Nitin Pamnani's Black Pamphlets, set against the backdrop of Delhi University elections, tries to find the line where student and mainstream politics blur

What is an election without the show of money, power and muscle? Fiction? Illusion? Or a Bollywood film script minus the masala? For Nitin K Pamnani, director of Black Pamphlets, a film dealing with Delhi University elections, it's the mark of a democracy.

Frame by frame
In his 84-minute documentary, Nitin takes viewers to the heavily politicised corridors of Delhi University, where each year, nearly 80,000 students directly elect their representatives. The elections are considered a training ground for future politicos. "Why should an election at the university level be considered a channel to mainstream politics? Isn't that the reason why elected representatives get more involved with national issues than those at the student-level? And if the so-called 'elected' representatives are only working for students' welfare, why do powerful political parties at central and state levels back them?" questions the DU alumni who, contested Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) elections in 2002. His film is an attempt to answer at least some of those questions.