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CURRENT ISSUE (India Today) DECEMBER 01, 2003
society & the arts CINEMA
Class Flashback
As student films jostled with blockbusters, megastars with rookies, the controversy-plagued FTII took time out to celebrate 40 years of existence.
By Anupama Chopra
Beyond the strife and strikes is the cinema. The first Wisdom Tree Film Festival, recently held at the Film and Television Institute (FTII) in Pune, firmly established this. The FTII may be notorious for court cases and endless student protest over syllabus, courses, ineffectual teachers but it has also, relentlessly, irrevocably, shaped Indian cinema.
EIGHTEEN AGAIN: A group of old students (top) former student Subhash Ghai and guest Shabana Azmi in the audience on the closing day
The festival, named after the famed tree where generations of students have converged, showcased the work of FTII graduates through the past 40 years. From Subhash Ghai's epic melodramas to Adoor Gopalakrishnan's exacting essays and every possible cinematic expression in between featured. More than 70 feature films, documentaries, short films, television shows and commercials were screened over four days on eight screens. The smorgasbord of styles and talents reaffirmed the FTII's position as India's premier film school. "I actually worship this place," says Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who ironically is not an alumnus.
The FTII has produced 1,340 graduates since its inception in 1961. And despite the overwhelmingly art house bent of the place, scores of them have thrived in mainstream cinema. The snazzy multiplex E-Square, where the blockbuster section was screened, provided ample evidence. Name any major Bollywood film, new or old, and chances are an FTII name is attached. Sholay starred Jaya Bachchan, Asrani, Jalal Agha (all acting course graduates); Lagaan was shot by Anil Mehta; Dil to Pagal Hai had sound by Anuj Mathur and was shot by Manmohan Singh; and the more recent Baghban was shot by Barun Mukherji. Even the unabashedly loony comic caper Biwi No. 1 was directed by David Dhawan, an editing graduate.
There was also plenty for the more serious aficionados. Gritty, grainy student films, where it all started for legends like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri; lauded documentaries, including Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Oscar-nominated An Encounter With Faces (director Mainak Trivedi introduced his documentary The Shamin of Perpang with the line, "There is Kali Ma, Durga Ma and Cine Ma, which is the goddess we worship"); works of regional masters such as Girish Kasaravalli and Shaji N. Karun; children's films and animation. Heavyweight names like Karan Johar, Manmohan Shetty and Ghosh spoke eloquently at seminars on topics as varied as "Can cinema be taught?" and the impact of multiplexes on cinema. The festival climaxed with a chaotic but fitting finale that had Amitabh Bachchan and ex-student Shabana Azmi reading their respective father's poetry. But at the Wisdom Tree festival, cinema wasn't the only star. Nostalgia played an important part.
EMINENCE ABOUNDS: Organisers Bachan, Mirza; right Bhansali
At the opening ceremony, as now famous students brought their teachers onstage (Jaya rushed to help the ageing acting guru Roshan Taneja) and Tom Alter spoke as the spirit of the Wisdom Tree, there were many moist eyes in the audience. The evenings invariably evolved into night-long parties, with graduates pooling in for the bar (the first night's revelries were sponsored by Anil Mehta). Saeed Mirza, who came out of self-imposed hibernation to function as festival director, held darbar under the tree. Ghai played chess. Sanjay Leela Bhansali wandered through the jungle. The daily bulletin featured then-and-now pictures of many of the graduates. Says director Aruna Raje: "People have gone grey and wrinkled, but once they walk through the gates, they are 18 again. There is so much bonding and energy."
The question is what next. The festival has helped rejuvenate graftii, the association of FTII graduates which organised the festivals. graftii members raised the approximately Rs 65 lakh budget (some, like Jaya, put in personal funds) and roped in the stars and sponsors. They hope to make the festival a biannual event. "The ex-students have found a voice that is not crisis-driven," says Mehta. Adds filmmaker Arun Khopkar: "If there is a follow-up, it could energise this place." They also hope to be more closely involved with the functioning of the FTII. In the past two years, the institute seems to have found stability and a renewed contact with alumni will help further progress. At the opening ceremony, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke of "rediscovering FTII's role in Indian cinema". Indeed.
Edited By Aarkayne on 1069700066
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