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Chauhan selected FTII president with one-paragraph CV

Last Updated 02 August 2015, 17:57 IST

Did the government appoint actor Gajendra Chauhan chief of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) on the basis of a single-para CV with only notable achievement — the role of Yudhisthir in B R Chopra’s TV serial Mahabharat?

It would seem so if one goes by the copy of a file noting received from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in response to an RTI query.

“Gajendra Chauhan is an actor who is best known for his portrayal of “Yudhishthira’ in the Mahabharat (TV series). He has worked in around 150 movies and over 600 TV serials,” the noting said.

The applicant had sought information about educational and professional qualifications of Gajendra Chauhan which were considered for his selection as President, Film and Television Institute of India, among other queries.

Chauhan, with old BJP links, has been appointed President of FTII Society and Chairman of its Governing Council by the NDA government. The 281-page record provided by the ministry includes detailed resume of other stalwarts once proposed for FTII Presidentship, but the only reference to Chauhan’s qualification is a one-paragraph summary.

The file notings related to appointment of Chauhan show that many stalwarts of Indian cinema including Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Jahnu Baruah, Raju Hirani, Jaya Bachchan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ramesh Sippy, Govind Nihalani and Aamir Khan were considered for the post earlier.

These names were proposed by the FTII for the post of President in 2014, the notings received under the Right to Information Act show.

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(Published 02 August 2015, 17:57 IST)

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