Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan Ignored as Government Picked Gajendra Chauhan

New Delhi:  The government ignored the names of at least six renowned film personalities, including Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan and Shyam Benegal, before settling for little-known actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India or FTII, NDTV has learnt.

In November last year, six months after the BJP came to power, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry sent a list of names for the FTII to Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who had just taken over as minister of state. The list included acclaimed filmmakers Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Shyam Benegal and actor Anupam Kher. A second list was sent to the minister in December with the names of mega stars Rajinikanth, Amitabh Bachchan, and filmmakers Pradeep Sarkar and Vidhu Vinod Chopra.

But it was Gajendra Chauhan’s name that figured in the list that Mr Rathore forwarded to his senior Arun Jaitley in May this year.

Mr Jaitley was unhappy with the choice, say people like Oscar winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty, who met the senior minister last week along with other protesters to press for Gajendra Chauhan’s removal as the chief of India’s top film school. “Not just @AnupamPkher Mr.@arunjaitley also told us in the meeting that we haven’t made the best of choice but as a Govt.we can’t retract!” Mr Pookutty tweeted today.



 



Rajyavardhan Rathore said: “The government wanted the governing council and chairperson to be run by people who could devote time.” Sources close to him admitted that Mr Jaitley had said Gajendra Chauhan was not the best of candidates. But they added there were “no problems” between the two ministers.

Gajendra Chauhan, best known for playing Pandava King Yudhisthira on a long-running TV version of the epic “Mahabharata”, took over as chairman last of the Pune-based institute’s governing council last month. He has refused to resign in the face of searing criticism of his thin body of work and lack of qualifications.