DAY 6: The FTII strike continues

The stately gates that open up to the leading institute of the coun try, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), have been shut for the last five days. The indefinite strike has been called over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of the Governing Council by the government.
Monday morning, which could have otherwise been eventful at the institute, bore a grim look.The parking was empty, except for the few vehicles of the staff of the institute. It was a quiet walk towards the Wisdom Tree -one of the most iconic spots to the likes of yesteryear stalwarts Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan. On Monday, there were at least 50 students shouting slogans near the tree: `We will fight, we will win', `Halla Bol' `No Yudhishtir'. Armed with tambourines, djembes, dhol and a mouth organ ­ students sang songs like `We shall overcome' and clapped along as another day of no work continued at FTII.
Though it is vacation and new students are yet to get admission, the work at the institute has come to a standstill. Aritra Sarkar, a student of filmmaking, said, “I was in the outskirts of the city shooting for a course film, when I heard about the strike.All of us stopped the shoot immediately and returned to the campus.Sound workshops by Bishwadeep Chatterjee (who designed the sound for Piku) and Madhu Apsara (who designed the sound for Badlapur) were cancelled. An ongoing workshop on filmmaking was also stalled midway and conductors of the workshop expressed solidarity with the students by supporting the strike.“ Everything is at a standstill on campus, except the canteen, that has also witnessed a dip in sales. “Not many of them have come for their regular rounds of chai since the strike has begun. The campus is quite tensed now,“ said a canteen member.
SOCIAL NETWORK PAGES BLOCKED
The Facebook and Twitter pages of the institute, that were quite active once the strike was announced, have been blocked. Said Yashasvi Mishra, a member of the student body, “The social network pages have been there for a long time now. However, we started actively posting on them since Friday . But, now the pages cannot be |accessed. They have been blocked.“
ALUMNI SUPPORT
Rajkummar Rao, a National Award winner said, “I have nothing personal against Mr Chauhan. However, if somebody has to head an institute of national importance, then he should have some knowledge and contribution in the field of the same. He should be a visionary .Chauhan was competing with the likes of Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who are stalwarts in the field. I understand that Mr Chauhan is a great actor. But he cannot be chosen over a Benegal. I was a student of the institute and I understand the students' sentiments. Those in charge need to have a dialogue with the students and find out what they want.Ultimately it is the students who will be affected. Not any of them.“ Sriram Raghavan, director of Badlapur and Ek Hasina Thi, was on campus on Monday , to support the strike. “It is bizarre that a person with absolutely no background of the art has been appointed as a chairman. The person should at least have some knowledge about some knowledge about cinema, if he has to head an institute of films,“ he said.
CURRENT STATUS
The office of the Director, DJ Narain, was shut. “A letter has been sent to the ministry and the students are waiting for a reply. A discussion mechanism with the ministry is the need of the hour. Otherwise, the strike is on,“ said DJ Narain.
GAJENDRA CHAUHAN SPEAKS
Gajendra Chauhan, on his part, is ready for a dialogue with the students. He expressed, “The strike is getting extremely political now. No artiste will protest like this.This is just a political protest.I have a one-point agenda. I want to tell the students that they are being misguided by some people. Yes, I have been appointed by the ruling party, but there is nothing wrong in that. My ideologies match with theirs. However, they will be kept outside the campus. Once I join, I will work solely for the betterment of the institute,“ he added.
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