The entire nation is filled with joy and pride as Indian filmmaker Payal Kapdai becomes the first person to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s indeed a big moment for her, and the entire country is cheering for her. Amidst this, acclaimed actor Ali Fazal criticizes the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) for its hypocrisy in celebrating Kapadia’s victory at the International Cannes Festival.Â
Kapadia’s film All We Imagine as Light made history by winning the prestigious award for which she is being hailed, making everyone proud. FTII also praised her publicly by sharing her pictures on their official Twitter handles, along with fellow alumnus Chidanand Naik, who won the La Cinef Award for Best Short Film for Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know. FTII’s Twitter post read, “It is a moment of pride for FTII as its Alumni create history at Cannes. As we witness a phenomenal year for Indian Cinema at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, FTII cherishes the glorious achievements of its Alumni at this Mega International Stage of Cinema.”Â
While the tweet was intended to express pride and celebration, it ended up igniting controversy, as actor Ali Fazal seemed to disagree with FTII’s statement. Following FTII’s tweet, Fazal responded by reposting the tweet with a blunt caption that read: “Uhhh…please don’t. Just don’t.” Though he didn’t clearly mention anything about his tweet, his expression in the tweet did demonstrate his disagreement with FTII’s notion of Kapadia’s film.Â
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Where did Ali Fazal’s comment on FTII stem from?
Ali Fazal is a renowned and well-acclaimed Indian actor. Since Payal Kapdai is from the same industry and has represented India at the Cannes Film Festival, it would be expected for her community to celebrate her victory. But given Fazal’s reaction to FTII’s tweet, it seems like he isn’t really thrilled about the win. However, the actor’s reaction was not about Kapadia’s talent or her film’s achievement but rather aimed at FTII’s perceived hypocrisy.
For the uninitiated, Kapadia and FTII have a contentious history. In 2015, Kapadia led a student protest against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII president. The filmmaker argued then that Chauhan wasn’t worthy of the position as he lacked the required credentials. Following that, disciplinary action was taken against her and other protesting students.Â
Further, in a 2015 incident, Kapadia and 34 other students were charged by Pune Police for holding then-FTII director Prashant Pathrabe captive. This followed Pathrabe’s decision to assess the incomplete projects of students from the 2008 batch. This challenging phase came with several hurdles for Kapadia and her peers, as they were denied scholarships.
However, in 2017, under new FTII director Bhupendra Kainthola, the institute attempted to mend relations by issuing a letter of support and covering Payal Kapadia’s travel expenses to Cannes for the screening of her short film Afternoon Clouds.Â
The 37-year-old filmmaker also won the Golden Eye award for best documentary film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for her film “A Night of Knowing Nothing.” In 2017, her film “Afternoon Clouds” was the only Indian film selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival. And now she has made India proud once again by winning the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.Â
