CHENNAI: Amid reports that the Information and Broadcasting ministry could revisit the recent appointments at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), its newly named chairman, Gajendra Chauhan, appears unfazed. In an exclusive interview, he put up an aggressive defence against charges that he lacks the gravitas for holding the position.
“There have been people who have not been in films at all and were appointed as chairperson. I don’t want to give names. Same way, in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), there have been people who have never played cricket but are running the board in the country,” he remarks.
In response to FTII students questioning his credentials - his acting career spanning roles in TV marketing shows, B-grade films and BR Chopra’s Maha-bharata - he says, “Who are they to check my credentials? They haven’t come out of college even. I have 34 years of experience.”
Rebutting charges that his ideology would compromise the functioning of the institution, Chauhan says, “The ideology I belong to has been accepted by the people of the country. The mandate has been given to this ideology. Prime Minister Modi belongs to the same ideology.”
However, Ranjit Nair, a co-committee member of the FTII’s students’ association that is spearheading the protests, isn’t buying the logic. “How is Chauhan comparing a cricket board to a film institute? Our institute and its functionality uphold pluralism and the spirit of inquiry. The collective experience of wisdom counts and not the number of years he put in industry,” he argues. The agitating students are expecting a reply from the I&B ministry for a specific date to hold a meeting to discuss alternatives to resolve the issue.
