Chauhan selected FTII president on the basis one-para CV?

NEW DELHI: Did the government appoint actor Gajendra Chauhan chief of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India on the basis of a single-para CV with only notable achievement being the role of Yudhisthir in BR Chopra's TV serial Mahabharat?READ ALSO: ABVP muscles into FTII row, wants strike to endAfter farmers, it’s FTII for Rahul GandhiIt would seem so if one goes by the copy of a file noting received from the Information and Broadcasting ministry in response to an RTI query. "Gajendra Chauhan is an actor who is best known for his portrayal of the eldest Pandava 'Yudhishthira' in the Mahabharat (TV series). He has worked in around 150 movies and over 600 TV serials," the noting said.READ ALSO: FTII students to step up stir against Chauhan's appointmentThe applicant had sought information about educational and professional qualifications of Gajendra Chauhan which were considered for his selection as president, Film and Television Institute of India, among other queries. Chauhan, with old BJP links, has been appointed president of FTII society and chairman of its governing council by the NDA government.The 281-page record provided by the ministry includes detailed resume of other stalwarts once proposed for FTII presidentship, but the only reference to Chauhan's qualification is a one paragraph summary.READ ALSO: Govt plans to bring FTII at par with IITs, IIMs, allowed to grant degreesProtest at FTII gathers momentum as political bigwigs promise to raise their issue in Parliament; students to take their protest to the capital on Aug 3, as plannedThe file notings related to appointment of Chauhan show that many stalwarts of Indian cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jahnu Baruah, Raju Hirani, Jaya Bachchan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ramesh Sippy, Govind Nihalani and Aamir Khan were considered for the post earlier.These names were proposed by the FTII for the post of President in 2014, the notings received under the Right to Information Act show. Apart from the single paragraph file noting, which spoke of Chauhan's portrayal of Yudhishthir and the number of films and serials he has acted in, the ministry did not provide any details of his body of work or his CV that were considered ahead of his appointment as FTII chief.