FTII to celebrate Independence day through film festival

PUNE: As a part of Independence Day celebration, the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, will hold a festival of films devoted to patriotism.
The festival will be held from August 14 to August 16 and will screen three feature films. The first film scheduled was 1921. The film 1921 was directed by renowned filmmaker I V Sasi. This was screened on August 14 at 4pm.The film is an epic in Malayalam movie history and depicts the struggle between British and Indians in Kerala.
'The highlight of Independence Day is Lagaan, directed by Ashutosh Gowarikar. Lagaan is scheduled to be featured on August 15 at 10.30 am. This masterpiece, set in the 19th century British-India, portrays battle with the unfair rulers, not with guns but a bat-and-ball,' said the official release.
The festival will conclude with screening of Rang De Basanti which was directed by Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra. The film will be screened on August 16 at 6pm. 'This film present psyche of the youth in contemporary India but with references to the ideology of freedom fighters,' said the official release from the institute. All the film screenings will be held in the main theater of FTII and the screening of Lagaan is open to film lover across the city.
FTII was recently in news due to the turmoil that ensued after the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the chairman of FTII society. Students had protested against the appointment of Chauhan as well as a few others in the society and termed them as political appointees. The students had also boycotted classes and staged a strike for 139 days.