Kota, once famous for grinding of Kota stone, is now famous for grinding lakhs of students’ lives, earning the reputation of the capital of competitive exam coaching in India. It represents the struggle of the Indian middle class and its aspiration to escape a life of mediocrity. Every time the results of competitive exams are declared, the coaching centres come out with full-page advertisements in newspapers highlighting success stories written by candidates who detail how they wouldn’t have made it to the top without the help of the coaching centres.

Every year around 2 lakh students take admission in more than 150 coaching centres of Kota and with a success ratio of 10% in these institutes, the story of the remaining students remains untold. CUTOFF is the story of how their mindscape is being affected by this dream-selling machinery.