Former Censor Board chief Anupam Kher on Friday said BJP member Gajendra Chauhan, who took over as Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) chairman recently, was not qualified enough for the job. Kher even furthered the idea of turning the government institute into an autonomous body.
Even others like Rishi Kapoor, Paresh Rawal and Digvijaya Singh have upped the criticism of Chauhan and asked him to resign.
Advice. After all the protests and controversy,Gajendra Chauhan,the FTII Chairman should voluntarily retire. Will do good to the students.
– rishi kapoor (@chintskap) July 10, 2015
If they don’t want you, they don’t want you.By pushing for the chairmanship is getting you no where.Let self pride play a role and retire!
– rishi kapoor (@chintskap) July 10, 2015
“I personally feel that FTII represents a certain art form… it does certainly need a person having a great body of work which means he is supposed to know world cinema, he is supposed to know the present state of cinema like editing. But certainly FTII needs somebody who is much more qualified than whatever Gajendra ji’s qualifications are coming across,” Kher said in Chandigarh today.
“I certainly do not think Gajendra ji is qualified as a producer, director or actor,” the 60-year old actor said.
Did anyone ask what gajendra Chauhan future plan or his vision about the FTII ? Did anyone give him opportunity to explain ?
– Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) July 9, 2015
Appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman FTII is such example. Urge Gajendra Chauhan to resign. Nepotism and Favouritism above Merit.
– digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) July 10, 2015
However, Kher while saying that the institution ‘should be autonomous certainly’, advised the protesting students to attend their classes.
“I feel students who are on strike, should go back, make movies, attend classes because the Chairman is not directly involved in day-to-day functioning of FTII,” he said.
Chauhan, who is known for portraying the character of ‘Yudhisthira’ on TV show Mahabharata, became chairman of FTII last month. His appointment has come under severe criticism from current and former students of the elite institution.
A lot of other eminent people of the Indian film industry including well-known cinematographer Santosh Sivan, filmmaker Jahnu Barua and actress Pallavi Joshi have refused to be a part of the FTII society or the governing council in recent times.
Meanwhile, Chauhan himself told NDTV he was not ready to step down from the post and that others such as Anupam Kher and Rishi Kapoor were nobody to comment on his position.