Students of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) have been embroiled in a tussle over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the institute for weeks now. But while they have received some support, what they did earlier this week won’t go down too well with anyone. They held the director of the institute, Prashant Pathrabe, captive inside his office for a few hours on 17 August. He was released only after the police was called in. According to a statement by the FTII Students’ Association (FSA), Pathrabe told them that the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry wanted him to go ahead with an ‘assessment’ despite the continuing protest. This assessment has to do with incomplete films made by the 2008 batch.
About 40 students went to Pathrabe and refused to leave unless he gave an explanation. The FSA alleges that this move was politically motivated, and aimed at getting rid of about 50 students for allegedly ‘overstaying at FTII’ on account of incomplete projects. We don’t know whether there is any merit to the accusation but, even if there is, why are there incomplete projects going back seven years? The FTII students have something to answer for there.
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