Rishi Kapoor has joined the chorus of protests against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the FTII chief
The big guns are out as the chorus of protests against the appointment of little-known actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India or FTII gets louder.
This morning, top actor Rishi Kapoor, not known to mince his words on Twitter, offered Mr Chauhan some advice.
On Thursday, actor and former Censor Board chief Anupam Kher had lent the substantial weight of his voice to the protest. "I certainly do not think Gajendra
ji is qualified as a producer, director or actor," the 60-year old actor said.
Mr Kher, whose wife Kirron Kher is a BJP lawmaker, said FTII needs a "much qualified" person at the helm of affairs and also supported the idea of turning India's top film institute into an autonomous body. Gajendra Chauhan, best known for playing Pandava King Yudhisthira on a long-running TV version of the epic
Mahabharata, took over as chairman last of the Pune-based institute's governing council last month.
He has said will not resign amid criticism by current and former students of the institute, who say his body of work is too thin to qualify him as the head of the top institute. Rishi Kapoor and Anupam Kher are not FTII alumni.
There have also been angry allegations that his is a political appointment - Mr Chauhan is a member of the ruling BJP and had campaigned prominently for the party in last year's national elections.
He got some support last evening from actor Paresh Rawal, who is also a BJP Lok Sabha member. He tweeted,
Adding to the politics, the Congress' Digvijaya Singh tweeted today, "Appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as Chairman FTII is such example. Urge Gajendra Chauhan to resign. Nepotism and Favouritism above Merit."
FTII students have been boycotting classes, alleging Mr Chauhan lacks "stature and vision" to head the institution.