When the caste consciousness raised its ugly head all over again in the early eighties, some Kayastha youths of North India began to question why their brethren were invariably the villains in most Hindi movies. The devious munim, scheming managers, exploitative mill owners, dishonest lawyers, manipulative labour leaders and even some vendetta-driven anti-heroes of Hindi flicks used to be Varmajis, Srivastav Chachas, Mathur Sahabs or just plain Kumars and Prasads with enough hint in the storyline to prove that they were Hindustani-speaking Kayasthas. To be sure, there were ample character actors, heroes, and heroines from the same caste. However, the negative portrayal rankled. The argument was that if some ‘backward castes’ could take offence on unfavourable depiction and hold protest rallies, there was no reason for the Chitransha family to take the vilification lying down.