The premier Film and Television Institute of India, Pune which is also one of the most reputed film schools in the world is now face to face with a situation which has pushed the students of the institute to action from calling “action”.

The students are now on an indefinite strike opposing the appointment of Mr. Gajendra Chauhan as the Chairman of the Institute.

While Mr. Chauhan is saying the protests are “politically motivated” and many are referring to it as the Institute’s fight against “saffronization of education and educational space”, the Students’ Body of FTII has said the appointment is being condemned not just for the political affiliation of Mr. Chauhan per se but for the creative, artistic bankruptcy that his body of work displays.

Established in 1960, FTII has been training students in the art and craft of filmmaking. But over the years the Institute has grown beyond being a mere institute and has become a cultural space and a not just a significant but also a decisive part of the cultural sphere of the country.

The Institute has produced world class filmmakers, academicians and cine-theoreticians as well. In its over five decades of existence the Institute through its serious engagement with the art of cinema and the cultural sphere at large has churned out its own philosophy and vision which has not just become defining of the space, the institute but also of the students trained.

What is remarkable is that though there is a single vision and philosophy of the Institute there has been diversity within it and neither the place nor its students have been monochrome. From the likes of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Girish Kasaravalli, Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahni, Amit Dutta, John Abraham, Kamal Swaroop, Jahnu Barua, Gurvinder Singh, Anup Singh, Shaji Karun, Fareeda Mehta, Umesh Kulkarni etc to the likes of Kundan Shah, Ketan Mehta, Shriram Raghavan, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, David Dhawan, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Subhash Ghai to the likes of Surabhi Sharma, Jabeen Merchant, Nishitha Jain, RV Ramani etc have come out of the film institute who represent various kinds of filmmaking.

The names mentioned above are those of filmmakers alone and not of the technicians- Cinematographers, Editors, Sound Designers- and artists trained to be Screenwriters, Actors and Art Directors. The list speaks of different schools of filmmaking, different styles of filmmaking and different approach to filmmaking and thus reflects to the variety of cinema that exists in this country and the vastness of the FTII canvas to hold, nurture, train, nourish, and polish such varied ideas, cultures, approaches and skills.

It is this variety which has shaped the vision and philosophy of the space called FTII and the philosophy and vision of FTII which has encouraged variety and kept the diversity alive while giving a fair chance for all schools, visions, ideas to flourish and has given, to the best of its possibilities, the required training and mentoring.

All this had to be said because to keep this spirit, this vision, this philosophy, this outlook of FTII what is essentially required is autonomy and a strong leadership which is in tune with the spirit of FTII shaped by years of churning.

While speaking of this grandeur of the FTII spirit, culture, vision and philosophy one must recognize the leadership it has got over the years from people like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen, Shyam Benegal, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Saeed Mirza who all have engaged not just with filmmaking seriously but also with the larger culture of which cinema is also a part and also with the milieu, the times which has had its impact on life in general and on cinema too. It is this larger engagement with society, culture and times which shaped their approach to life to art to cinema which seeped into their vision for a film institute and then shaped the film institute.

Into this tradition and this lineage now Mr. Chauhan has been appointed whose only claim to fame is the role of Yudhishtir in the B.R.Chopra serial Mahabharat. His innumerable films spread across 34 years of which he is proud, doesn’t make him worthy of even a footnote in the over 100 year history of Indian cinema and the history of Indian television because what counts is not years but quality. Worse his entire body of work doesn’t speak for any serious engagement with cinema, art or culture. His recent interviews where he is responding to the student agitation display the shallowness and hollowness of his idea about cinema and film institute too. Nor does it reflect any kind of knowledge or even interest in the various shades of every colour in the colourful palette of Indian cinema. Nothing from his body of work speaks for academic or administrative credibility leave apart creative or artistic eligibility to be the Chairman. So naturally the students at FTII are anxious and outraged.

Indian cinema is at a very interesting and crucial stage now with the advent of digital medium, sprouting of regional cinema, increase in independent and experimental cinema. This has brought Indian cine/screen-education also into an interesting position and a position which is challenging. Because Film and Television Institute of India bears heavy influence on Indian cine-culture and the current Indian cine-culture bears influence on the expectation and demand from the Film and Television Institute it is now necessary, more than ever, to have a leadership which is aware of the past, in tune with present and dreams & plans for future taking into account the larger spirit of FTII and the spirit of the times, having a gravitation of history.

It is a huge responsibility…

And unfortunately the even a portion from the body of work of Mr. Chauhan justifies his appointment as the Chairman of FTII which, at this point, demands so much. And unfortunately his body of work is not even remotely close to the idea, spirit, vision and philosophy of the Institute. And unfortunately he has been appointed as the Chairman. Unfortunately this can limit the growth of FTII from here on and also damage its spirit and growth.

But fortunately the students are fighting and fortunately there are competent people who deserve to be in the position which is now given to Mr. Chauhan.

- Samvartha ‘Sahil’(The author is an alumni of FTII-Screenplay Writing Department and is currently a freelance writer based out of Karnataka)