FTII reconstituted; Vidya, Hirani, Jahnu Barua in

Actress Vidya Balan, filmmakers Raju Hirani and Jahnu Barua and cinematographer Santosh Sivan are among the prominent persons nominated as new members of the reconstituted Film and Television Society of India (FTII) council. Actor Gajendra Chauhan, who played Yudhisthira in the 'Mahabharat' TV serial, was named as president of the council and chairman of its governing council by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

An official statement today said the government has reconstituted the FTII Society as per the rules for a period of three years. Officials said the FTII council looks after skill and human resource development related aspects in the Pune-based institute.

Among others named in the council are actress Pallavi Joshi, Assamese actor Pranjal Saikia, dramatist Urmil Thapliyal, Narendra Pathak, documentary filmmaker Anagha Ghaisas and actor Rahul Solapurkar.

Big names who were once learnt the craft of film-making at the institute including Sivan, Hirani, Shailesh Gupta and Imo Singh were nominated as members in the category of 'Alumni of FTII', the statement added.

Eleven ex-officio members including Joint Secretary (Films) in the I&B Ministry, CEO Prasar Bharati; Additional Secretary and Financial Adviser, Ministry of I&B; Chairman, Central Board of Film Certification; and Managing Director, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), were also nominated.

Apart from them, Director General, Films Division, Mumbai; Director, National School of Drama; Director, Indian Institute of Mass Communications (IIMC); Director, National Film Archive of India (NFAI), Pune; Director FTII Pune; Director, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata, were also nominated as ex-officio members.