In a softening of its earlier stand that no talks would be held till the students ended the strike which started on June 12, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry conveyed it to the FTII Students' Association (FSA) a couple of days ago that fresh talks could be held if there were no "preconditions".
"Today, on the hundredth day of the FTII strike, support poured in from all quarters. Apart from FTII seniors, students from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Hyderabad Central University came all the way to show solidarity with us," said Rahat Jain, a representative of FSA.
The students, who have questioned Chauhan's credentials to head the premier institute, have also been on a relay hunger strike in batches of three for over a week now.
The strike acquired a political dimension with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visiting the students and supporting the agitation.
The government's intention to end the impasse became further evident when Madhav Bhandari, chief spokesperson of Maharashtra BJP, had an informal meeting with the FSA representatives here a few days ago.