FTII protest: ‘First Shaktimaan and now Yudhishthir, who’s next?’

The students said they were ready to talk about the issue, but the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry (I&B) had not approached them through any channel for dialogue.

The students said they would continue the agitation and not accept Chauhan as the head of the FTII council.

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Speaking to mediapersons after meeting the students, Patwardhan — known for his documentaries Ram Ke Naam (1992), Father Son and the Holy War (1994) — said he was glad to see the students of the film institute resisting a move which, he said, would destroy the creative space of national importance.

“Actually, if you ask me, I am not surprised at all by the appointment. Ever since the Modi government assumed charge, it is systematically putting such people in posts of influence, especially the media and legal arena. At the very beginning it appointed Pahlaj Nihalani as chief of the Censor Board. As soon as he assumed charge, he released a list of 20 words which cannot be used in movies. Later, they appointed (Shaktimaan) Mukesh Khanna as chairman of Children’s Films Society of India and now a Yudhishthir for FTII. Who’s next? We should hope to see Krishna, or someone else, heading some other national institute,” said Patwardhan.

Also read: FTII shuts down as ‘BJP man’ Chauhan is made chairman

Patwardhan said he did not expect the government to revoke the appointment. “I am not hoping that the government will back off. It’s not how they work. The series of appointments by the BJP government has worried most of us. Only a narrow group of people associated with the party would be happy. Even if the BJP wanted to appoint their own man, they could have chosen a man with proven credentials. Had they appointed Shatrughan Sinha, nobody would have raised a hue and cry,” he added.

The students have taken strong objection to a reported statement by Chauhan that “barring Rajkumar Hirani, the institute has not produced any important artiste”, saying the statement showed lack of knowledge and cinematic understanding of the designated president.