democracy does India have today? Using Gandhi’s famous Dandi salt march through Gujarat as a starting point, this road-movie style documentary looks at contemporary India, the world’s biggest democracy, and explores the significance of the Gandhian legacy of peace and non-violence for democratic movements in the twenty first century.
In Search of Gandhi
Natak Jari Hai
Lalit Vachani
Safdar Hashmi
What does it mean to perform socialist ‘agit-prop’ theatre in India in a globalized era of increasing intolerance and inequality? Natak Jari Hai is a documentary about JANAM (The People’s Theatre Front), the little theatre group that never stopped performing in the face of dramatic political transformation and personal tragedy. The film explores the motivations and ideals of the JANAM actors and their vision of resistance and change as they perform their ‘People’s Theatre’ in diverse parts of India. It brings to life the world of socialist theatre through the words of JANAM’s members, and through a reflective portrayal of the group’s greatest tragedy - the assassination of its convenor Safdar Hashmi in 1989.
The Show Goes On
RECASTING SELVES
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?
RECASTING SELVES
