By Raju Vernekar
Pune, Sept. 30:
Noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (74) was on Tuesday appointed president of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society and chairman of the institute’s governing council.
FTII Director Bhupendra Kainthola said the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has announced that Kapur has been appointed to these posts till March 3, 2023. The other members of the governing council will be appointed soon. Kapur, as a reputed film maker of international stature and he is without doubt an excellent choice. It’s come a full circle from Dev Anand who started his career working at “Prabhat Studio” within the campus of FTII and today, his nephew Kapur is the FTII Chairman, Kainthola added.
Born on December 6, 1945 at Lahore in Pakistan, Kapur is known for movies from the Indian superhero film ‘Mr India’ to ‘Bandit Queen’ (1994) (based on the incidents in the life of Phoolan Devi). Besides an acclaimed biopic on Queen Elizabeth “Elizabeth” (1998) and “The Four Feathers” (2002) are to his credit. He had directed the 1983 film “Masoom” starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Urmila Matondkar.
The tenure of the earlier members of the society had ended in March 2020. Kapur will head the premier film school at a time when, like many other colleges and universities, it is also grappling with the challenges posed by Covid-19. The FTII had earlier declared the results of the entrance test and is in the process of planning the future course. Online classes and training courses are continuing.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said “Kapur, who has a vast experience and wiill add more value to the Institute. I am sure everybody will welcome his appointment”.
The previous FTII chief was BP Singh known for his role as the lead actor in tele-serial “CID”. He was recently appointed by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) to its general assembly.
FTII was set up by the Government of India in 1960, in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Studios in Pune. The Prabhat Studio was founded in Kolhapur in 1929. It was shifted to Kolhapur in 1933. It was a pioneer in the business of film making. The archaic studios of the time, which were the production grounds for the films of Prabhat are still present and are being used at FTII. They are now heritage structures and FTII students continue to work at the world’s oldest functioning film shooting studios.
A stellar and pioneering film company of its time, it produced several important and iconic films such as “Shejari”, “Sant Dyaneshwar” and “Sairandhri”( the only colour film made by Prabhat). Such was the legacy of this iconic studio, that at the time, it was the biggest film studio in Asia! The productions made by the Prabhat Film Company in its heyday included 45 films made in both Marathi and Hindi languages.
