The perennially beleaguered Pune-based Film & Television Institute of India (FTII) — the countrys premier film production, direction, cinematography, and sound recording training institute (estb.1960) — is back in the news. High-profile and well-respected film director Saeed Akhtar Mirza has been appointed president of the FTII Society and chairman of its governing council, an appointment which has been well-received by FTIIs strike-prone students community. During the past ten years students of the institute have called strikes on seven occasions on issues spanning FTIIs governance structure, raising student intake, tuition fees and infrastructure adequacy.Last November they launched a two-week on-campus agitation to protest the Delhi-based Hewitt Associations proposal to upgrade this 41-year-old Central government-funded institution which sprawls over 21 acres of prime real estate in Pune but accommodates a mere 300-350 students in crumbling hostels with its annual intake restricted to 172 postgrad students per year, to international status. The sticking point for FTIIs students was that a public-private partnership was the pre-condition of the institutional transformation which would result in sharp tuition fee increases. Currently tuition fees for the institutes 12 full-time programmes range from Rs.33,000-2 lakh per year — about a fifth of prevailing prices in private sector film institutes. The consequence of FTIIs history of student strikes and agitations is that indiscipline in the institute — which boasts several distinguished alumni including film directors Shyam Benegal, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Mahesh Bhatt and cine actors Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Jaya Bachchan — is rife. One of Mirzas first challenges is to clear the backlog of 15 students who are still residing on campus despite completion of their 36-month study programmes. Our immediate priority is to implement the detailed project report prepared by a group of experts headed by well-known film director P.K. Nair which made several recommendations relating to upgradation of syllabus and infrastructure. FTII should be design-ated a centre of excellence and institute of national importance. We wish to achieve this goal through an Act of Parliament, as a result of which the institute will get the dignity it deserves, says Mirza, who was appointed director on March 24 by a notification of the Union ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B). As a graduate of the institute and an individual knowledgeable about the needs and trends of the film and television industry, Mirza is perceived by mandarins of the I&B ministry to possess the expertise to address the core issues confronting FTII. According to him, they are faculty shortage, outdated curriculums and a funds crunch. Thats why the ministry has sanctioned Rs.11.32 crore as plan (capex) expenditure and Rs.13.5 crore as non-plan expenditure. The ministry is willing to give us more money under special grants, provided we justify the demand as per our needs, he says. The capex amount will fund a state-of-the-art classroom fitted with the latest 5.1 Dolby sound system, seven new high-definition video cameras, four basic digital cameras, and seven computers equipped with the latest versions of editing software, Final Cut Pro. But…
