Film and Television Institute of India Review By Dhruv Darji

When I first heard about FTII, I thought it’s just an acting school but when I searching for Mass Communication PG course, I figured out that FTII is one of the best. One needs to be more proactive than ever to be able to clear the course. There are entrance exams for all courses at FTII but luckily Mass Communication just had 2 rounds of interviews. Like many other institutes, FTII has its own specialities but more than anything, student’s passion at FTII was a must watch. Most of the programs offered here are short term courses and our program which was supposed to be a one-year program ended in 10 months itself. What FTII does best is making you aware of the craft in you. We had actors studying in the same college so they needed a good networking and PR and they got it all in the same college itself. The college has deployed courses that can go hand in hand and that is why the mass communication from FTII can definitely be your way to Page 3.

There were nine subjects in all which were completed in just 5 months. We had similar internships but with bigger names like the Times Group and some reputed PR agencies. Some of those agencies handle the work of top actors and sports star of the country and working at such an agency was like a dream come true. After three months of internship, we were again back to the college and revised what all we learned in the next one and a half month and then the exams were held. Almost all the students passed and after exams and in-between the results, we had placements.

Faculties were the star of the institute. Journalism is more of a practical course and therefore, the faculties that were hired were starts of their field. Mass Communication had 6 faculties and one HOD to see the progress of the students. Faculties worked fine with the students and the camaraderie between both the parties made things easier for both.

Times Group and other agencies like Sakal, Lokmat, and then PR companies like Media Mantra, and ASPIRE were among the recruiters who offered nice enough jobs. Pay scale was around 30-35k a month and all the jobs were based in Pune and Mumbai. As per the living standard in these cities the job were lesser than one should ideally be doing but working with the likes of best ad gurus didn’t even make me think twice before accepting the offer which I felt was little below par.

FTII campus has both boys and girls hostel inside the campus. The area of the college is such that one can easily find flats or PGs around. The hostels are quite old and haven’t been maintained at all. The food was nice but the rooms were pathetic. Even after paying the hostel fees, I relocated with one of my friends in a flat nearby. Renting a 1bhk will cost around 12-15k in the vicinity of the college and food outlets are numerous to make sure that you never have to bother about missing homemade food.

The campus is big and is located at the Law College Road. ILS was close to the college and just 100m from the college was an outlet of CCD. The college has proper greenery that is looked after by gardeners daily. The radio station of the institute was widely used by students of our batch as some aspired to become radio jockey. There were speakers all around the college and playing students wished songs was done through that station. The studio lab is something without which the course cannot go on and the college has built a beautiful studio which is not just big but has separate editing and finalization rooms. One of the biggest highlights of the institute is its Prabhat Museum which showcases the talent the college has produced. Mass Communication hasn’t produced any celebrities but because it’s an acting school, it has produced the likes of Shabana Azmi to Late Om Puri.

This is one course where practical is serious than the theory classes. Even if you fail to remember few things from theory but if you don’t apply yourself better at the practical you will be listening a lot because mental toughness is required to stay ahead in this course. The college hosts the biggest party of the town and keeping feet stable during those parties was impossible. Drinking was casual at the campus and one may find a lot of beer bottles in the dustbin of the college.