Resul Pookutty Panaji: It could only be called a sad state if a government is so worried about the image of the country while forgetting its own people and their voices, Oscar-winning Indian film sound designer Resul Pookutty said.
“It's very sad that if a government is so worried about the image of the country and forgets its own people and their voices. I think we are in a sad state of affairs,” Pookutty told Onmanorama on the sidelines of the 46th edition of the IFFI here.
The acclaimed artist, from Kerala, was reacting to the reflections of the FTII students’ protest at the IFFI venue.
Coming down heavily on the Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for I&B Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for not ending the FTII deadlock even after months-long protest by the students, Pookutty said he was surprised by the lack of understanding on the part of the ministry with regard to the institute’s heritage.
File photo of FTII students protesting in Pune."I was part of the 7-member delegate which met with Jaitley at the initial stage of the strike. At that meeting they very strategically told us they knew that they haven't made the best of the choices, but as a government they couldn’t retract. What surprises me more than that is their lack of understanding.
"The minister went on to say that he had been to the institute and the director showed him some old buildings on the FTII campus which were dilapidated. He said they wanted to make them modern. The minister doesn't understand that the dilapidated buildings he was talking about are places where Indian cinema was born. That's where Raja Harischandra was shot. And the two film studios that are existing in the film institute are the last studios standing in the world. That's history. That need to be preserved and not demolished to make a glass building," Pookutty said.
He also flayed MoS Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore for his statement that the FTII is not even one among the 100 best film schools in the world.
"I heard Rathore, a young Olympian who is known for excellence, saying in an interview that (the) FTII is not even one of the best 100 film schools in the world. His argument was that if it was one, they would accept all the demands of the students.
"So I tried to find out the best film schools he was talking about and in my understanding there was only one reliable study which was done by the Hollywood Reporter. It lists 25 film schools such as Tisch, Columbia and La Femis. The minister doesn't understand the fact that all the film schools that are listed there are institutes where the admission fee is at least $50,000. Moreover, they are offering courses like BFA, MFA and PhD. they are all attached to universities. They are not film schools as it was envisioned by Chacha Nehru or the forefathers of our country.”
"You completely got it wrong. You don't even know what you are heading. That list does not figure Moscow film school, British film institute etc. I want to ask Mr Rathore, please do minimum homework," Pokutty, who is also an FTII alumnus, said.
Former Chairman of FTII and eminent filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan with filmmakers Aruna Raje, Anand Patwardhan, Kundan Shah and others during a press conference about the ongoing crisis at FTII in Mumbai. File photo: PTIHe said the FTII struggle is a catalyst of everything that is being heard in the country today. “Their strike was dragged on for so long as they don't belong to any political party. Their only party and religion is cinema. And the true Indian cinema has only very few takers,” Pookutty said.
Administrative issues pertaining to the FTII are something different, but that doesn't mean that the voices of the students should be unheard, Pookutty said adding that the best thing the ministry can do is to listen to the teachers of the institute. “Unfortunately, they never take the teachers into confidence. They only implemented ministerial decisions. That's how they messed it up,” Pookutty said flaying the successive governments for the administrative shortfalls at the institute.
Reacting to the backlash, which actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan had to face following their statements on growing intolerance in the country, Pookutty said the whole government machinery was working towards suppressing artists' voices.
“Aamir and Shah Rukh said things which have been blown out of proportion. Similar voices have been raised by former Infosys head Narayana Murthy, the President of India, and the RBI Governor also. But how come only what artists said were blown out of proportion,” he asked.
Pookutty said the protesters were not questioning the mandate of the government, but only its policies. “You have it (the mandate). We had issues with many things the UPA government did last time and that's why we elected you. Now you are also going in the same path. In five years, we can change it with the biggest tool the Indian people have. Your mandate has only five years' validity,” Pookutty said exuding confidence in the democratic principles of the country.
On a section of filmmakers refusing to comment on the ill-treatment of the FTII students at the IFFI venue, Pookutty said it all reflects a person’s integrity.
Earlier this year, FTII students had staged a 139-day long strike against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chouhan as the institute’s chairman. Two of the FTII sympathisers were arrested by the police from the IFFI inaugural ceremony for shouting slogans while another was detained for wearing a T-shirt featuring the FTII logo. The students’ film section was also scrapped from this year’s IFFI in alleged attempt to keep the FTII students away from the venue.
However, the IFFI officials have denied all such allegations.
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