Angad, the son of Indian cricketing legend Bishen Singh Bedi, will make his silver screen debut with 'Kaya Taran' (Chrysalis), a film set against the backdrop of the 1984 Delhi riots, directed by veteran scribe Sashi Kumar.

The film is also the maiden venture of Mr Kumar, a veteran journalist, television news anchor and commentator. Angad, who was done modelling before plays the main protagonist in the film, Jagpreet, a Sikh boy who survived the riots.

'Kaya Taran' which stars Seema Biswas and Neelambari Bhattacharya, the grandson of India's first elected Communist Chief Minister late E M S Namboodiripad, is slated for release on February 11.

The movie is a loose adaptation of a Malayalam short story 'When Big Trees Fall' by N S Madhavan. ''The film is set against the backdrop of two riots -- the 1984 Delhi riots and Godhra massacre,'' Mr Kumar revealed.

''My film seeks to contextualise the violence of 1984 Delhi riots and Godhra episode and see these as symptomatic of a deeper and more insidious challenge. A challenge from within to our multiculturalism. 'Kaya Taran' is on the vulnerability of identity in our plural society,'' Mr Kumar said. the film is about Jagpreet, the crisis of religious identity and the society's callous duplicity.

The story takes off with Jagpreet, a young shy Sikh reporter attempting to reconstruct his past, which consists of fragmented stills of mobs, blood trails and blazing buildings which he witnessed as a child.

In his childhood, Jagpreet, and his mother had found refuge at a nunnery in Meerut while fleeing blood-thirsty marauders during the 1984 riots following the assasination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The role of the seven-year-old Sikh boy, who seeks refuge along with his mother, has been played by Neelambari.

Sister Agatha (Seema Biswas) gives them a place to hide. But realising that they are still unsafe, she decides to camouflage them in a new identity. For the mother a nun's robe provides refuge, while the boy trades his long tresses for safety. This is the chrysalis that becomes the metaphor for the deeper message of the story. The ''conversion'' complete, mother and son are now free to chart their own course.

The Rs 1.5 crore film, shot in about 35 days between mid-February and March-end, also has journalists Rahul Bedi and Joseph Maliakan, who covered the riots, playing themselves in the film. 'Kaya Taran' is the second film to be made against the backdrop of the 1984 Delhi riots after the much acclaimed 'Amu' starring Konkana Sen Sharma and directed by Shonali Bose.