Shashi Tharoor: Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised director Payal Kapadia for winning the 77th Cannes Film Festival. On Tuesday, Thiruvananthapuram MP and articulate Congressman Shashi Tharoor answered. He asked the Centre, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, to drop the lawsuit against Payal Kapadia and other FTII students who were demonstrating against the government’s arbitrary appointment of an incompetent Chairman.
Modi ji, if India is proud of her, your government should not #WithdrawTheCases against her and your fellow FTII students as soon as you do, the Congress leader said in a post on social media platform X ( formerly known as Twitter). Are they opposed to the government randomly electing an incompetent president?
Payal Kapadia’s accomplishment, the first Indian entry in the festival’s main category in thirty years, was acknowledged by PM Modi on X. With All We Imagine as Light, her first feature film, she won the much-coveted Grand Prix. India is proud of Payal Kapadia for her historic achievement of winning the Grand Prix for ‘All We Imagine As Light’ at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, PM Modi said in a May 26 post.
He continued, saying, An FTII alumna, her extraordinary skill continues to shine on the international arena, offering a glimpse of the rich creative heritage of India. This esteemed award recognizes her extraordinary abilities and serves as motivation for a new wave of Indian filmmakers.
Payal Kapadia, the first Indian filmmaker to win the Grand Prix and a former film direction student at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from 2015 to 2018, is facing legal action along with other classmates who protested actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII president in 2015.
This agitation at FTII’s Law College Road site in Pune was one of the longest rallies in the institute’s history, lasting 139 days. Thirty-five students, including Payal Kapadia, who boycotted lessons and all other academic activities, will have their next hearing at Pune Sessions Court on June 26. Students were also charged with rioting and wrongfully confining the institute’s then-director, Prashant Pathrabe, in his office.
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Payal Kapadia wrote and directed the drama film All We Imagine as Light, which stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon in prominent roles. Aside from India, overseas companies such as France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy contributed to the film’s production.