FTII students protest against special screening of The Kerala Story

Amid the heavy police security and a protest staged by the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) students, a special screening of the Kerala story movie was held at the institute at its Law College campus on Saturday.

More than 200 police from Zone 1, zone 2, Police headquarters, and special forces were deployed in the campus area to maintain law and order, which caused a tense atmosphere in the morning hours.

The screening was organized by the MITEE Film Society with screening was scheduled to begin at 9.30 am, however, since the beginning the students from FTII started to protest the film screening citing that propaganda movies should not be showcased on campus.

The students also chanted slogans and showcased banners saying FTII rejects RSS propaganda, and that the institute is not the place to spit out community venom.

According to officials, the police force was vigilant to prevent any mishap in the background of student protests. Many invitees including some renowned film personalities attended this screening.

Rahul Solapurkar, a theatre artist, who attended the screening said, “Earlier I was unable to see this movie as I was out of India. Today I saw the movie and at the end of the movie, the interview with the family suffered in such an incident was shown. It was proof of the reality. Hence people can’t say that this is a fake or propaganda story.”

Milind Soman, an actor, who attended the screening said, “Protesting has become a new trend these days. Students who protested on Saturday have a democratic right to protest. Similarly, people who want to watch the movie also have democratic rights.”

The Kerala story’s Director Sudipto Sen and Producer Vipul Shah also attended the film screening at FTII, they also interacted with the audience and students of FTII.

While interacting with the media, Shah said, “We spoke to the students at the film institute and asked them whether they have seen the film or not. Many of them haven’t seen the movie, we also asked them if they want, we are ready to organise a special screening for the students at the film institute. Students do have a right to oppose but they should first watch the movie and then oppose it if they feel anything wrong about it, he added.

One of the protesting students, requesting anonymity said, “The way this film is being promoted is damaging a certain section of society. In the beginning, we demonstrated peacefully and did not stop anyone from attending the screening. However, we believe that FTII is a student institute, and such kind of private screening should not be held in this institute. The administration must take a proper stand against this.”

The students also alleged the provocation by the opposite side by chanting some slogans.