BackGajendra Chauhan takes charge at Film and Television Institute of India
Producer-director B.P. Singh made vice-president of FTII academic council
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Pune: Amid dramatic scenes and protests by students, TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Gajendra Chauhan on Thursday took charge as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), seven months after his appointment, even as police detained nearly 40 protesters.
However, in what could be a compromise formula to resolve the row over Chauhan’s controversial appointment that led students to go on an unprecedented 139-day strike, the FTII society on Thursday chose producer-director B.P. Singh as its vice-president and also chairman of the academic council.
The students, who are demanding Chauhan’s removal, called off their strike on 28 October. Singh, who is known for television serial CID, is an alumnus of FTII.
A senior information and broadcasting ministry official said that during negotiations, student representatives had at times questioned Chauhan’s credentials related to academic curriculum, and they believed that with Singh heading the academic council, such issues won’t arise.
“Singh studied film-making at FTII and is a veteran in this field, so a lot of concerns raised would be accommodated," the official said in Delhi.
Police rounded up some 40 students using force as they staged a demonstration, beating drums and displaying placards with slogans of “Gajendra Chauhan go back" and calling him a “political appointee". During the course of the protests, Chauhan was confined to his hotel room in the vicinity of the FTII.
On the continuing protest by students to his appointment, Chauhan, before reaching the campus, said, “We have come to do a job. We have an agenda and we will do our job."
At the FTII society meeting on Thursday, apart from Chauhan and Singh, film-maker Rajkumar Hirani, actor Satish Shah, film critic Bhawana Somaiyya, Akademi Awardee director Urmil Thapliyal, Assamese actor Pranjal Saikia and others were present.
Other controversial members of the FTII society with alleged BJP affiliation—Rahul Solapurkar, Anagha Ghaisas and Narendra Pathak—also attended the first meeting convened by Chauhan as the chairman. An official statement said that B.P. Singh was elected as the vice-president of the FTII society while Hirani, Singh, Saikia, Shah, Pathak and Somaiyya were nominated to the governing council.
Singh was elected as vice-chairman of the governing council and it was decided to nominate the vice-chairman of the governing council as the chairman of the academic council, the statement added. PTI
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