Three FTII students on hunger strike, filmmakers to appeal to the president

Following the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) row, with the students of the premier institute have been on strike for 91 days, three students have now gone on hunger strike appealing to the government to come up with a solution.

With three students have gone on strike from Thursday, FTII students, teachers and the alumni of the institute are doing everything in their capacity to get justice.

“We are doing everything that has been planned, to make sure that the government comes and atleast have a dialogue with us. We will continue to do whatever we can in our capacity as students to ensure that the government comes… so that there is a mutually agreeable solution to this,” Ranjit Nair, a core committee member of the strike told IANS.

In addition to the students, the alumni of the institute who are also national award filmmakers such as Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Jahnu Barua, Dibakar Bannerjee, Girish Kasaravalli, Resul Pookutty, will be holding a press conference in Mumbai to appeal to the president of India for his intervention.

“There will be a press conference held at 4 pm in Mumbai today where all the filmmakers like Pookutty will gather and where they will appeal to the president to intervene in this matter and felicitate a resolution,” Nair said.

FTII, which is the country’s premier institute in film studies, has been in the news as its students have been on strike for the last 91 days to oppose the appointment of actor and BJP member Gajendra Chauhan as the facility’s chairman.

They have said that Chauhan lacks the credentials for the post and that his appointment is politically motivated.

Inputs by IANS