FTII gets new director

Michael Gonsalves in Pune

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Monday appointed L K Upadhyaya as the new director of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Asia's premier film training centre.

Upadhyaya took over the reigns from the outgoing controversial film and stage actor Dr Mohan Agashe on April 15. "My first priority is to put the house in order", said 59-year-old Upadhyaya to Rediff.com. "It is a homecoming for me, and I know the problems the institute is facing," the former alumni of the third batch of FTII in 1963 said.

"There has been a communication gap between the director, faculty and the students. I would like to bridge this gap before attempting any change in the structure and content of the syllabus," Upadhyaya, former director of Pune-based National Film Archives of India said. He said he had first leant the ropes of filmmaking at FTII and that he would do his best to attract world class talent to impart training in direction, editing, sound and cinematography.

The new director, who was also deputy chief producer of the Films Division Of India, said there was a great need to take the students, who have been on strike on a number of occasions, into confidence to enhance the prestige of the Institute.

Accepting Dr Agashe's resignation, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry had directed him to step down by April 15 and take "immediate steps" to advertise the post of director. The controversial director who took charge in April 1997, was denied permission to fly to Melbourne, Australia, to represent FTII at a film festival there. Dr Agashe's five years as director had been dogged by controversy: three strikes by students and some of the staff, including a 45-day strike in August 2000, with no classes for a year, delayed admissions, and the resignation of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt as chairman of the governing council.

Dr Agashe offered to stay on till May 10. He will later resume as director of Pune-based Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health, a post he held prior to his post at FTII. Snubbed in his ambitious plans to "turn around" the prestigious institute, Dr Agashe had handed in his resignation to the FTII governing council on March 4, with a one-month notice period.

The director suffered a setback when his "ambitious conceptual proposals" and one-year "integrated course" was replaced with the institute's regular three-year degree course as demanded by the striking students and some eminent FTII alumni siding with the students. A senior staff on condition of anonymity said Dr Agashe's plans for the institute were good only on paper. And instead of inviting external guest faculty to teach, he failed to groom his own team to take on new challenges.

"At the request of the governing council, I had accepted the appointment. Since the three-year term of the governing council came an end on March 3, it is only fair that I give freedom to the incoming members of the governing body to nominate a new director of their choice whom they can trust," Dr Agashe said.

Established in 1960 on the famed erstwhile Prabhat Studio premises, FTII is considered a centre of excellence in the country and in Asia and Europe. Films made by the students of the institute are entered in film festivals both in India and abroad.

Well-known filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalkrishnan, Mahesh Bhatt and Girish Karnad have served as chairpersons on the governing council of FTII.

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