The students’ body has blamed the FTII administration for Saturday’s accident for “forcing the students to shoot with faulty equipment” (Representational image)
The students’ union at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) has announced its decision to go on a strike to demand an inquiry by experts from outside the institute into a “near fatal” accident that injured two students during an academic shoot last week. The union has sought action against those responsible in the administration for hiring “substandard and faulty” equipment from a local firm, despite students raising the alarm.
The students’ body has blamed the administration for Saturday’s incident for “forcing the students to shoot with faulty equipment”, despite knowing that it was unfit to be used at the shoot.
On Monday, the FTII administration announced the appointment of a five-member committee, headed by Dean (Television Wing) R N Pathak, including two outsiders — cinematographer Dharam Gulati and filmmaker Dilip Ghosh.
On Saturday morning, during the shoot of a diploma film project in Diveagar, Raigad, two students were injured when a 22-feet tall crane they were sitting in came crashing down after the metal track gave way. While one student fractured the collar bone, the other sustained internal injuries. Two other crew members suffered minor injuries. An ARRI 535 analogous camera, the estimated cost of which is Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore, got damaged in the accident.
According to the students, despite the incident, the vendor in question is still being employed to provide equipment for the diploma project shoot that is currently underway.
“The student community has therefore decided to go for a complete academic halt from Monday till the issues are resolved and the negligent officials are held accountable for the incident,” said Robin Joy, the president of FTII students’ body.
The students have also blamed FTII Director Bhupendra Kainthola for misleading the media by giving false statements and indirectly blaming the students for not ensuring quality of the hired shooting equipment.