'THE HOPE IS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP'

Hope is about being more accepting of each other, the kind of solidarity and friendship that even our families may not be able to give.'

Payal Kapadia made history by becoming the first Indian film-maker to win the Grand Prix award at the Cannes Film Festival for her film All We Imagine as Light.

Once a student at Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India, Payal and her batchmates were part of a 139-day protest against Gajendra Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairperson. Payal was one of 35 students whose name was registered in a complaint by then FTII director Prashant Pathrabe for alleged forcible detention. A few days later, seven students including Payal were arrested by the Pune police and later released.

“There is a vast difference between being talented and being disciplined,” Gajendra Chauhan tells Subhash K Jha after Payal Kapadia’s historic triumph at Cannes.

Payal Kapadia has won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. As a former chairperson of her film school, what would you like to say?

I would just like to say, we are all very proud of her. I’d like to congratulate her for her achievement.

She was very vocal against your appointment as FTII chairperson. Yes, the matter is in court now. Let me tell you, Jha Saab, that there is a vast difference between being talented and being disciplined. Talent is all very fine, but being disciplined is also very important.

Do you feel the protests against your appointment at the FTII were unjust?

I do know about film-making although I may not be familiar with Woody Allen and Akira Kurosawa.

But when I was told I was not qualified to head the FTII because I don’t know about cinema, it hurt. I am not the kind of person who would take on a job without being knowledgeable. There are so many parliamentarians who don’t even attend Parliament. No one points an accusing finger at them.

Was disciplinary action taken against Ms Kapadia?