INDIA’S top film schools, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune and the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata have been accorded deemed university status following recommendations made by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The new status will allow both institutes to offer doctoral and research programmes. They will also take part in NIRF Rankings and integrate with Academic Bank of Credits (ABC). This development aligns with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP)  and allows the institutes greater autonomy and scope for innovation.

The FTII, formerly known as the Film Institute of India, was set up in Pune  by the Government of India in 1960 and was part of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In 2017, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) approved equivalency to the institute’s six PG Diploma Programmes and Master’s Degree.

The Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, named after the celebrated filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, is India’s second national centre of cinema education, established in 1995 as an autonomous academic institution under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The institute offers three-year postgraduate degrees in cinema in six filmmaking specialisations, as well as two-year postgraduate programmes in electronics and digital media in six specialisations.