Ali Fazal calls out FTII for celebrating Payal Kapadia's Grand Prix win at Cannes 2024

India's Payal Kapadia scripted history at the recently concluded Cannes as her film 'All We Imagine as Light' won the Grand Prix honour at the prestigious Film Festival. Among many those who celebrated her success was her alma mater, The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). However, FTII, Pune had filed a case against Payal and a few other students for protesting against the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairman. Ali Fazal has now called out the hypocrisy of the institute.

FTII's post

On Sunday, the official X handle of FTII celebrated its alumni members' remarkable feat at the 77th edition of Cannes. The post, including a couple of pictures of Payal and Chidanand Naik (who won the La Cinef Award for Best Short for her film Sunflowers Were The First Ones To Know), was captioned, "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 77th Cannes Film Festival, FTII cherishes the glorious achievements of its Alumni at this Mega International Stage of Cinema.”

Ali's response

Ali Fazal reposted FTII's message with the caption, “Uhhh… please don’t. Just dont.” For the unversed, disciplinary action was taken against Payal in 2015, for leading a student protest against the appointment of actor-turned-politician Gajendra Chauhan as the FTII president. Payal spearheaded a protest and questioned the Mahabharat actor’s qualifications for the position.

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