The Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute at Kahilipara

June 28: The Jyoti Chitraban Film and Television Institute at Kahilipara, the only film and television institute in the Northeast, is all set to reinvent itself.

The institute is planning to remodel itself on the lines of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) by introducing a diverse curriculum on different technical and aesthetic aspects of filmmaking so that its students can compete with Bollywood bigwigs.

According to sources in the institute, preparations are on to introduce several short-term courses on different aspects of filmmaking, including direction, screenplay writing, film animation, graphics and make-up art.

“We have contacted several organisations for funding the new courses,” said Nazreen Ahmed, secretary of the Jyoti Chitraban (Film Studio) Society that runs the institute.

“All these courses are designed on the lines of those provided by FTII with a view to produce filmmakers of international standards,” Ahmed said, adding that the institute will rope in veteran filmmakers of Bollywood as visiting faculty members.

Established in 1999, the institute is a tribute to Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the doyen of Assamese films. It was Agarwala who produced and directed the first Assamese feature film way back in 1935, which was also the first movie produced in the region.

The institute’s three-year diploma courses ? audiography and sound engineering, motion picture photography and film and video editing ? are approved by the All India Council for Technical Education of the Union ministry of human resource development and affiliated by State Council for Technical Education, Assam. It also offers a one-year certificate course in applied acting (film and TV).

Within a short period of time, the institute has produced several young technicians and actors, who are performing well within the region and outside it.

Debojit Sangmai and Amrit Pritom Dutta, who did diploma in audiography and sound engineering, have worked in Bollywood blockbusters Black, Khaki, Lagaan and Rang De Basanti.

“Both Debojit and Amrit can be role-models for aspiring technicians from the city. If they can do it, why can’t others? We have no dearth of talent. We only need to brush up hidden talents and then sky is the limit for them,” said Ahmed, adding that the institute is planning to take students from other parts of the country also.

Institute sources said the ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) is likely to approve a proposal for complete upgrading of the institute soon.

“It is praiseworthy on the part of the institute to start short-time courses on filmmaking. Many aspiring students of films and TV had to go outside the region to pursue their dreams. Now they can get training in the city,” said Kumkum Talukdar, a city-based college student who aspires to become a scriptwriter.