Veteran actor Anupam Kher has been appointed as the new chairman of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Kher has succeeded former chairman Gajendra Chauhan who had a controversial tenure of 15-months as FTII chairman. He was appointed in June 2015.
Gajendra’s leadership marked a 139-day strike by students, who protested against his appointment as the head of the premier institute. The students felt that Chauhan’s appointment was a politically-motivated move.
He has previously held the post of chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification and the National School of Drama.
Anupam Kher appointed as the chairman of The Film and Television Institute of India, replaces Gajendra Chauhan pic.twitter.com/3femKUgGTT
— ANI (@ANI) October 11, 2017
However, it was not only the students who were opposed to this idea. As the matter started gaining mileage, many Bollywood celebs said that Chauhan’s appointment was wrong. Even Anupam Kher had said:
FTII needs a more qualified person who has a greater body of work and unfortunately Gajendra does not have it. I don’t want to pass judgment on a person
