Payal Kapadia, who recently won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival 2024, was once a student at Pune’s Film and Television Institute of India and during her time at the film school, she had opposed the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairperson of the institute. In a recent interview, the Mahabharat actor was asked about his thoughts on Payal’s win and the disciplinary action that was taken against her during her time at FTII.
In a chat with Times Now, Chauhan said, “I would just like to say, we are all very proud of her. I’d like to congratulate her for her achievement.” When asked about Payal’s opposition to his appointment, he said that the “matter is in court now” and added, “Let me tell you, there is a vast difference between being talented and being disciplined. Talent is all very fine but being disciplined is also very important.”
When asked about the disciplinary action taken against Payal, Gajendra said, “I don’t remember correctly if her name was on the chargesheet. But a large group of students had held and confined, actually hijacked, then then-FTII director Prashant Pathrabe. He was diabetic and was held against his will for 12-14 hrs.”
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Payal, along with her batchmates, was a part of a 139-day protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as chairman. The students boycotted classes and this resulted in a disciplinary action against them. She was one of 35 students whose name was registered in a complaint by Pathrabe for alleged forcible detention. A few days later, seven students were arrested by the Pune Police where as many others, including Kapadia, got anticipatory bail.
Payal’s film All We Imagine As Light won the second highest honour at the Cannes Film Festival 2024. The film stars Divya Prabha, Kani Kusruti, Azees Haneefa, Hridhu Haroon, Lovleen Misra and Chhaya Kadam.
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