Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor has sought the withdrawal of cases against Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students, including Cannes 2024 Grand Prix winner Payal Kapadia, for leading the historic 139-day protest in 2015 against the political appointment of Gajendra Singh Chauhan as the chairman of its governing body. Earlier, Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty had launched a campaign with the same demand.
Sharing a post of Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating Payal Kapadia for winning the award, Shashi Tharoor asked, “Modi ji, if India is proud of her, should your government not immediately #WithdrawTheCases against her and fellow FTII students protesting against your government’s arbitrary appointment of an unqualified Chairman?”
In 2015, Chauhan, a BJP activist who shot to fame after playing the character Yudhishtir in the TV serial 'Mahabharat', was appointed as the chairman of FTII. Kapadia got into FTII on her second attempt in 2012. She was one of the leaders of the 139-day protest against Chauhan. Extending solidarity to the students, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the FTII campus and joined the student protesters in 2015.
The FTII initiated disciplinary action against her when she led the boycott of classes, and later cut her scholarship and a foreign exchange grant. Pune Police also filed an FIR against 35 students, including Kapadia, for holding the then FTII director, Prashant Pathrabe, captive in his office.