Vijay Varma on former FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan's statement on Payal Kapadia's Cannes win, writes: 'Sir ye chup rehne ka time tha'

In 2015, Kapadia took part in a walkout by students against Chauhan's appointment to the position of chair of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune.

Bollywood actor Vijay Varma has reacted in a fun manner to the recent statement of former FTII chairman Gajendra Chauhan after director Payal Kapadia's big win at the Cannes Film Festival.

The 'Jaaneman' actor shared a meme on his Instagram stories and wrote: "Sir ye chup rehne ka time tha."

Payal Kapadia won the Le Grand Prix Award at Cannes this year for her Malayalam-Hindi feature film 'All We Imagine as Light." Many actors and former FTII alumuni have called out the institute for acknowledging her as an alumnus but her scholarship was taken away from her after participating in a protest against the appointment of Chauhan.

Actor-politician Gajendra Chauhan extended congratulations to Cannes winner Payal Kapadia, saying he is proud of the filmmaker who studied at the institute when he served as its chairman.

In an interview to news agency PTI, he said: “Congratulations to her and I feel proud that I was the chairman at the time when she was doing the course there.”

Back in 2015, Kapadia was one of the protesting students who went on strike to oppose Chauhan's appointment as the chairperson of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII).

Vijay Varma shared on his Instagram story an article of Gajendra Chauhan and along with it a meme that reads, “Karwali bezzati? (Got insulted?)”, adding, “Sir ye chup rehne ka time tha (Sir this was the time to stay silent),” with a giggle emoji.

Payal Kapadia made history when her film, 'All We Imagine As Light', won the award, which is the first time in 30 years that an Indian movie had competed at the festival’s main competition.