Dhiraj Singh, an Indian Information Service (IIS) officer from the 1995 batch, assumed the role of Director at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune on Monday.
"Heartfelt welcome to our new Director Dhiraj Singh! An Indian Information Service Officer of the 1995 batch, he brings a wealth of experience in Media, Communication, and Public Policy," read a post on FTII's official X (formerly Twitter) handle.
Before this appointment, Singh served as an Additional Director General with the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and was also attached to the Prime Minister’s Office, President’s Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, among others.
With Singh's appointment, FTII has its first full-time director after a gap of more than two and a half years. Notably, deviating from tradition, Singh has been appointed for a five-year term instead of the usual three-year tenure.
Singh is an alumnus of Allahabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), and UC Berkeley. He holds an MPhil in International Relations and is the author of a book titled Modern Masters of Cinema: A Personal Pantheon, published earlier this year. The book explores the unique appeal of cinema’s top actors and directors, attempting to understand what makes figures like Al Pacino, Amitabh Bachchan, and Quentin Tarantino enduringly compelling.
Singh succeeds Sandeep Shahare, Dean (TV Wing), who had been serving as in-charge director for the past two years and eight months.
