Renowned actor R Madhavan has won the National Awards for Best Film for his directorial debut Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. After winning the award he has appointed as the prestigious position of President at the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII). He takes over the reins from filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. His appointment was announced by Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting on 1 September, 2023. He announced the information via social media platform X which is formerly known as Twitter.
https://twitter.com/ActorMadhavan/status/1697607884538888553
A Brief Overview of FTII
The FTII is a film institute operated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and sponsored by the Central Government of India. The Full form of FTII is Film and Television Institute of India. This Institute is located in Pune on the grounds of the former Prabhat Film Company. It was founded in 1960 and among its graduates are technicians, performers and directors from the film and television industries.
Shekhar Kapur was the previous President of FTII. The institution had a distinguished lineage of Presidents with its inaugural leader being actor Roshan Taneja. Over the years FTII has been helmed by notable personalities such as cartoonist RK Laxman, filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mahesh Bhatt, BP Singh, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, actors Girish Karnad, Vinod Khanna, Gajendra Chauhan, Anupam Kher and screenwriter UR Ananthamurthy.
FTII illustrious alumni include celebrated actors such as Jaya Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Raza Murad, Mithun Chakraborty, Naseeruddin Shah, Mukesh Khanna, Rajkummar Rao, Danny Denzongpa, Rakesh Bedi, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Satish Kaushik and Tom Alter.
About R Madhavan
R. Madhavan was born on June 1, 1970 in Jamshedpur, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), India. The full name of R. Madhavan is Ranganathan Madhavan. Madhavan’s family moved frequently during his childhood due to his father’s job in the Indian Navy. He lived in various parts of India in his childhood including Mumbai, Pune, and Kerala. Madhavan initially started his career in the entertainment industry as a television host and model.
He is a multitalented in the realms of Tamil and Hindi cinema. He marked his debut in Tamil cinema with Mani Ratnam’s romantic masterpiece Alaipayuthey in the year 2000. The following year Madhavan made his dubbed into Bollywood alongside Dia Mirza in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s iconic romantic film, Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein. Some of his notable Hindi films include Rang De Basanti, 3 Idiots, Tanu Weds Manu, Tanu Weds Manu Returns, Breathe a web series and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect.
His recent accomplishment was as the director and lead actor in Rocketry: The Nambi Effect. It a biographical film depicting the life of former ISRO scientist Nambi Narayanan. The movie earned him his maiden National Award for Best Film. Further solidifying his stature as a versatile and accomplished artist in the Indian film industry.
