Razi

A journey through the life of C. Saratchandran who travelled constantly with the camera and cinemas. It is a journey through the vivid, living memories of the protesters at Chaliyar, Plachimada, Muthanga and Kathikudam; through the experiences of his friends and everyone who have travelled with him or parallel to his path. As someone who pioneered in media activism as part of the little magazine movement during the Emergency, Sarat later on took up the very political duty of documenting the popular struggle movements of Kerala. This film tries to be exactly that, a clear take on the popular risings of not just Kerala, but the whole of India, by exploring and coordinating the history of those who have travelled along with Sarat. While capturing the essence of Sarat's political rebellion through documentation, which began with the VHS camera to reach the zeniths of pioneering experimentation with the Digital technology, the film is also an inquiry into the ongoing technical and creative evolutions in the production and screening of documentaries, in its right as an important media in the new world. What Sarat did with his video camera was much more than transmitting the socio-political issues to be portrayed in the mainstream society. He stood by each of those struggles, feeding them with energy and the spirit to go forward, to reach success. For someone like Sarat, who remained wide awake in both at the struggle fronts and in his personal relationships; for someone as unconditionally empathetic, the camera was always the third eye for fulfilling his mission; the third eye of resistance.