Emotions high at screening of Tom Alter’s interviews, stills

PUNE: A wave of emotions gripped the audience during the screening of Tom Alter’s interviews and stills chronicling his life at the

FTII theatre

on Tuesday.

Alter passed away on September 29 at the age of 67 years. He was battling stage four of skin cancer.

Among the audience at the theatre were Alter’s son Jamie, his friend

Benjamin Gilani

and FTII new chairman Anupam Kher. Alter served as the head of the acting department at FTII between 2014 and 2016.

The screened videos included Alter’s interview with the parliamentary broadcaster RSTV, short clips from his landmark films, his acclaimed appearances on stage and a still of an interview with Sachin Tendulkar at Shivaji Park.

Kher announced an award in Alter’s name, his long-time friend and colleague. “It is very unfortunate that my first official function as chairman is to pay tribute to a friend who we lost recently. He made the FTII feel wanted. I would want to institute an award in his name to inspire students here,” Kher said.

Jamie, a cricket writer, said, “This institute was my father’s second home. I heard a lot from him about FTII. From Roshan Taneja’s teachings to his classmates like Uncle Ben (Benjamin Gilani), it has been good to visit this place,” he said.

FTII also screened the last student film Alter was part of, a film named ‘Safar’ that was directed by Sreejoni Nag.

“Tom sir was extremely enthusiastic during the shooting. He was going through pain and it was raining heavily during the shoot. But he was single-minded and dedicated towards doing the shoot,” Nag said, while introducing the film.