Where your dreams come from

Magician and one of the earliest film-makers Georges Melies once defined films as ‘the magical place where dreams are made’. By that logic, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), established in Pune in 1960, is the Hogwarts for aspiring film-makers – a place where this magic is taught and learnt.

It began as the Film Institute of India and in 1971, the TV wing was added under the umbrella. Set on the erstwhile Prabhat Studios, the institute soon achieved an international status.

Speaking at the recently concluded short film festival, renowned film-maker and FTII chairman Saeed Mirza said, “I have been a student of this institute in the seventies. For me, this institute has at the forefront of aesthetic and technological breakthrough in Indian cinema.”

Every department of this institute can boast of producing successful directors, writers, sound designers, actors, editors, cinematographers or art designers over the years.

“When at the institute, you could write a screenplay, get out of your hostel, walk down the stairs, meet some people on the way and by the time you made it to the main gate, you would have a crew ready. The equipment was also readily available,” Vikrant, a former student, said.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra, a 1976 alumnus, on his recent visit to the institute had said, “I always get emotional when I visit the institute. There are so many memories I have of this place.”

Chopra’s National Award winning diploma film ‘Murder At Monkey Hill’ was the beginning of his illustrious career.

Another alumnus of the FTII, Umesh Kulkarni, said, “The institute exposed me to cinema of the world and helped me develop a perspective about what can be done through this medium. Most of the film-makers that sparked the new wave in Indian cinema were from this institute.”

As cinema completes 100 years, and the institute also completed its 50 years recently, Umesh said that the country needs more such film institutes.

Did you know?
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 FTII.

Renowned film-makers namely 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 were students of this institute.

Academy Award winning sound designer Resul Pookutty is also an alumni of FTII.