Hostel: A film depicting the horrors of ragging

The writer of the movie “Sarkar”, Manish Gupta’s debut film is about a subject that he feels strongly about: the extent to which ragging in hostels can affect an individual's life. Written and helmed by him, the idea for the movie “Hostel” came to him 17 years ago when he was studying engineering in Mumbai. Manish met a boy from Manipal college, who was made to dance in the nude every night to entertain his sadistic and pervert seniors. He was raped by his male seniors every night as part of ragging. The incident filled Manish with a rage that shows no signs of abating as more and more incidents have been taking place where boys and girls die, get crippled and commit suicide as a result of the sadistic harassment that is meted out to them in their hostels as a part of ragging.

'Hostel' is a film about a student, played by actor Vatsal Seth, who is ragged by his seniors in the hostel he stays. Even though it is pure fiction, it is “inspired” by a string of true incidents. Gupta hopes to bring about a social change with the movie, since despite numerous campaigns and anti-ragging measures, the practice is still rampant across colleges and institutes.  

Nishatha Abraham