MPs of five opposition parties today condemned the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the Chairperson of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) saying he got the job due to his links with the ruling BJP.
K C Tyagi of JD(U), Mohammed Salim of CPI(M), Rajiv Shukla of Congress, D Raja of CPI and D P Tripathi of NCP, in a joint statement said eminent film personalities like Gulzar, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalakrishnan were in contention for the post but the Centre chose Chauhan due to his political affiliations.
Appointment of Chauhan, who is best known for his portrayal of Yudhishtir in popular television serial Mahabharat, has also triggered a strike from the FTII students' body.
"Gajendra's popularity is limited to petty tele serial like Mahabharat and he also has limited understanding of the medium. His appointment is due to his connection with the ruling party," they said.
Questioning his credentials, they said, he had moved to acting in "soft porn" movies which are a blot on Indian cinema and termed protests by students as "natural".
Noting that the government had made political appointments in other art and film bodies, they said it would "ruin the future" of students and demanded that the government roll back its decision.
