Prestigious FTII in coma, victim of dirty politics
By Radheshyam Tewari | PUBLISHED: 10, Jul 2015, 14:24 pm IST | UPDATED: 10, Jul 2015, 14:31 pm IST
The officials of I&B ministry discussed all the issues of the Institute except the real issue ie cancelling the appointment of TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the governing council of the institute. The I&B minister is adament.
Meanwhile protests spread to Kolkata's SRFTII and in many south cities. Students decided to go on strike in solidarity with FTII. Popular Marathi actor Pallavi Joshi, filmmaker Jahnu Barua and cinematographer Santosh Sivan have all came together under the umbrella of FTII association after resigning from their respective seats to support the students.
Looking at the brief account of the golden history of FTII one feels proud of the glory of the institution which is suffering because of the non professional bureaucracy working under political pressure and trying best to win 'munch ki ladai'.
Since the BJP came into power it appears to be committed to the proverb 'a BJP man does no wrong'. So irrespective of talent and qualification, the party appointed Mr Gajendra Chauhan, best known for playing the character of Yudhisthira on popular TV show Mahabharata, the chairman of the institute last month. The protests against it entered almost one month as the students refuse to budge from their demand seeking his immediate removal.
Many critics say that had it been a Gurukul of the 3rd century, Mr. Chauhan would have been the best choice for the highest post of the film Guru kul. But the students feel that Mr. Chauhan was appointed just because he is a BJP member and he did not deserve to be the chairman.
The Institute was established in 1960 and started running its courses from 1961. The Television Training wing, which was earlier functioning in New Delhi, shifted to Pune in 1974. Thereafter, the institute became fully aided by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India). Since that year the institution earned a big name not only in Asia but attracted the entire film world with its qualified actors and technicians.
It was this reason in July 2011, that the then Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said that in bill will be introduced in Parliament to develop FTII into a Center of Excellence. This would enable the institute to enjoy academic status and privileges of a university. But now the fate of FTII appears to be dissolving to a film Gurukul of an ancient era. Now the I&B ministry has come out openly threatening the students citing a recomendation by some one with two options--either pull the plug on the film institute or transfer the ownership to the film Industry in Mumbai.