NEW DELHI: Even as the protest against the appointment of actor Gajendra Chauhan as chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) continues, former National Film Archives of India head Prashant Pathrabe has been appointed as the director of the Institute, replacing DJ Narain.

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry decided to replace Narain, who is considered popular with students, despite reprimands from the government.

Meanwhile, the protest against Chauhan’s appointment as FTII chairman has been going on for over a month now and has even seen multiple actors entering the fray either for or against him.

Many Bollywood celebrities including Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher and Rishi Kapoor have expressed their opinion on the issue, siding with students.

FTII students have been protesting against government interference, saying that Chauhan who had enacted the role of Yudhishtra in the mega series Mahabharata, lacked qualification for the important post.

On the other hand, Narain’s term was to end at the end of July. He is a 1990 officer of the Indian Information Service.

Pathrabe has been in the media field for more than 18 years, having previously worked in Doordarshan News and All India Radio News in Mumbai. He has also been spokesperson for Southern Command, Pune.

Pathrabe, a MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, joined the Indian Information Service in 1993 after a stint in public and private sector companies. He is currently with the Press Information Bureau in Pune.