Meets Manish Gupta, director of Hostel, a film that deals with this anti-social menace and how it affects students

Bollywood has got a latest addition to the list of personalities supporting social causes with the help of Bollywood. This time, it is none other than our President Pratibhau00a0 Patil.

Filmmaker Manish Gupta, who made the film on ragging called Hostel earlier this year, met the President at her residence Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday morning and spoke at lengthu00a0 about the serious issue of ragging with the President.


President Pratibha Patil with Manish Gupta, director of Hostel, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

She asked Gupta to take on anti-ragging initiatives, starting with a campaign through interviews with victims of ragging andu00a0 their families to be telecast on national television.

Gupta said that this is just the beginning of several anti-ragging ventures which are being formulated by the President's office.

"Pratibhaji has sanctioned two aggressive nation-wide anti-ragging initiatives deploying me and my film Hostel to spread the anti-ragging message.

The President also spoke to me about a meeting with Kapil Sibal, the Minister for Education, to question him why ragging is not being handled in the campuses on a war-footing," he said.

"Dr Raj Kachru the father of Amar Kachru who died of ragging and and on whom my film is based, supports
the anti-ragging drive.

My film is a weapon thatu00a0 I am going to use to initiate a discussion in the mantralaya," he added.

Did you know?
Manish Gupta has also scripted the film Sarkar and directed a film The Stoneman Murders