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Tag: Gajendra Chauhan

  • COLORS acquires rights to air epic Mahabharat

    COLORS acquires rights to air epic Mahabharat

    Mumbai: Iconic mythological show Mahabharat is set to air on COLORS starting Monday, 4 May 2020, every day from 7-9 pm.

    Starring Nitish Bharadwaj, Mukesh Khanna, Rupa Ganguly, Gajendra Chauhan, and Puneet Issar, Mahabharat is directed by Ravi Chopra. Mahabharat was first aired between 1988-90. Back in time, watching the show used to be a morning ritual and the streets would go silent as the entire nation would tune in to watch the episodes with their families. Decades later, the show is still deemed cult for its rich storyline, grandeur, and fine performances and holds a memorable place in our lives.

    Manisha Sharma, chief content officer, Hindi Mass Entertainment, Viacom18, says: “Due to the nationwide lockdown, the television landscape is changing quite significantly. The popular classics and erstwhile shows have found a renewed interest amongst the audience as they provide relief and induce nostalgia. We, at COLORS, are constantly and very closely evaluating the viewership trends and designing our programming to give our audience the best content. In a similar move, we are elated to air Mahabharat on television to give our viewers another opportunity to relive the golden times.” 

  • Steps to encourage ease of doing film business under way

    NEW DELHI: Information and broadcasting secretary Ajay Mittal has said the Ministry has initiated a series of measures to promote ease of doing business and reiterated government’s commitment to work closely with the film industry.

    Mittal was speaking at a function where megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the new office premise of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in Mumbai yesterday.

    A number for film personalities including former CBFC Chairman Anupam Kher, Ramesh Sippy, Raveena Tandon, Sonu Sood, Pritish Nandy, Manmohan Shetty, Gajendra Chauhan, Kiran Shantaram, Mukesh Sharma were among those present.

    CBFC, which had been functioning from the Bharat Bhavan in the White House Complex on Walkeshwar Road since 1950s, was facing severe space constraint against drastic increase in work load.

    Mumbai, being the centre of the Hindi, Marathi, Bhojpuri and Punjabi film industry, accounts for nearly 60% of all certification work of CBFC. During 2015-16, it certified over 11,000 films of various duration including 787 Indian feature films and 690 foreign films for theatrical release in India.

    Faced with an acute space constraint, lack of parking facility for visitors, CBFC moved a proposal for allocation of space in the Films Division Complex for a modern, digitally enabled office. It may be recalled that the online film certification system of CBFC was launched by Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu in New Delhi last week.

    Ramesh Sippy welcomed the online film certification system saying it would facilitate quicker certification of films.

    The Civil Construction Wing of Prasar Bharati has refurbished the new office, which houses the chambers of the Chairman, CEO as well as the Mumbai Regional Office. CBFC, besides its own preview facilities, can now utilize additional preview theatres of Films Division as well to quicken the process of film certification.

    The Films Division Complex now houses the offices of Films Division, Children’s Film Society of India, CBFC and also the upcoming National Museum of Indian Cinema, which is expected to promote synergy among different institutions of the I &B Ministry.

  • Gajendra Chauhan assumes office at FTII amidst protests; BP Singh to head Academic Council

    Gajendra Chauhan assumes office at FTII amidst protests; BP Singh to head Academic Council

    NEW DELHI: Gajendra Chauhan, whose appointment in the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) had led to a furore some months earlier, today formally took over as chairman of the premier body.
     
    There was slogan-shouting and protests by students as he entered the premise in Pune for the first meeting of the newly appointed FTII Society and the Governing Council in Pune and some students were taken away by the police.
     
    Chauhan is chairman of the Governing Council and President of the FTII Society.
     
    However in an attempt to meet one of the demands of the agitating students, television producer-director Brijendra Pal Singh, who was elected as the vice president of the Society and vice chairman of the Governing Council, will head the Academic Council as chairman.  
     
    An alumni of FTII, Singh is noted for his series CID, which is one of the longest running television series in India.
     
    The meeting of the Society was attended by its Chauhan, additional secretary and financial advisor Dr Subhash Sharma, director Rajkumar Hirani, producer-director B. P. Singh, actors Satish Shah and Rahul Solapurkar, and Information and Broadcasting Ministry Joint Secretary (Films) Sanjay Murthy.
     
    Anagha Ghaisas, Narendra Pathak, film critic Bhawana Somaiyya, Urmil Thapliyal and Pranjal Saikia were also present at the meeting. 
     
    The ex-officio members included Films Division DG Mukesh Sharma, FTII director Prashant Pathrabe, Ministry OSD Chaitanya Prasad, Children’s Films Society, India, CEO Shravan Kumar, and Satyajit Ray FTII director Sanjay Pattnayak.
     
    The Society also decided to nominate Hirani, Singh, Shah, Saikia, Pathak and Somaiyya to the Governing Council.
     
    The GC also approved the Annual Report and Statement of Accounts of the Institute for 2013-14 & 2014-15. The Revised Estimates for 2015-2016 and Budget Estimates for 2016-17 were also sanctioned at the meeting.
     
    Addressing Staff members on arrival, Chauhan said he would do his best to solve the problems of the Institution including the longstanding demand of pension for the staff.  
  • Govt. backs Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman

    Govt. backs Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman

    NEW DELHI: The Government has backed the appointment of Mahabharat star Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), saying that the appointment was in accordance with the prescribed guidelines.

     

    “The appointment in the FTII is made as per the prescribed guidelines incorporated in FTII rules,” Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said in the Lok Sabha.

     

    Rathore said he is in touch with the representatives of the students and the alumni, who are on an agitation to protest the appointment of Chauhan.

     

    “The Government had held talks on 3 July with representatives of FTII students and alumni wherein they were told that the appointment of Chauhan was made in accordance with the prescribed rules.” He also said that they were asked to resume their academic activities.

     

    Rathore said the appointment of FTII is governed by the set of provisions of FTII rules. “As per section 3 (1) of the FTII rules, president of the institute is nominated by the Central government. Further, under section 22 of the Rules, president of the institute acts as chairman of the Governing Council,” he added.

     

    FTII students have been agitating for over six weeks to protest the appointment of Chauhan as FTII chairman. 

  • Pathrabe to replace Narain as FTII director; no decision on Gajendra Chauhan

    Pathrabe to replace Narain as FTII director; no decision on Gajendra Chauhan

    NEW DELHI: Even as the protest against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) continues, former National Film Archives of India head Prashant Pathrabe has been appointed as the director of the Institute, replacing DJ Narain.

     

    The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to replace Narain, who is considered popular with students, despite reprimands from the government.

     

    Meanwhile, the protest against Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman has been going on for over a month now and has even seen multiple actors entering the fray either for or against him.

     

    Many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Rishi Kapoor have expressed their opinion on the issue, siding with students.

     

    FTII students have been protesting against government interference, saying that Chauhan who had enacted the role of Yudhishtra in the mega series Mahabharata, lacked qualification for the important post.

     

    On the other hand, Narain’s term was to end at the end of July. He is a 1990 officer of the Indian Information Service.

     

    Pathrabe has been in the media field for more than 18 years, having previously worked in Doordarshan News and All India Radio News in Mumbai. He has also been spokesperson for Southern Command, Pune.

     

    Pathrabe, a MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, joined the Indian Information Service in 1993 after a stint in public and private sector companies. He is currently with the Press Information Bureau in Pune.