We all know Gajendra Chauhan does not want to abandon his post as the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) chairman. But everyone other than the chairman in question wants a different person to head the prestigious organisation. Even veteran actor Anupam Kher said so during a TV debate on Thursday night. Oh, Kher also asked Chauhan to shut up.
It all began with a simple question, ‘What is a good movie?” Chauhan, in all sincerity gave one of those mediocre rote answers about how the movie which is liked by all is a good one, ” Jo picture chal jaye, audience se accept ho jaye ,” (any picture that works and is accepted by the audience) is what Chauhan’s definition of a good movie is. (By that logic, Happy New Year must be the best movie to have come out of Bollywood. Please wait while we go and kill ourselves).
Of course, Kher didn’t buy any of that and declared without mincing any words, “I think that was a sad statement to make.” He also added, ” Picture woh achhe hoti hai jo aapke mann ko kahi na kahi chhooti hai. Aapke mann ke ehsaas ko jagati hai. Aapko kuch sochne par majboor karti hai… ” (A good movie is one which touches your heart and soul, which forces you to think).
You may look good in a suit standing next to someone like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, but you wont be able to discuss world, regional or Hindi cinema, so you should keep quiet: Anupam Kher to Gajendra Chauhan.
Posted by TIMES NOW on Thursday, 9 July 2015
While Chauhan went on and on about how we was also a part of the film fraternity, Kher went all humble and declared, ” Hum sab actors ne third rate films mein kaam kiya hai. Main apne pachhaas films gina sakta hun” (All of us actors have worked in third-rate films. I myself recollect working in 50 at least). And then he came up with his punch line , ” Cinema se judna aur FTII ka chairman banne mein bahut farq hai ” (Being a part of Cinema and being the FTII chairman are two different things).
“You may look good in a suit standing next to someone like Adoor Gopalakrishnan, but you wont be able to discuss world, regional or Hindi cinema, so you should just keep quiet,” Kher said to Chauhan. Burn.
Chauhan, for most part, was simply left speechless. One could almost hear the rest of the panel trying really hard to suppress their gleeful giggling.
Twitter, the lover all things war-like, also had a few 140 characters comments to make:
I hope Govt pays heed to @AnupamPkher re IIFT standoff. If students, key stakeholders r unhappy re appointment then it must be questioned
— Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) July 10, 2015 Is there any person out there who actually supports Chauhan? (Rhetoric question alert)
And I am glad, after Ranbir Kapoor others like @AnupamPkher have found their voice on the issue of #FTIIMahabharat http://t.co/B2Ef7gDnsZ
— Ruchica Tomar (@ruchicatomar) July 10, 2015 We rest our case:
now waitin fr gajendra chauhan to claim that he s more qualified fr Ftii dan smriti irani is fr hrd n rest his case. #FTIIMahabharat
— Vinay Kumar DOKANIA (@vinaydokania) July 9, 2015 Haters gonna hate. But it’s so much fun!
If you will elect street jokers and uneducated thick headed blokes like BJP to govern you, this is bound to happen. #FTIIMahabharat
— Fahad (@rjfahad) July 9, 2015 The argument doing the rounds is that if the dearest Board of Control for Cricket in India can have a chairman who had absolutely nothing to do with cricket then what is wrong in selecting Chauhan to head FTII who at least has 30 years of experience in cinemas?
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