Anupam Kher makes surprise visit to FTII campus

  • | Monday | 16th October, 2017

Besides his dramatic appearance on the campus, Mr. Kher was also seen sharing a fraternal lunch with some students in the FTII canteen, while chatting informally with them. Students continued to be resentful throughout Mr. Chauhan’s tenure which ended after only 15 months on March 3 this year. Mr. Kher’s arrival could not have been in more starker contrast than that of his predecessor, TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hack Gajendra Chauhan. Actor Anupam Kher, the newly appointed Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), staged a surprise entry on Monday as he entered the premises of his alma mater unannounced. On his arrival, Mr. Kher met with students from the 2016 batch in the institute’s main theatre and heard out their myriad issues with the administration.

more-in Actor Anupam Kher, the newly appointed Chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), staged a surprise entry on Monday as he entered the premises of his alma mater unannounced. Besides his dramatic appearance on the campus, Mr. Kher was also seen sharing a fraternal lunch with some students in the FTII canteen, while chatting informally with them. On his arrival, Mr. Kher met with students from the 2016 batch in the institute’s main theatre and heard out their myriad issues with the administration. “I deliberately did not give prior information about my visit as I wanted to revisit my alma mater as a student like I did 40 years ago,” said the 62-year-old Mr. Kher, remarking that he wanted to strike an optimistic note at the beginning of his tenure as Chairman. Soon after Mr. Kher’s appointment to the institute’s top job last week, the FTII students’ body, in an open letter, had sharply drawn his attention to issues ranging from poor infrastructure, new curriculum and lack of permanent faculty. It rebuked the administration for excluding student representatives from Academic Council discussions, claiming it was “against the constitution of the institute”. “I feel that the issues vexing students can be resolved and I am eager to solve them. Some of the points raised by students are reasonable and I will try to get the FTII Director to sort them out… I also believe that problems facing students in their learning process in any institute ought to be addressed,” Mr. Kher said after his freewheeling meet with the students. He is also expected to address the entire 2016 batch shortly as is to hold a special class for acting students in this week. Mr. Kher’s arrival could not have been in more starker contrast than that of his predecessor, TV actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hack Gajendra Chauhan. Mr. Chauhan’s appointment had transformed the institute into a raging storm centre, with a furious 139-day strike by the students paralyzing the functioning of India’s premier film education centre for the latter part of 2015. His contentious appointment had also drawn widespread criticism across the film fraternity. In contrast to Mr. Kher’s first day on the FTII campus, Mr. Chauhan’s ‘day one’ on the campus premises in January last year was marred by seething discontent, frenzied protests and lathicharges as 40 of the agitating students were allegedly manhandled and detained by the Pune police. Students continued to be resentful throughout Mr. Chauhan’s tenure which ended after only 15 months on March 3 this year.

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