Benegal slams FTII protest, award wapsi ‘epidemic’

Writer-director Shyam Benegal, one of Indian cinema’s most influential filmmakers and the father of Middle Cinema, was in Kochi recently to inaugurate ALIIFF and Indywood Film Market. The brain behind major landmarks of Indian films like Ankur, Nishant, Kalyug and Junoon, received the life-time achievement award at the function.

Referring to the protests at FTII, where he had served as a chairman twice, he said, “The students at FTII felt that the appointment (of Gajendra Chauhan) is politically-motivated and that the appointed person does not have enough credentials. Personally, I don’t agree as political inclinations of a person are an individual choice and credentials also mean nothing more than a list of titles. What the students must be concerned about is his capability. They should have had a talk with the chairman to judge his capability before calling for a strike of this form...”

Benegal also disagrees with the award wapsi trend even though he agrees with the fact the there is rising intolerance in the country. “When you take incidents like the Khalburgi murders and the UP lynching, there is definitely a cause for concern. The government is not exerting any control over these acts of religious intolerance. But what sense does it make returning a National Award for it If you disagree with the present government and they offer you an award, your declining it is sensible. But now it is this epidemic where everyone is returning awards and it’s not achieving any results.