Department

The Department of Film and Television at Chetana came into existence with a record. It was Chetana College that designed the BFT Course Syllabus and Curriculum and introduced this UG programme for Filmmaking in Calicut University (originally known as `Bachelor of Television and Film Production- BTFP). In fact, even under other Universities in Kerala like MG Kottayam, they only had the PG, MA Film and Television when we launched the bachelor programme. In the 2017 syllabus revision the nomenclature of the course was changed to ‘Bachelor of Film and Television’ (BFT). Dr. Benny Benedict and Dr. T Muraleedharan, Chetana Faculty members played an important role in this process as invited members of the Board of Studies, Audio-Visual Media, University of Calicut.

The Film and Television Department was launched in 2015, along with Visual Communication and Mass Communication and Journalism departments. Started under the leadership of Mr. Shambhu Purushothaman, Film Director (HOD), in six years’ time, the Department has left its mark across Kerala state with the reputation as the best campus for systematic training for film and television graduates. Eventually Ms. Surya Soman, after her MA in Film and Television and professional stint in Chennai film industry, took charge as the HOD of our Film and Television department. At present, the department has four full time faculty members and around five Guest faculty from the field.

Since the aspirants to this degree programme in filmmaking and television production arrive at the campus with great ambitions of coming out as industry professionals, from the very beginning, our thrust has been a ‘learning by doing’ methodology. With this goal we have always put our shooting floor and the production and post production facilities into maximum use through the practical and practice sessions and the special workshops by field professionals. We also have encouraged short film productions by students as classroom projects or as independent student ventures. In 2018, the department took initiative to produce a short documentary film, ‘Playing with Fire’, directed by Shambhu Purushothaman (a film about the consequences of unbridled show of fireworks in Kerala). Such initiatives of the Department of BFT have contributed significantly to re-imagine and remould the course curriculum, incorporating intense student participation and taking learning in classrooms to creatively different levels.