'We refuse to be forgotten’: Students boycott classes at film school govt opened, and then abandoned

When Vikas and Anand* cleared the Film and Television Institute of India Joint Entrance Test (FTII JET) last year, they expected to train at one of India’s premier film institutes. Instead, they found themselves at a half-built campus with no sound studio, non-functional equipment, and classes held in makeshift spaces. Now, after two academic halts and a semester lost to protests, students of the screen acting department at FTII’s Itanagar campus in Arunachal Pradesh have given an ultimatum – fix the campus or shift us elsewhere.

“We are ready for classes,” said Vikas, a student at FTII Arunachal. “We cannot compromise on infrastructure anymore. We have been patient until now. But this has to stop.” Vikas was among dozens protesting against the FTII Itanagar ’s failure to provide equipment and facilities essential for film studies.

FTII Itanagar – an extended campus of Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata – remains incomplete even after a year of opening, with 45 of its students refusing to return to campus for their second semester until basic infrastructure is in place. An RTI reveals what FTII Arunachal students have been protesting about since March – the campus lacks functional studios, edit labs, and essential safety provisions promised during admissions.

The institute has three departments offering two-year postgraduate diploma programmes in acting (20 students), writing (15 students) and documentary cinema (10 students). The screen acting course began on March 10, 2025. All 45 students cleared the FTII JET to secure admission. Many came from theatre backgrounds, some studied journalism and mass communication, few were associated with the National School of Drama (NSD), said a professor on condition of anonymity.

The students now say, had they known the real condition of the campus, they would have reconsidered joining.

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Film School in Itanagar: Admissions

The Film and Television Institute of India’s Itanagar campus is the country’s third and the newest national film institute. The other two being in Kolkata and Pune.

Many students, including Vikas, had originally applied to FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata. While they were still awaiting the entrance results for those campuses, the newly-established FTII Itanagar opened admissions which closed on October 22, 2024. Soon after, students were abruptly told to report to the Itanagar campus.

However, several students say they were never given clear or complete information about the facilities at the campus before joining. What followed was a semester marked by uncertainty, repeated complaints, incomplete infrastructure, and protests.

In the months that followed, students started raising concerns about infrastructure issues. “We wrote to the administration in December 2024 and again in early 2025, followed by several meetings with SRFTI and ministry of information and broadcasting officials. We kept informing them from the very beginning,” said Anand*, another student of the screen acting department.

The students further say that they are being repeatedly assured that essential facilities would be completed within specific timelines, but those deadlines have been routinely missed. “Every time they said it would be ready in a few weeks, nothing actually changed,” Vikas added.

FTII Itanagar: Two academic halts

By March 2025, frustration had escalated into the first academic halt – a collective protest that students say emerged only after months of silence on key issues. A second halt followed in May, triggered by ongoing delays and what they describe as a widening gap between promises and the ground reality. Both protests saw participation from students across departments.

Even when classes started after the second halt, students said almost nothing had improved. The first semester, which was a common semester for all departments, had by then ended. The second semester was supposed to begin on December 2, 2025, but acting students informed the secretary and the vice-chancellor that they will not return to campus unless the basic infrastructure is completed or they were provided safe temporary accommodation elsewhere.

Now, with specialised classes scheduled to begin in the second semester, students say they have decided to raise their demands within individual departments as well. According to Anand, this shift was deliberate: “Each course has specific requirements. Protesting together helped earlier, but now we also had to highlight the problems affecting other departments directly.”

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A film school with students, but under construction

Students say they need at least three functional spaces for proper training – a dance studio with mirrors, a large multi-use acting studio, and a black box theatre. At present, they say, none of these requirements are being met. The administration’s proposal to fix mirrors inside the existing performing studio was turned down by students as they thought it would take away usable wall space.

Students say a dedicated dance studio should be spacious enough for 20 to 40 students and equipped with proper flooring and lighting.

Another major problem is the lack of a proper makeup studio. “The administration has suggested using a small storage room of less than 70 square feet. But it is far too small for an acting batch,” said Anand. Students also worry that turning the storage room into a makeup area will take away the little space they have for sets and props.

Also, there are no proper departments for props, carpentry, or costumes. Vikas said: “Every acting module needs basic props, set pieces, and costumes on time. Right now, students have to arrange most things on their own or bring them from outside. This not only affects their learning but creates safety issues, because makeshift items can be fragile or unsafe.”

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The lack of a carpentry department has been especially difficult. Some modules require custom-built sets or quick repairs, and without a trained carpenter or proper tools, even simple set pieces cannot be made safely or on time. Students say the same problem exists with the absence of a costume department leaving them to manage on their own during rehearsals and performances. This adds unnecessary pressure and affects production.

Another serious gap is the absence of a preview theatre with a proscenium, essential for final demonstrations, screenings, and public presentations. “This missing facility of a preview theatre deprives students of a critical component of their training, which is performing and viewing their work in a professional environment”, said another professor.

Film Making Courses: Academic issues

Students say they have been repeatedly asking for clear information about the syllabus, weekly class plans, and assessment methods. “We were told in July that a revised syllabus was being prepared, but we never received any detailed document,” said Vikas.

Students also clarified that they have no complaints against the faculty members who joined the programme earlier. Their concerns are regarding certain classes conducted by faculty appointed later. “These classes lack proper structure and have only a vague connection to the syllabus,” Anand said.

What has added to student frustration, several said, is that while core construction remains incomplete, the institute was preparing to send the students to the Goa Film Festival in November. They felt that their immediate needs were not being prioritised.

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FTII Itanagar: Students refuse to return

Students had decided to not return to the campus unless the campus was made ready. But on December 4, they received a formal letter from the institute ordering them to return by December 14 as classes are scheduled to start from December 15, 2025.

Acting students say they will only return when the administration provides a time-bound written action plan addressing infrastructure, academic transparency, and safety.

They insist that their demands are the bare minimum required for a credible national acting programme. Having already lost one semester to delays and protests, they say they cannot afford to lose another.

“We are the first batch of FTII Itanagar. We refuse to be the forgotten batch,” one of the students said. “We will not begin Semester 2 until all minimum academic conditions are delivered. If that cannot happen here, shift us to a functional campus immediately. We are ready to learn but not under these circumstances.”

FTI Itanagar director Jane Namchu refused to entertain questions on the delays and gaps.

(*Names changed on request)