A 10-member delegation of the FTII Students’ Association had a meeting with I&B minister Arun Jaitley and other officials during which the main demand for the removal of Chauhan was cold-shouldered
Pune : Unrelenting in their demand for the removal of small-screen actor Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of FTII, students of the premier film institute on Saturday said they would continue their agitation as talks held with the I&B Ministry on Friday failed to resolve the issue.
Terming the talks held in New Delhi as “inconclusive and unsatisfactory”, the FTII’s Students Association (FSA) said the agitation that started on June 12 will continue.
A 10-member delegation of the FSA, plus some alumni of the institute led by filmmaker Girish Kasarwalli and Oscar-winner Resul Pukutty, had a meeting with I&B minister Arun Jaitley and other officials during which the main demand for the removal of Chauhan was cold-shouldered, FSA sources said.
Students, drawn from different parts of the country and pursuing various film-related courses, held that Chauhan, a BJP member, lacks “stature and vision” to head the institute, which has produced many leading personalities of Indian cinema.
Chauhan’s association with the BJP has also been an issue with the students expressing reservations over his ideological orientation which, they say, could have a bearing on FTII’s ethos of plurality of thoughts.
Known for his portrayal as ‘Yudhishthir’ in popular TV serial Mahabharat, Chauhan has maintained it was premature on the part of the students to oppose his appointment even before he took charge and proved his credentials for the job.
“Yudhishthir, do not teach us Dharma,” is a slogan currently popular with the agitating students, alluding to the steadfastness and righteousness of the mythical character.
