Film and Television Institute of India’s (FTII) decision to opt for an on-campus psychiatrist to provide counselling for the students and staff struggling with emotional and behavioral problem has received a mixed reaction from the students of the institute.
After learning about the initiative, a student from the sound design department said, “Well, it is clearly a precautionary measure. People tend to associate a general stereotypical identity with the students of this institute which is not the case. Yes, some students have problems, but they are personal.”
He then added, “We have had a few students who have financial problems, family issues and also had a few cases of attempted suicide in the past. On that account, this is a good move.”
As far as the pressure of being at the institute and of entering the film industry are concerned, the students unanimously disagree to it being a problem. “Of course we don’t have the conventional placements, but getting jobs is not an issue for an FTII graduate because the industry is always in need of skilled, talented work force,” one of them says. They agree that life is a little difficult for directors, scriptwriters and actors whose talent, to some extent is intangible.
In terms of work deadlines and methodology followed by the institute too, the students feel no sense of stress from the management. “The kind of work we do requires a lot of freedom. And the institute gives us that freedom on all counts,” says a student from the editing department.
The problems, however, arise on a personal level. “Ours is a collaborative art. You have to constantly work in teams and leave aside egos. However, sometimes, it becomes difficult to deal with all that at one time. Maybe the shrink could help with that,” says a direction student. He adds, “This being a school for innovators, a lot of creative jealousy also exists among students. Sometimes issues don’t get resolved and go too far. That could also be taken care of.”
Extending the point about the freedom, he says, “As we said, there’s a lot of freedom, and sometimes this freedom is abused by some students. Whatever it is that troubles them drives them into substance abuse at times. They may get some expert help in the psychiatrist.”
A first year student of editing points out a very crucial perspective. “They can’t make it compulsory. Nor will they. Now, I doubt how many students would voluntarily visit the shrink. The first step in doing so is to accept that something is troubling you,” he says.
‘It’s a good move and students are in on it’
With the advertisement, for a counsellor (qualified psychiatrist) at FTII, creating a buzz (some of it not-so-good), director of the institute DJ Narain had to clarify his stand. The ad led some jump to the conclusion that the campus environment is causing the requirement of a shrink. But Narain says that’s far from truth and in fact an absolute mininterpretation of it. “There is nothing adverse about the campus. All big institutes have counsellors on board, and FTII too should have one,” he said.
Indicating that the need to read between the lines is futile and baseless he added, “Just like we have a medical doctor on the panel when a student or staff gets physically sick, a counsellor too is important for an all-round well-being.” With filmmaking, which is not an easy task, at the core of their education, Narain feels it gets stressful at times, which is when a counsellor comes in handy. “We have students from various backgrounds, not everyone’s sensitivity is the same. And not everyone likes to discuss issues out in the open, so the need for a counsellor becomes imperative,” said he.
On the contrary, Narain says that the move is progressive and has the support of students too. He explained, “I am getting a lot of congratulatory messages for this. People are appreciating it and the students too are in on it.”
National asset
in 1960 as Film Institute of India, on the erstwhile Prabhat Studio premises, the institute was renamed as Film and Television Institute of India in 1971.
Academy Award winning sound designer Resul Pookutty is also an alumni of FTII
Actors like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Amrish Puri, Rakesh Bedi, Satish Kaushik, Danny Denzongpa, Raza Murad, Tom Alter, Shatrughan Sinha are all alumni of the FTII
Some of the major filmmakers hail from the institute. The list includes renowned names like Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Balu Mahendra, Girish Kasaravalli, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Subhash Ghai, Mahesh Bhatt, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kumar Shahani, Shekhar Kapoor, David Dhawan, Sriram Raghavan, Santosh Sivan, Rajkumar Hirani, Prakash Jha, Kundan Shah and Govind Nihalani
The campus houses a ‘wisdom tree’, where Ritwik Ghatak bestowed innumerable informal lessons to his students, which is still an important part of the campus.
Year 2014 will be the last time when students’ diploma project will be shot on celluloid. The digital revolution will engulf the institute, truly making it the end of an era.
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