Renowned filmmaker and former chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India, Adoor Gopalakrishnan also added his might to the critics who are opposing the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as head of the film school.
Speaking at a gathering in Thiruvananthapuram, held in solidarity with the protesting students at FTII, Adoor said, “Never before in the history of Film and Television Institute of India has anyone asked the question about a new chairman, “Who is this person?”.
A recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, 16 National Awards and the Padma Vibhushan, Adoor is also a former student of the FTII. According to The New Indian Express, the celebrated filmmaker said that decision to appoint Chauhan can be questioned in court since the film institute is registered under Societies Registration Act.
Adoor called the controversy more of a cultural issue than a political one and added that the creative atmsophere of FTII needs to be protected. “There have been attempts to make Hindi the medium of instruction and we we have fought it with tooth and nail,” he said. “Now it won’t be long before Hindi becomes the medium of instruction and the institute is privatised.”
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