FTII alumni emerge victorious yet again

FTII alumni emerge victorious yet again
Pranjal Dua
Won: Best Direction
Film: Chidiya Udh Dua’s diploma film Chidiya Udhis about two people, one from a chicken farm and the other from a housekeeping section of a five star hotel. The two bond over their common resentment towards the system. “A lot of avenues have opened with this award including Bollywood. With digital filmmaking becoming cheaper, there are other film mediums which are promoting our projects.And the National Award will be a good platform for us,” said Dua.
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Ruchir Arun
Won: Best Short Fiction
Film: Mandrake Mandrake Ruchir’s diploma film Mandrake Mandrake was written by him and Anasuya Sengupta, another FTII alumnus. It is about the prop houses of Mumbai where many young boys from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh live. “I wanted to explore the idea of how people who live in prop houses start associating with the products available there. I named my film Mandrake Mandrakebecause when I was a child I was in awe of the comic character by the same name,” said Ruchir.
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Kavin Jagtiani
Won: Best Cinematography
Film: Mandrake Mandrake Kavin said, “Filming of Mandrake Mandrake was a tedious process as we shot most of the footage in black and white. Since there was a budget constraint, we had to recreate a small set on the FTII campus. It was challenging for the art director as I had to be very careful with the lighting between two shots.”
Listen to songs of Jolly LLB on Gaana.com
Right now, I am feeling on top of the world. I want to congratulate the entire team of FTII and I am proud to be a part of the institute. From the faculty to the staff and production team, everybody works hard and tries to give to their best. We put in a lot of effort to excel and thus are kind of a benchmark institute in India. It feels like you are up there and doing the best. And apart from alumni students, many of our present students are also shining bright on the international platform. — DJ Narain, director, FTII
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