This is soooo cool!
Thanks to the Times of India for this article.
Dog story: off the leash at FTII
Anuradha Mane,TNNPUNE: A walk into the creative environs of the Film and Television Institute of India here would find you in the midst of a high number of canines roaming on the campus.
For almost a decade now, the campus has been home to several dogs adopted by the present and past students of the institute, many of whom are now famous names in the film industry.
Right from sitting around in classrooms, even as some of the most-eminent personalities deliver lectures, to lounging around during a screening in the movie preview theatre, the dogs are always part of the action on the campus.
“The trend of having dogs on the campus started when some students out on evening strolls on the Law College road would offer food to stray dogs. The dogs would then follow the students and eventually made the institute their home,” said Nilanjan Datta, a student of editing who passed out in 2004.
One such dog is eleven-year-old Mohan, named after a former FTII director. Such is his charisma, that Mohan even has a documentary made on him. “In 2000, a student made a film, titled, Mohan the dog. The tongue-in-cheek film cleverly portrayed the students opinion on Mohan. Now, Mohan was also our then directors name so the pun was evident,” says Datta.
The present director of FTII, Tripurari Sharan, is also known to be a dog-lover. So is in-charge of the acting course, Paintal, and his wife, who usually place a bowl-full of milk for the dogs.
Each dog has unique characteristics that adds to its charm. “Foxy, for instance, is also called buaji (aunty). She is very mature and is very protective about the younger dogs on the campus,” says acting batch student Gaurav Dwivedi, who has been cast in Ketan Mehtas upcoming film, Colours of Passion.
