In a major blow to FTII Chairman Gajendra Chauhan and his supporters, Academy Award winning sound designer Resul Pookutty has revealed on Twitter that I&B Minister Arun Jaitley admitted that Gajendra Chauhan wasn’t the best choice for the post of the Pune film school’s Chairmanship.
Resul who passed out of FTII in 1995, was among a group of protestors which met with government representatives, including the I&B Minister, to find a solution to the deadlock. It’s been over 28 days since students from FTII have been on a strike against Chauhan’s appointment as the film school’s Chairman.
According to a report by NDTV, the central government ignored two previous lists which recommended several stalwarts from Indian cinema for the top job at FTII. Names in the earlier lists included Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Shyam Benegal, Anupam Kher, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Pradeep Sarkar.
These revelations come even as the voices against Chauhan’s selection for FTII grow within Bollywood. After Ranbir Kapoor came out in support of the students of FTII, Rishi Kapoor today tweeted out “advice” to FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan, suggesting that the latter should step down voluntarily, following massive protests against his appointment.
Meanwhile veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha, who is also an alumunus of FTII, has offered to mediate between the government and students. Sinha reportedly visited the FTII campus on Tuesday and met with the Director of the film school in this regard.
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