Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Shyam Benegal dropped for Gajendra
Gajendra has time to devote for the welfare of the institution, defends Centre
By : nitin mahajan
Update: 2015-07-11 05:51 GMT
New Delhi: It has emerged that the information and broadcasting ministry had disregarded the names of legends like Amitabh Bachchan, Rajinikanth and Shyam Benegal and instead appointed Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of the Film and Television Institute of India governing council.
The ministry has clarified, though, that the selection process was through wide consultations and Chauhan was chosen as he had “the will and ability to devote time to improve the administration of the institute”.
The I&B ministry is also learnt to have disregarded the names of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anupam Kher, Pradeep Sarkar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra and settled for Chauhan. It is learnt Chauhan’s name had the backing of the RSS and was finalised in May.
Minister of state for I&B Rajyavardhan Rathore said on Friday, “The government wanted a person who could devote time.” The sources also denied that there were any differences on the matter between I&B minister Arun Jaitley and the minister of state, Mr Rathore.
With top filmmakers like Anupam Kher, Rishi Kapoor and Adoor gunning for Chauhan, the I&B ministry is hard-pressed to find a solution. The sources confirmed that the names of top filmmakers and actors had come up during the selection process.
“The criteria for selection of the chairman is not restricted to talent alone. Since forcing difficult decisions on students will not be easy for a chairman who has been an FTII alumnus, it was preferred to have a chairman other than the alumni,” a government source said.