The proposed plan of making the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) a digital media university has finally come through. In the second Governing Council meeting (held at NFDC, Mumbai), after Gajendra Chauhan took charge as the chairman, members approved of the vision of BP Singh, the Academic Council chairman. It comprised converting the institute into a digital university where several short term courses would be taught, with a more disciplined approach, credit-based evaluation and more power to the dean and director of the institute.

ALMOST EVERYTHING CAME THROUGH: BP SINGH, ACADEMIC COUNCIL CHAIRMAN
BP Singh, an FTII alumnus who took charge as the Academic Council chairman amidst protests against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan, had proposed reforms in the academic structure in January 2016. While members of the Governing Council, which have the likes of director Rajkumar Hirani, actor Satish Shah, former IIM-Bangalore director Pankaj Chandra, readily approved of the change, Singh feels that there is a long way to go. He said, “I am happy that almost everything has fallen in place. It was essential to get everyone to approve this, otherwise, we would have been in a limbo.“ As a part of the change, short-term self-sustained courses will be a part of the campus. “Proper visiting faculty can't be called due to lack of funds in the institute. So, short-term courses will generate enough funds for good faculty,“ he added. While Singh clarified that the present faculty is competent, he also stressed on the need to attract more talent who can teach good cinema. “We need filmmakers who will want to come and teach cinema,“ he shared. Though the 139-day long strike by students was considered to be detrimental at first, Singh stuck to the proposal. “The major problem of the institute was the striking students. We can't be bogged down. Students have their viewpoints and I can't say whether they are right or wrong. But we should look ahead and focus on the core strength of FTII, which should not be left behind,“ Singh said.

FUND GENERATING SHORT-TERM COURSES
While the authorities agreed that fees of students couldn't be increased since many come from rural backgrounds, they gave a thumbs up to introducing short-term courses. “The six courses in the institute will remain. We are looking at three-week or fortnight-long courses, which will cater to professionals who want to learn the art of film-making through different streams,“ shared Bhupendra Kainthola, director of the institute.

AN FTII WRITERS' ACADEMY
In a first, an FTII Writers' Academy will be established where professionals will be taught writing, be it for film, television, internet or short stories. “While many have the art of writing instilled in them, many would want to learn it.We're looking at writers from television and the film fraternity, who can teach writing,“ shared BP Singh.

COURSES CAN BE INTRODUCED SOON
Though the new vision of FTII is to make it at par with other national institutes, one question still remains - How long will it take to be implemented? To this, Gajendra Chauhan, chairman of the institute, shared, “The Governing Council decided to meet in Mumbai in June. And, there was 100 percent attendance. Many issues were unanimously accepted and agreed on. These courses can be implemented in a short notice. They don't require much infrastructure and can be rolled out in six months.“A separate committee of experts from several walks will be helping in designing the new syllabus and finances for a better infrastructure.

BENEFITS OF THE CREDIT SYSTEM
Unlike the annual evaluation process, credit system ensures that students have spent a certain amount of hours for the course. “There is continuous evaluation of both, students and faculty. Since we can't judge a film, which is a piece of art, we will judge the process of filmmaking. And unless students clear all the papers, results can't be processed,“ Singh shared.

MORE POWER TO DIRECTOR
The academic council will now be responsible for the academics of the institute, syllabus making process and studies. An otherwise ambiguous power system, will now be more defined. “I don't have any more power. There is a clear division of power among the director, governing council and academic council. The disciplinary power will be with the director and dean, which is very positive,“ Singh added.

Students remain unconvinced
Students haven't been convinced with the proposal yet. Harishankar Nachimuthu, students association president, told BT on Tuesday, “Holding an important meeting in Mumbai instead of at the campus is itself questionable. Despite our valid arguments at the last academic meeting, the governing council members went ahead with the credit system and more courses. We don't have the infrastructure for more courses and there are backlogs. It will kill the creative space.“ Kainthola, on the other hand, maintained, “Nowhere has it been mentioned that the governing council meeting needs to be held in the campus. It depends on the convenience of the members. So we had gone ahead with Mumbai, since it was convenient.“

FACULTY SPEAKS
A faculty member, on the conditions of anonymity, shared, “It is time for change keeping the digital in mind. Such vision was discussed for a long time. But while doing that, we should not go overboard. Cinema cannot be devalued in the name of digital media. We know that FTII is an island where independent thinking is encouraged. Such a decision will make one cautious.“

High tension drama unfolded at the FTII campus on Thursday as Gajendra Chauhan took charge of his chairmanship. While students had promised a silent protest, the day took a nasty turn on campus when a dhol tasha group called by the Staff Association, started playing on campus. It was a scene straight out of a revolutionary film when the cops detained 40 students who were sloganeering in front of the gate.

ROUND 1: A FACE OFF BETWEEN THE COPS AND STUDENTS
The beats of the dhol tasha group which was called to welcome Chauhan provoked the students, who walked towards the gate shouting slogans and carrying placards. The heavily deployed cops then took charge of the situation and detained 40 students. Ajayan Adat, a student who was detained, said, “We were not allowed to go inside the campus. It is a working day on campus. A friend's shooting has also been scheduled and we were part of a discussion when the cops roughed us up and bundled us in the police van.“ Adat, along with the president of the Students' Association, Harishankar Nachimuthu, were also hurt in the entire process. Nachimuthu said, “Our brothers were detained without any reason. We were sloganeering to make ourselves heard over the beats of the dhol tasha group. The cops came out of nowhere, pushed and shoved the girl students and took us in the van. I was trying to go in voluntarily, but they ensured that I was pushed and hurt in the whole process.“

ROUND 2: CLASH BETWEEN THE STAFF ASSOCIATION AND THE STUDENT COMMITTEE
An agitated Priyankar, a protesting student, said, “The Staff Association has shown its true colours today. While the students were getting arrested, they were busy clapping to the beats of the dhol tasha group. It is appaling to see how they had prepared to welcome Chauhan.“ A staff, on condition of anonymity, shared, “We want to welcome Mr Chauhan. It is our choice. When the students were protesting, we did not interfere. Why did they have to create a scene today?“

ROUND 3: CHAUHAN ARRIVES
Gajendra Chauhan, dressed in a Nehru jacket, arrived on campus at around noon. He was preceded by other society members, including Rajkumar Hirani, Rahul Solapurkar, Narendra Pathak, Anjum Rajabali and Prashant Pathrabe. Though the dhol tasha group had left by the time Chauhan arrived, he was welcomed to massive sloganeering by the students.

FRENCH STUDENTS REACT TO THE DRAMA ON CAMPUS
A group of French students who were present on campus as a part of the exchange programme from the institute La Femis, Paris, was shocked at the turn of events. Camille Bodin, a student, said, “The protests by students was quite peaceful at the campus. It is sad how they have been dealt with by the Indian cops.“

Pauline Thomas, another student, added, “The political government cannot contribute to the educational field of a country. Politics and education cannot be mixed. This is the young generation and students need to rebel for such causes,“

TO-DO LIST OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
- Gajendra Chauhan to take charge.
- The Governing Council will be formed.
- A chairman of the Academic Council to be elected.
- A standing Finance Committee will pass the budget and audit reports of the past two years.

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 Sandeep Kolhatkar (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 8, 2016)

After a simmering calm of 70 days, violence revisited the gates and campus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) as the police stretched themselves, wielding their lathis to contain students reiterating their protest against the political appointments made to the premier institute's society and governing council.

At the behest of the institute's administration, the campus was swarming with the men in khaki. If this was not enough, the management sought to drown out the voice of dissent, calling in a dhol-tasha troupe, apparently to welcome the contentious society and governing council members.

All hell broke loose, just as Gajendra Chauhan (whose appointment as chairman of the institute's governing council is being contested by the students since last June with a 139-day strike) was headed to the film school. Policemen at the gates, unable to coax the sloganeering students to clear the way, decided to resort to brute force. About 23 of the students were bundled into the waiting police vans and taken away to Shivajinagar police station, where they were detained through the day until the scheduled meeting of the FTII society and governing council were completed. "Since they were not listening, we had to detain a few students,"said deputy commissioner of police (Zone-I), Tushar Doshi, who was at the campus to oversee the police action. "We were protesting peacefully at the main gate and were registering our disagreement with the appointments in a democratic manner.

Despite this, the cops started beating us with their batons, manhandling and detaining us," pointed out Shini JK, one of the detainees. "It is a curfew like situation on the campus. We are not even allowed to go to our library," noted Ranjit Nair, a student leader.

Once they arrived on campus and after the initial formalities were out of the way, Chauhan and other society members (including the other appointees marked for their political affiliation, namely, Anagha Ghaisas, Narendra Pathak and Sailesh Gupta) got down to business. The group comprised of film critic Bhawana Somaaya, theatre director Urmil Kumar Thapaliyal, director Rajkumar Hirani, Assamese actor-director Pranjal Saikia and actors Satish Shah and Rahul Solapurkar.

Government officials present included additional secretary and financial advisor (for Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) Dr Subhash Sharma, joint secretary (Films), Sanjay Murthy, officer on special duty Chaitanya Prasad, director general of Films Division Mukesh Sharma, CEO - Children's Film Society Shravan Kuma, director of Satyajit Raj Film and Television Institute Sanjay Pattanayak and FTII director, Prashant Patrabe.

First day at work involved passing the annual reports and statements of accounts of the institute for 2013-'14 and 2014-'15. The society also elected B P Singh, the maker of TV serial, CID, as its vice president and also the vice chairman of the governing council. He will also helm the academic council and will effectively be the man calling the shots going forward.

The group met representatives of the FTII Staff Association as well as the Teachers' Association. "We have been given hope by the chairman that he will bat for our demands for pension," said a member of the staff association who did not wish to be named. Sandeep Chatterjee, professor of the direction department said, "We had a positive discussion and reiterated our demand to withdraw cases against the students to restore normalcy on campus."