FTII revamp

The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), the country's premier film institute, is now looking at matching steps with the changing world. It is going digital. Over the next five years, FTII plans to have a 'knowledge centre' that will boast of an auditorium, library and state-of-the-art classrooms. Plans are also afoot to enhance the sound set-up and to bring in high-definition cameras. An art workshop is in the offing, as is a high-definition studio for television.
FTII director D J Narain said that the budget for all the infrastructure related work is expected soon, and the work will commence once the government releases the funds. "We expect to receive about Rs 180 crore over the next five years under planned and non-planned allocations. So funding is not going to be a problem. In fact, the fund allocation has gone up considerably from Rs 60 to Rs 65 crore sanctioned during the previous five-year plan," he said. The entire look of the institute including the syllabi is in for a revamp, he said.
Moreover, the institute plans to incorporate national students' film awards this year. Expected to be held in the third week of April, students from across the country and from diverse backgrounds would be allowed to compete. As many as 15-16 awards will be up for grabs.
The institute also plans a students' film festival of India that will also boast of an international panorama. They would keep admission to the festival open to any student filmmaker. This, they feel, would not only help students who are not part of FTII see what the institute is all about up close, but it would also give FTIIans a chance to interact with their international peers. The aim of the entire move is to give students a platform to share knowledge.
Narain elaborates, "We don't want to keep our knowledge confined within our walls. We want other institutes, students to come forward so that we can share it. Moreover, we encourage new institutes. We want healthy competition."
"We are keen on building our institute further. We want the best on campus for the students. Everyone keeps talking about the rich past of FTII, but we have a present that is equally rich. The students that are coming out are creating waves at home and abroad. We want everyone to know that FTII is still doing what it has been relentlessly doing for the last 50 years - giving the industry the very best filmmaking talent," says Narain.
FTII chairman, filmmaker and alumnus, Saeed Mirza says the institute encourages independence in its students. "Students here are free to criticise, to fail, to make mistakes, to fall and to learn," he says. In the last 50 years, the institute has won as many as 129 national awards and 46 international ones.
Nowadays, many film institutes boasting of deep pockets that allow them to buy state-of-the-art equipment and hire big names are cropping up across the country. But, Narain sounds confident that FTII will always be a front-runner.
Many relate the film institute with just good filmmakers or maybe actors. What people often don't realise is that the institute almost has a monopoly where technique is concerned. The best technicians in the business - from cinematographers to editors to sound designers - come from FTII. Think Resul Pookutty, A M Padmanabhan, Santosh Sivan, Anil Mehta, Binod Pradhan, and of course prominent editors who went on to become successful filmmakers - Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani and many more.