Subhash K Jha (DNA; February 23, 2016)


Bhatt protégé Imran Zahid will play Prasad. He says, “With the ongoing controversy and the students’ ideology being shown in a poor light, it is imperative that the students and their political ideology be put in the correct perspective. It became imperative in today’s times to revive our project, Chandu.”

He likens the story to what current JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar is going though. “We were inspired by Chandrashekhar’s courage to help underprivileged people. I think he was the precursor to Kanhaiya.”

Imran feels strongly for the slain youth leader’s message. “Youth has been a buzzword in India for a couple of decades now. And there’s rarely been a better youth icon than Chandu, who was brutally assassinated in 1997.”

Adds Bhatt, “Chandu certainly had a message not just for his fellow students inside the campus but for the wider civil society. It’s never been a commercial venture for me and all I wanted to revive and communicate that message. Of course, it’s far more relevant now than when we thought of shelving the project.”