The Women Against Sexual Harassment (WASH) committee has called out Kainthola for naming the student who had complained against sexual harassment on campus
Mayuri Phadnis (BOMBAY TIMES; October 29, 2018)

Few days after a woman student at FTII had sent a letter to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the chairperson of FTII, Anupam Kher, and the Internal Complaints Committee at FTII, alleging that she has been targeted by the institute’s director Bhupendra Kainthola following a sexual harassment complaint on campus, members of WASH (Women Against Sexual Harassment), a collective body with members of FTII and SRFTI, have written to Maneka Gandhi, (Union Cabinet Minister for Women & Child Development) against Kainthola for revealing the identity of the victim.

In a letter to addressed to the Ministry and Kher, dated October 22 (a copy of which is with us), the woman who is a direction student (referred to as P), had stated that Kainthola has created a “hostile work environment and is obstructing her work in the institute”.

The student, who wished to remain anonymous, said that this “harassment” at the campus was because she had also testified against professor Nilanjan Dutta, who was called out for being a sexual harasser last year by former student Advaita Das. His name was also mentioned in the list that Raya Sarkar had posted on social media in December last year. Sarkar had listed well-known Indian academics as being sexual harassers. “Dutta was suspended from FTII in 2008 after Das’ case was highlighted. He re-joined in 2012 and was eventually dismissed after the case was reopened and students, including me, had testified against him,” she said.

While talking to us, the student alleged that FTII has asked her to vacate the hostel within the campus by November.

Kainthola, in his defence, had sent out a press statement and had mentioned the name of the student in it. Speaking to TOI before, he had said that the student too had posted a complaint against him on her Facebook profile, naming him. However, while talking to us, the student said, “I did not mention any specific complaints. My post was generic, talking about the situation prevalent in the institute.”

WASH, in its statement, has cited section 16 in Chapter V of the Sexual Harassment Act which forbids revealing the identity and address of the aggrieved party. Speaking to us, Kunjila Mascillamani, one of the founders of WASH, said, “The only place where she had revealed her identity was with us. We chose to withhold her identity. Anyone can quote generic opinions (like in this case) showing solidarity, but this act by the director is a serious breach of law.”

Kunjila further added that they have been following this case since the beginning and she feels that the situation has not been handled with the gravitas it deserves. “P had accompanied a fellow student to the director when she had a complaint against one of the professors Nilanjan Dutta, and since then she had been on the institute authorities’ radar,” alleges Kunjila. She further added that the second complaint P made against her classmate too did not go down well with the institute.

However, Kainthola has refuted these allegations. In a statement sent to us, he said, “In the light of the above facts, the allegation is wild and imaginary. It begs credibility. This is an attempt to cover up her act of professional fraud for which she was found guilty by the Inquiry Committee. Through her statement, she has tried to obfuscate matters by mixing up two unconnected issues involving her. Any complaint of sexual harassment from a teacher, staff or student is taken with the seriousness it rightfully deserves. Once the ICC submits its report to the institute, who acts entirely in accordance with the recommendations in the Report. The one-sided statement released by the student is highly misleading. There is no connection between the case dealt with by the ICC (the misbehavior by a male classmate) and the one where she was proceeded against. It was discovered that she had taken unauthorised external assistance to complete her academic dialogue film exercise.”

According to the director, a committee was set up to enquire into the matter and it was found that she had attempted to bypass the norms and discipline of the ‘dialogue film’ exercise. “She had shown scant respect for her department, including the direction department mentor appointed for this exercise. The committee concluded that the ‘case is of serious breach of trust, lack of respect, breaking of norms, severe disregard for general and academic discipline her’. Further, the Committee recommended ‘strict disciplinary action against her, in the form of non-granting of any kind of scholarships, non-participation in any kind of students’ exchange programme and nonparticipation of her dialogue film or further exercises and projects in any Film Festival till the end of her academic tenure at FTII’,” said Kainthola.

He further added that the committee had also ‘strongly recommended that the student be expelled from all academic activities for a specific period’. “In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee, FTII initiated action against the student,” said Kainthola.

However, the student claimed that she was given a clean chit verbally by the second Inquiry Committee on her work project in March. “But then I was told that there was a third committee setup after five days, that found me guilty. I feel this is all interlinked and the institute is harassing me for standing up against irregularities. Even now I don’t know who has filed a complaint against me. I never received the transcripts of what had happened in these three committees,” she said.

Adding to this, Kunjila shared, “Being a film student myself, I know whatever ‘professional fraud’ P has been alleged of is not that serious. There are others who have done much worse and have not been given such a strong punishment. This is all linked somewhere.”

A new course in song picturisation appreciation reveals how songs have been used in Indian cinema to take the story forward
Gitanjali Chandrasekharan (MID-DAY; September 16, 2018)

Remember the pelvic thrusting background dancers of the 90s that still get a redo by filmmakers looking for a nostalgia button? Or perhaps, the swing dancers in the black and white films as the leading lady or man, stood in a corner singing their heart out? Later this month, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) will offer a course on song picturisation appreciation — literally, about understanding the nuances of how songs are picturised in Indian cinema and what different eras brought to the screen.

Speaking about the course, the idea of which germinated last year, FTII director, Bhupendra Kainthola (left) and Karan Bali (below), the course director, say over the years everything about film songs in Indian cinema — music and picturisation has changed.

The course is a new chapter in understanding this evolution. “Songs have been an integral part of our films right from our first talkie, Alam Ara (1931). Indians have music in our blood and we see this in our lives too, where we have a song for every situation from when we are born to when we die. Various forms of Indian theatre too, used music and dance as a part of their storytelling and this continued but naturally, when cinema took over from the stage as the primary form of entertainment. I think the film song evolved to a highly sophisticated art form by the 1950s and ’60s, becoming perhaps the most important part of our storytelling on film. The best songs combined the best of writing, music and dance with a strong sense of storytelling through filmic techniques,” says Kainthola, adding, “What’s more, they gave mainstream Indian cinema a unique identity of its own. These songs were often the biggest reasons for ‘repeat value’ of a film as well written and composed songs resonated big time with our film audiences. Till recent times, it was unthinkable for an Indian film to not have songs.”

The course then will be about the film song, and its use as a critical element of storytelling. Elements will include the evolution of song picturisation techniques over the years (technically and aesthetically), the golden age of film music — the 1950s — through eminent composers, lyricists and choreographers, filmmakers who elevated song picturisation into an art form such as Guru Dutt, Vijay Anand, Mani Ratnam and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and film songs and their picturisation in contemporary times.

Kainthola takes the example of the song Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar from the 1963 Dev Anand starrer Tere Ghar Ke Samne and says that here the developing romance is beautifully built up through the sequence where Dev Anand and Nutan climb up the Qutub Minar. “It then finds perfect expression of their love story as he declares his love to her on the journey downwards. And it’s not merely having the right situation at the right time in the story. The song should also move the story forward through its different aspects — lyrics, composition, use of choreography, locations and costumes.”

Kainthola and Bali take us through the evolution of the Hindi film song picturisation over the decades: From the stagy, static picturisation of the 1930s, the film song came into its own as all its elements peaked in the 1950s. Thereafter, it has seen its ups and downs.

Bali picks the example of the 1970s when Hindi films turned action oriented with the advent of the “angry young man”. That’s when, he says, a decline in film music began, hitting rock bottom in the 1980s, only to slowly turn around in the 1990s. “At the same time, different cinemas across the country have seen different stages of development. While Hindi cinema saw its nadir in the ’80s, music maestro Ilaiyaraaja did some of his best work in the Tamil and Telugu film world during the same period. And even as aesthetically Hindi cinema dipped downwards, filmmakers down South like Mani Ratnam showed just how beautifully a song could still be filmed. In fact, Tamil cinema has always been ahead of Hindi films as far as choreography is concerned and even today, they use the song far better than their Hindi counterparts. The traditional film song in Bollywood is struggling a bit to be picturised in newer creative manners that would hold audience interest. Of course, part of this is a higher degree of realism entering Hindi cinema, a change in audience tastes down the years — the sad song, for instance, is all but gone today,” he adds.

Sukhada Khandge (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 8, 2018)

The month-long Film Appreciation (FA) course jointly run by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and National Film Archive of India (NFAI) every summer, has been an important spot on the calendars of film aficionados across the country and abroad for many years. However, the muchsought annual programme seems to have lost its sheen.

A letter, signed by 50 participants of the May 7-June 2 course, and addressed to the FTII director, expresses their disappointment. “Unless discussion takes place, how will we understand nuances or symbolism? What is the point of screening two movies back-to-back and not analysing them? Hence, the purpose of the course is defeated unless there is meaningful discussion chaired by an expert,” states the letter. Students also raised their concerns time and again through the run of the institute’s flagship course, but to no avail.

A film enthusiast from Delhi, who is a software developer by profession, said after completing the FA course, “Getting through the course is difficult as participants are shortlisted on the basis of what they write. As many of them apply and only a few get shortlisted, expectation of the course becomes high. This year, we had very few discussions. At least 90 per cent of students come from film background who felt that the course content was too rudimentary.”

The course is specially designed for those having a keen knowledge and love for cinema. The four-week extensive course, which starts at 9 am and goes on till 11 pm six days a week, has lectures, discussions and screening of world cinema, followed by discussions of various facets of films. A participant has to pay Rs 20,000 as course fee.

Another student, who is a filmmaker, said, “First of all, the course given in the fees is amazing. But we feel that it could be better. The expectation set by participants is high, therefore we felt that a few lecturers could either have been a lot better or done away with completely. Initially, we told the co-ordinators about our expectation and then we wrote a letter too. With free knowledge on the internet, we felt that same was being discussed in the lectures. If a few of these things are changed, then it can surely be a wonderful course in the future.”

The letter — sent after the end of the FA course, which are now being conducted in several other cities in the country — mentioned that the lecturers were unable to answer questions of participants and they kept on searching for the clips to be shown. It also disclosed that important sessions on elements of direction and aesthetics were cancelled. Incidentally, there was no critically acclaimed director taking their classes either.

The participants lamented the lack of discussion on Memories of Underdevelopment, Andrei Rublev, 8 1/2 (Eight and Half), Battleship Potemkin, The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The Rules of the Game, Man with a Movie Camera, Side by Side, Silence, as that was the curriculum’s fulcrum.

Another Pune-based student said, “Usually, we would get the timetable a week on the preceding Friday or Saturday, but the schedule was changed four times in the last week. Sessions on direction never took place and we were waiting for expert sessions eagerly. Teachers were also not prepared for the lectures and would not answer our queries. We wish there could be more planning about the course. On some days, if a lecture was cancelled by NFAI experts then FTII faculty would conduct those.”

While FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola refused to comment on Thursday, FA course co-ordinator Amit Tyagi said, “The FA course is designed to expand the horizon of the participants. It is up to them to expand it a little or more. Also, there are people coming from varied backgrounds, so the level of understanding of students is also different. We keep on changing the content of the course as per requirement and also include suggestions of students. This year, they wanted a special session on Alfred Hitchcock movies which we arranged.”

Prakash Magdum, director, NFAI, said, “It is difficult to satisfy each and every student. As per our policy on changing course content, we conducted sessions on web series. We try our best to offer informative sessions. While most of the films are available on the internet and participants can watch same movies on their laptops but there is a difference of watching the same with like-minded people. The experience of watching it at FA course or discussing the same is altogether different.”

Mayuri Phadnis (BOMBAY TIMES; September 23, 2017)

Swasti Chatterjee (BOMBAY TIMES; July 8, 2016)