Dean, Prof: Direction, Screenwriting
Formally trained in philosophy at the Madras Christian College, with a M. Phil research degree in the philosophy of language, Venkatesh Chakravarthy branched out into the field of filmmaking after a short teaching stint at his alma mater. Gaining sufficient experience as a production executive in Bollywood and as an assistant director & co-script writer in Tamil and Malayalam cinema, he joined the Department of Direction & Screenplay Writing, Film & Television Institute of Tamilnadu, as a member of its faculty. Five years later, after contributing his part to the design of the first Bachelor’s Degree Course on Visual Communication in the region at Loyola College, Madras, he entered the realm of television production. He has about 90-hours of edited length in terms of high quality television programming to his credit. The most significant being the several episodes he scripted, directed and edited for the highly successful primetime Hindi serial Sangursh on the National Network of Doordharshan (before the advent of Satellite Television) and the first Mega Serial in Tamil Paramapadham consisting of 150-episodes, produced by UTV, Bombay. Read More.
Prof: Cinematography
Suresh Chetapalli a graduate of Cinematography from Satyajit Ray
Film & TV Institute, Kolakata also holds a bachelors in Photography & Visual Communication, and a Diploma in TV Production. He has been a guest faculty in Film Making at JNT University, Hyderabad. Cinematographer in Telugu Film
Industry, hands on experience in both digital and celluloid media. Suresh Chetapalli is proficient in
Enligh, Hindi and Telugu.
Asst Prof: Dramaturgy
Pritham K Chakravarthy is an independent researcher, playwright, director, performer, film critic and activist from Chennai. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Madras Christian College, Tambaram. She has extensive experience in the theatre. Her recent performances include: Meendum Meendum, Surya Mukam and her own solo piece about Aravanis: Nirvanam. (2000-04) The script and the performance by Pritham Chakravarthy was evolved after six months of research and recorded interviews with members of the hijra community. This production has toured India, the USA under a Fulbright Fellowship and 2002 Edinburgh International Festival. She was a guest faculty in University of Madison, during her Fulbright Fellowship [2002-2003]. Pritham Chakravarthy appeared in Mirror – at Pragirthi Foundation, a solo one woman narrative written by Venkatesh Chakravarthy (2003) ; Vellavi – at The Other Festival (2003), and many other parts in Tamil productions over the past 25 years. Read More.
Asst Prof: Film Art
Rajkumar Roy is a graduate in Political Science from St Xavier’s College, Calcutta. He pursued cinema, and obtained a three year diploma in Film Direction and Screenplay Writing, from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. After the initial years of assisting in feature films in Mumbai, he shifted base to Chennai, where he set up a Production house for advertising films. For six years he directed numerous Ad films and corporate documentaries, for leading clients and agencies. Subsequently, he closed shop, and travelled through the Gangetic plains of UP and Bihar, making Documentaries on the folk music of Bhojpur. He has since been involved with many aspects of films, such as film production, television consultancy, script collaboration, and music videos. Rajkumar Roy seeks to nurture creativity in Cinema. Read More.
