A month on after the government appointed TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), an NDTV report says that the BJP-led government sat on recommendations that included at least six renowned film personalities for a year.


In June, weeks after the BJP came to power, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry recommended the names of acclaimed filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Shyam Benegal, and actor Anupam Kher for the FTII panel. The ministry forwarded the names to Rajyavardhan Rathore, the minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, but no decision was taken, reports NDTV.

Then, a second list was sent to the minister in December. The list included names of mega stars like Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, and filmmaker Pradeep Sarkar. Yet again, no action was taken.


Finally, in May this year, Rathore in consultation with people outside the ministry proposed Chauhan's name, which was approved.


Last month Chauhan, who was seen as Yudhisthira on TV epic Mahabharata, took charge as the chairman of the Pune-based institute's governing council but his appointment has been under constant criticism by current and former students of the institute.


Actor Anupam Kher, a staunch BJP supporter, said that the premier institue needed a much-qualified person as chairman. "I personally feel that FTII represents a certain art form... it does certainly need a person having a great body of work which means he is supposed to know world cinema, he is supposed to know the present state of cinema like editing. But certainly FTII needs somebody who is much more qualified than whatever Ganjendraji's qualifications are coming across," Kher said.


"I certainly do not think Gajendraji is qualified as a producer, director or actor," he added.


Kher also said that the government institute should be autonomous certainly.


However he advised protesting students to attend their classes. FTII students, who alleged that Chauhan lacked "stature and vision" to head the institution, have been boycotting classes and academic work in protest.


Actor Rishi Kapoor also joined in the debate over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of FTII, saying he should retire voluntarily. "Advice. After all the protests and controversy, Gajendra Chauhan,the FTII Chairman should voluntarily retire. Will do
good to the students," Rishi, 62, tweeted.