Student protests leave FTII baffled

PUNE, DEC 16: While chastised students of the Film and Television Institute (FTII) insist that no offence had been implied towards thespian Dilip Kumar at Sunday’s convocation, the faculty discussed the issue with director Mohan Agashe for over two hours, a meeting later described by Mehboob Khan, dean, Films, as routine.

Agashe, meanwhile, continued his efforts to pacify the two guests, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu, even at the airport where he went to see them off. Mahesh Bhatt had left the city on Sunday night itself.

“Students had been agitating and we were expecting protests on Sunday but not to the extent that the chief guest would feel insulted,” said Khan, about the black bands and banners that were heaped onto the stage in front of the dais on Sunday. He added that he had never seen a protest like this in the 35 years he had spent at the FTII, during which he has seen nine directors go by. During the tenure of K G Verma, the banners and posters had been put outside the convocation grounds and everybody had walked upto the podium and taken their diplomas in a dignified manner.