The Only Thing Gajendra Chauhan is Guilty of is Having a Gorgeous Head of Hair

The Indian film industry is mostly a mystery to Americans such as myself. I imagine that most of us think it's nothing but three hour-plus musicals, but it's actually much more conservative than you might believe. Just take a look at the new president of the Film and Television Institute of India, Gajendra Chauhan, who has become a controversial figure due to his participation in softcore pornographic films. 

According to NDTV Movies (link below), Chauhan is actually more controversial as a choice to head the FTII due to the lack of substantial credits on his filmography, but he is adamantly defending his credits, particularly those ones that people claim are pornographic.

Gajendra Chauhan - best known for playing Pandav king Yudhistir in a long-running TV version of the epic Mahabharat - told NDTV that he is "capable" but has been "misjudged by biased opinions," and that the protests against him will not compel him to resign.

"Don't judge me by my body of work," he said.

Mr Chauhan's critics say there isn't adequate body of work to qualify him for chairman of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India or FTII. Students at the prestigious film institute, who are up in arms, say that Mr Chauhan's ineligibility is compounded by the fact that the actor's work on screen includes films like Jungle Love and Khuli Khidki, which they allege are "soft-pornography."

An indignant Mr Chauhan today sought to clarify that he has worked in "certified adult films, not soft-porn."

Certified adult films, you say? In fairness to Mr. Chauhan, neither of those films are on the list of films banned in the country, a list that includes such controversial films at The Da Vinci Code, so I guess that holds up. Now, if he perhaps had something thoroughly unintelligible to say to completely undercut his common sense argument, that might be a different story...

Protesters have also alleged that Mr Chauhan owes his appointment to his status as a BJP worker. He had campaigned energetically in last year's national election, which installed the Narendra Modi government led the BJP, at the Centre.

"God sent Lord Ram and Narendra Modi to bring change," Mr Chauhan said today.

Awesome. Thank goodness you've still got a gorgeous head of hair Mr. Chauhan. It's nice to have something going for you in this day and age.

Via NDTV Movies